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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5772.txt b/5772.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f150b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/5772.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10784 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of AE in the Irish Theosophist +by George William Russell + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: AE in the Irish Theosophist + +Author: George William Russell + +Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5772] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 1, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AE IN THE IRISH THEOSOPHIST *** + + + + +Transcription by M.R.J. + + + + +AE In The Irish Theosophist + --By "AE" (George William Russell) + + +Contents: + +1--A Word Upon the Objects of the Theosophical Society +2--The Twilight Hour +3--The Mask of Apollo +4--The Secret of Power +5--The Priestess of the Woods +6--A Tragedy in the Temple +7--Jagrata, Svapna and Sushupti +8--Concentration +9--Verse by AE in "The Irish Theosophist" (39 verses) +10--The Element Language +11--At the Dawn of the Kali Yuga +12--The Meditation of Parvati +13--A Talk by the Euphrates +14--The Cave of Lilith +15--A Strange Awakening +16--The Midnight Blossom +17--The Story of a Star +18--How Theosophy Affects One's View of Life +19--Comfort +20--The Ascending Cycle +21--The Mystic Night's Entertainment +22--On the Spur of the Moment +23--The Legends of Ancient Eire +24--Review: Lyrics of Fitzpatrick +25--"Yes, And Hope" +26--Content +27--The Enchantment of Cuchullain +28--Shadow and Substance +29--On the Passing of W.Q. Judge +30--Self-Reliance +31--The Mountains +32--Works and Days +33--The Childhood of Apollo +34--The Awakening of the Fires +35--Our Secret Ties +36--Priest or Hero? +37--The Age of the Spirit +38--A Thought Along the Road +39--The Fountains of Youth + + + + + +A Word Upon the Objects of the Theosophical Society + + + + +1st:--To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, +without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color. + +2nd:---To promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literatures, +religions, philosophies and sciences, and demonstrate the importance +of that study. + +3rd:---To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the psychic +powers latent in man. + +Started a little under a quarter of a century ago, in an age +grown cold with unbelief and deadened by inexplicable dogmas, the +Theosophical Society has found adherents numerous enough to make +it widely known, and enthusiastic enough to give it momentum and +make it a living force. The proclamation of its triple objects-- +brotherhood, wisdom and power, acted like a trumpet call, and many +came forth to join it, emerging from other conflicts; and out of +silence and retirement came many who had grown hopeless but who +had still the old feeling at heart. + +For the first object no explanation is necessary; but a word or +two of comment upon the second and third may help to show how they +do not weaken, by turning into other channels, the intellectual +energies and will, which might serve to carry out the first. In +these old philosophies of the East we find the stimulus to brotherly +action which might not be needed in an ideal state, but which is +a help to the many, who, born into the world with a coldness of +heart as their heritage, still wish to do their duty. Now out duty +alters according to our conception of nature, and in the East there +has been put forward, by men whom we believe to be the wise and +great of the earth, a noble philosophy, a science of life itself, +and this, not as a hypothesis, but as truth which is certain, truth +which has been verified by eyes which see deeper than ours, and +proclaimed by the voices of those who have become the truth they +speak of; for as Krishna teaches Arjuna in the Dayanishvari: +"on this Path to whatever place one would go that place one's self +becomes!" The last word of this wisdom is unity. Underneath all +phenomena and surviving all changes, a great principle endures +for ever. At the great white dawn of existence, from this principle +stream spirit and primordial matter; as they flow away further +from their divine source, they become broken up, the one life into +countless lives, matter into countless forms, which enshrine these +lives; spirit involves itself into matter and matter evolves, +acted upon by this informing fire. + +These lives wander on through many a cycle's ebb and flow, in +separation and sorrow, with sometimes the joy of a momentary meeting. +Only by the recognition of that unity, which spiritually is theirs, +can they obtain freedom. + +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 +strength; by our mood we fasten ourselves into the Eternal; hence +these historic utterances, declarations of permanence and a spiritual +state of consciousness, which have been the foundation of all great +religious movements. Christ says, "I and my Father are one." +"Before Abraham was I am." Paul says, "In him we live and move +and have our being." + +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 slain," and there are not wanting to-day +men who speak of a similar expansion of their consciousness, out +of the gross and material, into more tender, wise and beautiful +states of thought and being. Tennyson, in a famous letter published +some time ago, mentioned that he had at different times experienced +such a mood; the idea of death was laughable; it was not thought, +but a state; "the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest." +It would be easy to do on multiplying instances. + +Now in a nature where unity underlies all differences, where soul +is bound to soul more than star to star; where if one falters or +fails the order of all the rest is changed; the duty of any man +who perceives this unity is clear, the call for brotherly action +is imperative, selfishness cannot any longer wear the mask of wisdom, +for isolation is folly and shuts us out from the eternal verities. + +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 members; +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 being; +and the outward expression of the occult life is also brotherhood. + +--Nov. 15, 1892 + + + + + +The Hour of Twilight + + + + +For the future we intend that at this hour the Mystic shall be at home, +less metaphysical and scientific than is his wont, but more really +himself. It is customary at this hour, before the lamps are brought in, +to give way a little and dream, letting all the tender fancies day +suppresses rise up in out minds. Wherever it is spent, whether in +the dusky room or walking home through the blue evening, all things +grow strangely softened and united; the magic of the old world +reappears. 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 maidens; the children chase +each other through the dusky shrubberies, as they flee past they +look at us with long remembered glances: lulled by the silence, +we forget a little while the hard edges of the material and remember +that we are spirits. + +Now is the hour for memory, the time to call in and make more securely +our own all stray and beautiful ideas that visited us during the day, +and which might otherwise be forgotten. We should draw them in from +the region of things felt to the region of things understood; in +a focus burning with beauty and pure with truth we should bind them, +for from the thoughts thus gathered in something accrues to the +consciousness; on the morrow a change impalpable but real has taken +place in our being, we see beauty and truth through everything. + +It is in like manner in Devachan, between the darkness of earth +and the light of spiritual self-consciousness, that the Master in +each of us draws in and absorbs the rarest and best of experiences, +love, self-forgetfulness, aspiration, and out of these distils the +subtle essence of wisdom, so that he who struggles in pain for his +fellows, when he wakens again on earth is endowed with the tradition +of that which we call self-sacrifice, but which is in reality the +proclamation of our own universal nature. There are yet vaster +correspondences, for so also we are told, when the seven worlds +are withdrawn, the great calm Shepherd of the Ages draws his misty +hordes together in the glimmering twilights of eternity, and as +they are penned within the awful Fold, the rays long separate are +bound into one, and life, and joy, and beauty disappear, to emerge +again after rest unspeakable on the morning of a New Day. + +Now if the aim of the mystic be to fuse into one all moods made +separate by time, would not the daily harvesting of wisdom render +unnecessary the long Devachanic years? No second harvest could be +reaped from fields where the sheaves are already garnered. Thus +disregarding the fruits of action, we could work like those who +have made the Great Sacrifice, for whom even Nirvana is no resting +place. Worlds may awaken in nebulous glory, pass through their +phases of self-conscious existence and sink again to sleep, but +these tireless workers continue their age-long task of help. Their +motive we do not know, but in some secret depth of our being we +feel that there could be nothing nobler, and thinking this we have +devoted the twilight hour to the understanding of their nature. + +--February 15, 1893 + + + +There are dreams which may be history or may be allegory. There +is in them nothing grotesque, nothing which could mar the feeling +of authenticity, the sense of the actual occurence of the dream +incident. 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 vision; and yet the story may +be read as a parable of spiritual truth like some myth of ancient +scripture. Long ago I had may such dreams, and having lately +become a student of such things, I have felt an interest in recalling +the more curious and memorable of these early vision. + +The nebulous mid-region between waking and unconsciousness was the +haunt of many strange figures, reflections perhaps from that true +life led during sleep by the immortal man. Among these figures +two awoke the strangest feelings of interest. One was an old man +with long grey hair and beard, whose grey-blue eyes had an expression +of secret and inscrutable wisdom; I felt an instinctive reverence +for this figure, so expressive of spiritual nobility, and it became +associated in my mind with all aspiration and mystical thought. +The other figure was that of a young girl. These two appeared again +and again in my visions; the old man always as instructor, the +girl always as companion. I have here written down one of these +adventures, leaving it to the reader to judge whether it is purely +symbolical, or whether the incidents related actually took place, +and were out-realized from latency by the power of the Master within. + +With the girl as my companion I left an inland valley and walked +towards the sea. It was evening when we reached it and the tide +was far out. The sands glimmered away for miles on each side of us; +we walked outwards through the dim coloured twilight, I was silent; +a strange ecstacy slowly took possession of me, as if drop by drop +an unutterable life was falling within; the fever grew intense, +then unbearable as it communicated itself to the body; with a wild +cry I began to spin about, whirling round and round in ever increasing +delirium; Some secretness was in the air; I was called forth by +the powers of invisible nature and in a swoon I fell. I rose again +with sudden memory, but my body was lying upon the sands; 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 reach; +I saw her sit down beside it and place the head upon her lap; +she sat there quietly waiting, while all about her little by little +the wave of the Indian sea began to ripple inwards, and overhead +the early stars began softly to glow. + +After this I forgot completely the child and the peril of the waters, +I began to be conscious of the presence of a new world. All around +me currents were flowing, in whose waves dance innumerable lives; +diaphanous forms glided about, a nebulous sparkle was everywhere +apparent; faces as of men in dreams glimmered on me, or unconsciously +their forms drifted past, and now and then a face looked sternly +upon me with a questioning glance. I was not to remain long in +this misty region, again I felt the internal impulse and internally +I was translated into a sphere of more pervading beauty and light; +and here with more majesty and clearness than I had observed before +was the old man of my dreams. + +I had though of him as old but there was an indescribable youth +pervading the face with its ancient beauty, and then I knew it was +neither age nor youth, it was eternalness. The calm light of thought +played over features clear cut as a statue's, and an inner luminousness +shone through the rose of his face and his silver hair. + +There were others about but of them I had no distinct vision. + +He said, "You who have lived and wandered through our own peculiar +valleys look backwards now and learn the alchemy of thought." He +touched me with his hand and I became aware of the power of these +strange beings. I felt how they had waited in patience, how they +had worked and willed in silence; from them as from a fountain +went forth peace; to them as to the stars rose up unconsciously +the aspirations of men, the dumb animal cravings, the tendrils of +the flowers. I saw how in the valley where I lived, where naught +had hindered, their presence had drawn forth in luxuriance all dim +and hidden beauty, a rarer and pure atmosphere recalled the radiant +life of men in the golden dawn of the earth. + +With wider vision I saw how far withdrawn from strife they had +stilled the tumults of nations; I saw how hearing far within the +voices, spiritual, remote, which called, the mighty princes of the +earth descended from their thrones becoming greater than princes; +under this silent influence the terrible chieftains flung open the +doors of their dungeons that they themselves might become free, +and all these joined in that hymn which the quietude of earth makes +to sound in the ears of the gods.--Overpowered I turned round, the +eyes of light were fixed upon me. + +"Do you now understand?" + +"I do not understand," I replied. I see that the light and the +beauty and the power that enters the darkness of the world comes +from these high regions; but I do not know how the light enters, +no how beauty is born, I do not know the secret of power." + +"You must become as one of us," he answered. + +I bowed my head until it touched his breast; I felt my life was +being drawn from me, but before consciousness utterly departed and +was swallowed up in that larger life, I learned something of the +secret of their being; I lived within the minds of men, but their +thoughts were not my thoughts; I hung like a crown over everything, +yet age was no nearer than childhood to the grasp of my sceptre +and sorrow was far away when it wept for my going, and very far +was joy when it woke at my light; yet I was the lure that led +them on; I was at the end of all ways, and I was also in the sweet +voice that cried "return;" and I had learned how spiritual life +is one in all things, when infinite vistas and greater depths +received me, and I went into that darkness out of which no memory +can ever return. + +--March 15, 1893 + + + + + +The Mask of Apollo + + + + +A tradition rises up within me of quiet, unrumoured years, ages +before the demigods and heroes toiled at the making of Greece, +long ages before the building of the temples and sparkling palaces +of her day of glory. The land was pastoral, all over its woods +hung a stillness as of dawn and of unawakened beauty deep-breathing +in rest. Here and there little villages sent up their smoke and +a dreamy people moved about; they grew up, toiled a little at +their fields, followed their sheep and goats, they wedded and grey +age overtook them, but they never ceased to be children. They +worshiped the gods with ancient rites in little wooden temples and +knew many things which were forgotten in later years. + +Near one of these shrines lived a priest, an old man whose simple +and reverend nature made him loved by all around. To him, sitting +one summer evening before his hut, came a stranger whom he invited +to share his meal. The stranger sat down and began to tell him +many wonderful things, stories of the magic of the sun and of the +bright beings who moved at the gates of the day. The old priest +grew drowsy in the warm sunlight and fell asleep. Then the stranger +who was Apollo arose and in the guise of the old priest entered +the little temple, and the people came in unto him one after the other. + +Agathon, the husbandman. "Father, as I bend over the fields or +fasten up the vines, I sometimes remember how you said that the +gods can be worshiped by doing these things as by sacrifice. How +is it, father, that the pouring of cool water over roots, or training +up the branches can nourish Zeus? How can the sacrifice appear +before his throne when it is not carried up in the fire and vapour." + +Apollo. "Agathon, the father omnipotent does not live only in the +aether. He runs invisibly within the sun and stars, and as they +whirl round and round, they break out into woods and flowers and +streams, and the winds are shaken away from them like leaves from +off the roses. Great, strange and bright, he busies himself within, +and at the end of time his light shall shine through and men shall +see it, moving in a world of flame. + +Think then, as you bend over your fields, of what you nourish and +what rises up within them. 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 glad, they reflect that life even +as the little pools take up the light of the stars. Agathon, Agathon, +Zeus is no greater in the aether than he is in the leaf of grass, +and the hymns of men are no sweeter to him than a little water +poured over one of his flowers." + +Agathon the husbandman went away and bent tenderly over his fruits +and vines, and he loved each one of them more than before, and he +grew wise in many things as he watched them and he was happy working +for the gods. + +Then spake Damon the shepherd, "Father, while the flocks are browsing +dreams rise up within me; they make the heart sick with longing; +the forests vanish, I hear no more the lamb's bleat or the rustling +of the fleeces; voices from a thousand depths call me, they whisper, +they beseech me, shadows lovelier than earth's children utter music, +not for me though I faint while I listen. Father, why do I hear +the things others hear not, voices calling to unknown hunters of +wide fields, or to herdsmen, shepherds of the starry flocks"? + +Apollo answered, "Damon, a song stole from the silence while the +gods were not yet, and a thousand ages passed ere they came, called +forth by the music, and a thousand ages they listened then joined +in the song; then began the worlds to glimmer shadowy about them +and bright beings to bow before them. These, their children, began +in their turn to sing the song that calls forth and awakens life. +He is master of all things who has learned their music. Damon, +heed not the shadows, but the voices, the voices have a message +to thee from beyond the gods. 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 themselves. Oh, my son, I see +far off how the nations shall join in it as in a chorus, and hearing +it the rushing planets shall cease from their speed and be steadfast; +men shall hold starry sway." The face of the god shone through +the face of the old man, and filled with awe, it was so full of +secretness. Damon the herdsman passed from his presence and a +strange fire was kindled in his heart. Then the two lovers, Dion +and Neaera, came in and stood before Apollo. + +Dion spake, "Father, you who are so wise can tell us what love is, +so that we shall never miss it. Old Tithonius nods his grey head +at us as we pass; he says, 'only with the changeless gods has +love endurance, for men the loving time is short and its sweetness +is soon over.'" + +Neaera added. "But it is not true, father, for his drowsy eyes +light when he remembers the old days, when he was happy and proud +in love as we are." + +Apollo. "My children, I will tell you the legend how love came +into the world and how it may endure. It was on high Olympus the +gods held council at the making of man; each had brought a gift, +they gave to man something of their own nature. Aphrodite, the +loveliest and sweetest, paused and was about to add a new grace +to his person, but Eros cried, "let them not be so lovely without, +let them be lovelier within. Put you own soul in, O mother." +The mighty mother smiled, and so it was; and now whenever love +is like hers, which asks not return but shines on all because it +must, within that love Aphrodite dwells and it becomes immortal +by her presence." + +Then Dion and Neaera went out, and as they walked homewards through +the forest, purple and vaporous in the evening light, they drew +closer together; and Dion looking into her eyes saw there a new gleam, +violet, magical, shining, there was the presence of Aphrodite, there +was her shrine. + +Then came in unto Apollo the two grandchildren of old Thithonius +and they cried, "See the flowers we have brought you, we gathered +them for you down in the valley where they grow best." Then Apollo +said, "What wisdom shall we give to children that they may remember? +Our most beautiful for them!" As he stood and looked at them the +mask of age and secretness vanished, he stood before them radiant +in light; they laughed in joy at his beauty; he bent down and +kissed them each upon the forehead then faded away into the light +which was his home. As the sun sank down amid the blue hills the +old priest awoke with a sigh and cried out, "Oh that we could talk +wisely as we do in our dreams." + +--April 15, 1893 + + + + + +The Secret of Power + + + + +It is not merely because it is extraordinary that I wish to tell +you this story. I think mere weirdness, grotesque or unusual character, +are not sufficient reasons for making public incidents in which +there is an element of the superhuman. The world, 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 law. The incident here related is +burned into my mind and life, not because of its dramatic intensity +or personal character, but because it was a revelation of the secret +of power, a secret which the wise in good and the wise in evil alike +have knowledge of. + +My friend Felix was strangely disturbed; not only were his material +affairs unsettled, but he was also passing through a crisis in his +spiritual life. Two paths were open before him; On one side lay +the dazzling mystery of passion; on the other "the small old path" +held out its secret and spiritual allurements. I had hope that +he would choose the latter, and as I was keenly interested in his +decision. I invested the struggle going on in his mind with something +of universal significance, seeing in it a symbol of the strife between +"light and darkness which are the world's eternal ways." He came +in late one evening. I saw at once by the dim light that there +was something strange in his manner. I spoke to him in enquiry; +he answered me in a harsh dry voice quite foreign to his usual manner. +"Oh, I am not going to trouble myself any more, I will let things +take their course." This seemed the one idea in his mind, the one +thing he understood clearly was that things were to take their own +course; he failed to grasp the significance of any other idea or +its relative importance. He answered "Aye, indeed," with every +appearance of interest and eagerness to some trivial remark about +the weather, and was quite unconcerned about another and most +important matter which should have interested him deeply. I soon +saw what had happened; his mind, in which forces so evenly balanced +had fought so strenuously, had become utterly wearied out and could +work no longer. A flash of old intuition illumined it at last,-- +it was not wise to strive with such bitterness over life,--therefore +he said to me in memory of this intuition, "I am going to let things +take their course." A larger tribunal would decide; he had appealed +unto Caesar. I sent him up to his room and tried to quiet his fever +by magnetization with some success. He fell asleep, and as I was +rather weary myself I retired soon after. + +This was the vision of the night. It was surely in the room I was +lying and on my bed, and yet space opened on every side with pale, +clear light. A slight wavering figure caught my eye, a figure that +swayed to and fro; I was struck with its utter feebleness, 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 swung. What were they? I became silent as night and thought +no more. + +Two figures awful in their power opposed each other; the frail +being wavering between them could by putting out its arms have +touched them both. It alone wavered, for they were silent, resolute +and knit in the conflict of will; they stirred not a hand nor a foot; +there was only a still quivering now and then as of intense effort, +but they made no other movement. Their heads were bent forward +slightly, their arms folded, their bodies straight, rigid, and +inclined slightly backwards from each other like two spokes of a +gigantic wheel. What were they, these figures? I knew not, and +yet gazing upon them, thought which took no words to clothe itself +mutely read their meaning. Here were the culminations of the human, +towering images of the good and evil man may aspire to. I looked +at the face of the evil adept. His bright red-brown eyes burned +with a strange radiance of power; I felt an answering emotion of pride, +of personal intoxication, of psychic richness rise up within me gazing +upon him. His face was archetypal; the abstract passion which +eluded me in the features of many people I knew, was here declared, +exultant, defiant, giantesque; it seem to leap like fire, to be free. +In this face I was close to the legendary past, to the hopeless +worlds where men were martyred by stony kings, where prayer was +hopeless, where pity was none. I traced a resemblance to many of +the great Destroyers in history whose features have been preserved, +Napoleon, Ramses and a hundred others, named and nameless, the long +line of those who were crowned and sceptered in cruelty. His strength +was in human weakness, I saw this, for space and the hearts of men +were bare before me. Out of space there flowed to him a stream +half invisible of red; it nourished that rich radiant energy of +passion; it flowed from men as they walked and brooded in loneliness, +or as they tossed in sleep. I withdrew my gaze from this face which +awoke in me a lurid sense accompaniment, and turned it on the other. +An aura of pale soft blue was around this figure through which gleamed +an underlight as of universal gold. The vision was already dim and +departing, but I caught a glimpse of a face godlike in its calm, +terrible in the beauty of a life we know only in dreams, with strength +which is the end of the hero's toil, which belongs to the many times +martyred soul; yet not far away not in the past was its power, it +was the might of life which exists eternally. I understood how +easy it would have been for this one to have ended the conflict, +to have gained a material victory by its power, but this would not +have touched on or furthered its spiritual ends. Only its real +being had force to attract that real being which was shrouded in +the wavering figure. This truth the adept of darkness knew also +and therefore he intensified within the sense of pride and passionate +personality. 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 decide. +Then this figure wavering between the two moved forward and touched +with its hand the Son of Light. All at once the scene and actors +vanished, and the eye that saw them was closed, I was alone with +darkness and a hurricane of thoughts. + +Strange and powerful figures! I knew your secret of strength, it +is only to be, nature quickened by your presence leaps up in response. +I knew no less the freedom of that human soul, for your power only +revealed its unmanifest nature, it but precipitated experience. +I knew that although the gods and cosmic powers may war over us +for ever, it is we alone declare them victors or vanquished. + +For the rest the vision of that night was prophetic, and the feet +of my friend are now set on that way which was the innermost impulse +of his soul. + +--May 15, 1893 + + + + + +The Priestess of the Woods + + + + + +Here is a legend whispered to me, the land or time I cannot tell, +it may have been in the old Atlantean days. There were vast woods +and a young priestess ruled them; she presided at the festivals +and sacrificed at the altar for the people, interceding with the +spirits of fire, water air and earth, that the harvest might not +be burned up, nor drenched with the floods, nor town by storms and +that the blight might not fall upon it, which things the elemental +spirits sometimes brought about. This woodland sovereignty was +her heritage from her father who was a mighty magician before her. +Around her young days floated the faery presences; she knew them +as other children know the flowers having neither fear nor wonder +for them. She saw deeper things also; as a little child, wrapped +up in her bearskin, she watched with awe her father engaged in mystic +rites; when around him the airy legions gathered from the populous +elements, the spirits he ruled and the spirits he bowed down before: +fleeting nebulous things white as foam coming forth from the great +deep who fled away at the waving of his hand; and rarer the great +sons of fire, bright and transparent as glass, who though near +seemed yet far away and were still and swift as the figures that +glance in a crystal. So the child grew up full of mystery; her +thoughts were not the thoughts of the people about her, nor their +affections her affections. It seemed as if the elf-things or beings +carved by the thought of the magician, pushed aside by his strong +will and falling away from him, entering into the child became +part of her, linking her to the elemental beings who live in the +star-soul that glows within the earth. Her father told her such +things as she asked, but he died while she was yet young and she +knew not his aim, what man is, or what is his destiny; but she +knew the ways of every order of spirit that goes about clad in a +form, how some were to be dreaded and some to be loved; By reason +of this knowledge she succeeded as priestess to the shrine, and +held the sway of beauty and youth, of wisdom and mystery over the +people dwelling in the woods. + +It was the evening of the autumn festival, the open grassy space +before the altar was crowded with figures, hunters with their +feathered heads; shepherds, those who toil in the fields, the old +and hoary were gathered around. + +The young priestess stood up before them; she was pale from vigil, +and the sunlight coming through the misty evening air fell upon her +swaying arms and her dress with its curious embroidery of peacock's +feathers; the dark hollows of her eyes were alight and as she spoke +inspiration came to her; her voice rose and fell, commanding, warning, +whispering, beseeching; its strange rich music flooded the woods +and pierced through and through with awe the hearts of those who +listened. She spoke of the mysteries of that unseen nature; how +man is watched and ringed round with hosts who war upon him, who +wither up his joys by their breath; she spoke of the gnomes who +rise up in the woodland paths with damp arms grasping from their +earthy bed. + +"Dreadful" she said "are the elementals who live in the hidden waters: +they rule the dreaming heart: their curse is forgetfulness; they +lull man to fatal rest, with drowsy fingers feeling to put out his +fire of life. But the most of all, dread the powers that move in air; +their nature is desire unquenchable; their destiny is--never to +be fulfilled--never to be at peace: they roam hither and thither +like the winds they guide; they usurp dominion over the passionate +and tender soul, but they love not in our way; where they dwell +the heart is a madness and the feet are filled with a hurrying fever, +and night has no sleep and day holds no joy in its sunlit cup. +Listen not to their whisper; they wither and burn up the body with +their fire; the beauty they offer is smitten through and through +with unappeasable anguish." She paused for a moment; here terrible +breath had hardly ceased to thrill them, when another voice was +heard singing; its note was gay and triumphant, it broke the spell +of fear upon the people, + +"I never heed by waste or wood + The cry of fay or faery thing +Who tell of their own solitude; + Above them all my soul is king. + +The royal robe as king I wear + Trails all along the fields of light; +Its silent blue and silver bear + For gems the starry dust of night. + +The breath of joy unceasingly + Waves to and fro its fold star-lit, +And far beyond earth's misery + I live and breathe the joy of it." + +The priestess advanced from the altar, her eyes sought for the singer; +when she came to the centre of the opening she paused and waited +silently. Almost immediately a young man carrying a small lyre +stepped out of the crowd and stood before her; he did not seem +older than the priestess; he stood unconcerned though her dark +eyes blazed at the intrusion; he met her gaze fearlessly; his +eyes looked into hers--in this way all proud spirits do battle. +Her eyes were black with almost a purple tinge, eyes that had looked +into the dark ways of nature; his were bronze, and a golden tinge, +a mystic opulence of vitality seemed to dance in their depths; +they dazzled the young priestess with the secrecy of joy; her eyes +fell for a moment. He turned round and cried out, "Your priestess +speaks but half truths, her eyes have seen but her heart does not know. +Life is not terrible but is full of joy. Listen to me. I passed +by while she spake, and I saw that a fear lay upon every man, and +you shivered thinking of your homeward path, fearful as rabbits of +the unseen things, and forgetful how you have laughed at death facing +the monsters who crush down the forests. Do you not know that you +are greater than all these spirits before who you bow in dread; +your life springs from a deeper source. Answer me, priestess, where +go the fire-spirits when winter seizes the world?" + +"Into the Fire-King they go, they dream in his heart." She half +chanted, the passion of her speech not yet fallen away from her. +"And where go the fires of men when they despair"? She was silent; +then he continued half in scorn, "Your priestess is the priestess +of ghouls and fays rather than a priestess of men; her wisdom is +not for you; the spirits that haunt the elements are hostile because +they see you full of fear; do not dread them and their hatred will +vanish. The great heart of the earth is full of laughter; do not +put yourselves apart from its joy, for its soul is your soul and +its joy is your true being." + +He turned and passed through the crowd; the priestess made a motion +as if she would have stayed him, then she drew herself up proudly +and refrained. They heard his voice again singing as he passed into +the darkening woods, + +"The spirits to the fire-king throng + Each in the winter of his day: +And all who listen to their song + Follow them after in that way. + +They seek the heart-hold of the king, + They build within his halls of fire, +Their dreams flash like the peacock's wing, + They glow with sun-hues of desire. + +I follow in no faery ways; + I heed no voice of fay or elf; +I in the winter of my days + Rest in the high ancestral self." + +The rites interrupted by the stranger did not continue much longer; +the priestess concluded her words of warning; she did not try to +remove the impression created by the poet's song, she only said, +"His wisdom may be truer. It is more beautiful than the knowledge +we inherit." + +The days passed on; autumn died into winter, spring came again +and summer, and the seasons which brought change to the earth +brought change to the young priestess. She sought no longer to +hold sway over the elemental tribes, and her empire over them +departed: the song of the poet rang for ever in her ears; its +proud assertion of kingship and joy in the radiance of a deeper +life haunted her like truth; but such a life seemed unattainable +by her and a deep sadness rested in her heart. The wood-people +often saw her sitting in the evening where the sunlight fell along +the pool, waving slowly its azure and amethyst, sparkling and +flashing in crystal and gold, melting as if a phantom Bird of +Paradise were fading away; her dark head was bowed in melancholy +and all the great beauty flamed and died away unheeded. After a +time she rose up and moved about, she spoke more frequently to the +people who had not dared to question her, she grew into a more +human softness, they feared her less and loved her more; but she +ceased not from her passionate vigils and her step faltered and +her cheek paled, and her eager spirit took flight when the diamond +glow of winter broke out over the world. The poet came again in +the summer; they told him of the change they could not understand, +but he fathomed the depths of this wild nature, and half in gladness, +half in sorrow, he carved an epitaph over her tomb near the altar, + +Where is the priestess of this shrine, + And by what place does she adore? +The woodland haunt below the pine + Now hears her whisper nevermore. + +Ah, wrapped in her own beauty now + She dreams a dream that shall not cease; +Priestess, to her own soul to bow + Is hers in everlasting peace. + +--July 15, 1893 + + + + + +A Tragedy in the Temple + + + + +I have often thought with sadness over the fate of that comrade. +That so ardent and heroic a spirit, so much chivalry and generosity +should meet such a horrible fate, has often made me wonder if there +is any purpose in this tangled being of ours; I have hated life +and the gods as I thought of it. What brought him out of those +great deserts where his youth was spent, where his soul grew vast +knowing only of two changes, the blaze of day and night the purifier, +blue, mysterious, ecstatic with starry being? Were not these enough +for him? Could the fire of the altar inspire more? Could he be +initiated deeper in the chambers of the temple than in those great +and lonely places where God and man are alone together? This was +my doing; resting in his tent when I crossed the desert, I had +spoken to him of that old wisdom which the priests of the inner +temple keep and hand down from one to the other; I blew to flame +the mystic fire which already smouldered within him, and filled +with the vast ambition of God, he left his tribe and entered the +priesthood as neophyte in the Temple of Isthar, below Ninevah. + +I had sometimes to journey thither bearing messages from our high +priest, and so as time passed my friendship with Asur grew deep. +That last evening when I sat with him on the terrace that roofed +the temple, he was more silent than I had known him before to be; +we had generally so many things to speak of; for he told me all +his dreams, such vague titanic impulses as the soul has in the +fresh first years of its awakening, when no experience hinders +with memory its flights of aspiration, and no anguish has made +it wise. But that evening there was, I thought, something missing; +a curious feverishness seemed to have replaced the cool and hardy +purity of manner which was natural to him; his eyes had a strange +glow, fitful and eager; I saw by the starlight how restless his +fingers were, they intertwined, twisted, and writhed in and out. + +We sat long in the rich night together; then he drew nearer to me +and leaned his head near my shoulder; he began to whisper incoherently +a wild and passionate tale; the man's soul was being tempted. + +"Brother" he said, "I am haunted by a vision, by a child of the +stars as lovely as Isthar's self; she visits my dreaming hours, +she dazzles me with strange graces, she bewilders with unspeakable +longing. Sometime, I know, I must go to her, though I perish. +When I see her I forget all else and I have will to resist no longer. +The vast and lonely inspiration of the desert departs from my thought, +she and the jewel-light she lives in blot it out. The thought of +her thrills me like fire. Brother give me help, ere I go mad or die; +she draws me away from earth and I shall end my days amid strange +things, a starry destiny amid starry races." + +I was not then wise in these things, I did not know the terrible +dangers that lurk in the hidden ways in which the soul travels. +"This" I said " is some delusion. You have brooded over a fancy +until it has become living; you have filled your creation with +your own passion and it lingers and tempts you; even if it were +real, it is folly to think of it, we must close our hearts to passion +if we would attain the power and wisdom of Gods." + +He shook his head, I could not realize or understand him. Perhaps +if I had known all and could have warned him, it would have been +in vain; perhaps the soul must work out its own purification in +experience and learn truth and wisdom through being. Once more he +became silent and restless. I had to bid him farewell as I was to +depart on the morrow, but he was present in my thoughts and I could +not sleep because of him; I felt oppressed with the weight of some +doom about to fall. To escape from this feeling I rose in adoration +to Hea; I tried to enter into the light of that Wisdom; a sudden +heart-throb of warning drew me back; I thought of Asur instinctively, +and thinking of him his image flashed on me. He moved as if in +trance through the glassy waves of those cosmic waters which +everywhere lave and permeate the worlds, and in which our earth +is but a subaqueous mound. His head was bowed, his form dilated +to heroic stature, as if he conceived of himself as some great +thing or as moving to some high destiny; and this shadow which +was the house of his dreaming soul grew brilliant with the passionate +hues of his thought; some power beyond him drew him forth. I felt +the fever and heat of this inner sphere like a delirious breath +blow fiercely about me; there was a phosphorescence of hot and +lurid colours. The form of Asur moved towards a light streaming +from a grotto, I could see within it burning gigantic flowers. +On one, as on a throne, a figure of weird and wonderful beauty was +seated. I was thrilled with a dreadful horror, I thought of the +race of Liliths, and some long forgotten and tragic legends rose +up in my memory of these beings whose soul is but a single and +terrible passion; whose love too fierce for feebler lives to endure, +brings death or madness to men. I tried to warn, to awaken him +from the spell; my will-call aroused him; he turned, recognized +me and hesitated; then this figure that lured him rose to her +full height; I saw her in all her plume of a peacock, it was +spotted with gold and green and citron dyes, she raised her arms +upwards, her robe, semi-transparent, purple and starred over with +a jewel lustre, fell in vaporous folds to her feet like the drift +over a waterfall. She turned her head with a sudden bird-like +movement, her strange eyes looked into mine with a prolonged and +snaky glance; I saw her move her arms hither and thither, and the +waves of this inner ocean began to darken and gather about me, to +ripple through me with feverish motion. I fell into a swoon and +remembered nothing more. + +I was awakened before dawn, those with whom I was to cross the +desert were about to start and I could remain no longer. I wrote +hurriedly to Asur a message full of warning and entreaty and set +out on my return journey full of evil forebodings. Some months +after I had again to visit the temple; it was evening when I arrived; +after I had delivered the message with which I was charged, I asked +for Asur. The priest to whom I spoke did not answer me. He led +me in silence up to the terrace that overlooked the desolate eastern +desert. The moon was looming white upon the verge, the world was +trembling with heat, the winged bulls along the walls shone with +a dull glow through the sultry air. The priest pointed to the far +end of the terrace. A figure was seated looking out over the desert, +his robes were motionless as if their wrinkles were carved of stone, +his hands lay on his knees, I walked up to him; I called his name; +he did not stir. I came nearer and put my face close to his, it +was as white as the moon, his eyes only reflected the light. I +turned away from him sick to the very heart. + +--September 15, 1893 + + + + + +Jagrata, Svapna and Sushupti + + + + +While the philosophical concepts of ancient India, concerning +religion and cosmogony, are to some extent familiar and appreciated +in these countries, its psychology, intimately related with its +religion and metaphysics, is comparatively unknown. In Europe the +greatest intellects have been occupied by speculations upon the +laws and aspects of physical nature, while the more spiritual Hindus +were absorbed in investigations as to the nature of life itself; +by continual aspiration, devotion, introspection and self-analysis, +they had acquired vast knowledge of the states of consciousness +possible for man to enter upon; they had laid bare the anatomy +of the mind, and described the many states that lay between the +normal waking condition of man, and the final state of spiritual +freedom and unity with BRAHMA, which it was the aim alike of religion +and science to bring about. Most interesting among their ideas, +was their analysis of the states of consciousness upon which we +enter during sleep. Roughly speaking, they may be divided into two, +which together with the waking state, make a trinity of states +through which every person passes, whether he be aware of it or not. +These states are known as:---Jagrata, waking; Svapna, dreaming; +and Sushupti, deep sleep. The English equivalents of these words +give no idea of the states. Passing our of Jagrata, the Indians +held that, beyond the chaotic borderland, we entered, in Svapna +and Sushupti, upon real states of being. Sushupti, the highest, +was accounted a spiritual state; here the soul touches vaster +centres in the great life and has communion with celestial +intelligences. The unification of these states into one is one +of the results of Raj-Yoga; in this state the chela keeps memory +of what occurred while his consciousness was in the planes of Svapna +and Sushupti. Entrance upon these states should not I think be +understood as meaning that the mind has deserted its fleshly +tabernacle in search of such experience. Departure from the +physical form is no more necessary for this than for clairvoyence, +but a transfer of the consciousness in us from one plane to another +is necessary. + +Now as we generate Karma in the dreaming and deep sleep states +which may either help or hinder the soul in its evolution, it is +a matter of importance that we should take steps to promote the +unification of these states, so that the knowledge and wisdom of +any one state may be used to perfect the others. Our thoughts and +actions in the waking state react upon the dreaming and deep sleep, +and our experiences in the latter influence us in the waking state +by suggestion and other means. 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 consciousness. To increase the responsiveness +upon the more spiritual planes of consciousness. To increase the +responsiveness of this subtle matter we have to practise concentration, +and so heighten the vibrations, or in other words to evolve or perfect +the astral principle. Modern science is rapidly coming to the +conclusion that the differences perceived in objects around us, are +not differences in substance, but differences of vibration in one +substance. Take a copper wire; pass electrical currents through it, +gradually increasing their intensity, and phenomena of sound, heat +and light will be manifest, the prismatic colours appearing one +after the other. Similarly by an increased intensity in the +performance of every action, the consciousness is gradually +transferred from the lower to the higher planes. In order to give +a point, or to direct the evolving faculties into their proper channel, +continual aspiration is necessary. Take some idea--the spiritual +unity of all things, for example--something which can only be +realized by our complete absorption in spiritual nature; let every +action be performed in the light of this idea, let it be the subject +of reverent thought. If this is persisted in, we will gradually +begin to become conscious upon the higher planes, the force of +concentration carrying the mind beyond the waking into Svapna and +Sushupti. The period between retiring to rest and awakening, +formerly a blank, will begin to be spotted with bright lights of +consciousness, or, as we walk about during the day such knowledge +will visit us. "He who is perfected in devotion findeth spiritual +knowledge springing up spontaneously in himself" say Krishna. +Patanjali recommends dwelling on the knowledge that presents itself +in dreams; if we think over any such experience, many things +connected with it will be revealed, and so gradually the whole +shadowy region will become familiar and attractive, and we will +gain a knowledge of our own nature which will be invaluable and +which cannot otherwise be acquired. + +--January 15, 1893 + + + + + +Concentration + + + + +Beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep is Turya. Here there is a +complete change of condition; the knowledge formerly sought in +the external world is now present within the consciousness; the +ideations of universal mind are manifest in spiritual intuitions. +The entrance to this state is through Jagrata, Svapna, and Sushupti, +and here that spiritual unity is realized, the longing for which +draws the soul upwards through the shadowy worlds of dreaming and +deep sleep. I have thought it necessary to supplement the brief +statement made in the previous number by some further remarks upon +concentration, 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 +ourselves. The waking, dreaming and deep sleep states correspond +to objective worlds, while Turya is subjective, including in itself +all ideals. If this is so, we can never seek for the true beyond +ourselves; the things we suppose we shall come sometime realize +in spiritual consciousness must be present in it now, for to spirit +all things are eternally present. Advance to this state is measured +by the realization of moods: we are on the path when there surges +up in the innermost recesses of our being the cry of the long +imprisoned souls of men; we are then on our way to unity. + +The Bhagavad-Gita which is a treatise on Raj Yoga, gives prominence +to three aspects of concentration. Liberation is attained by means +of action, by devotion, by spiritual discernment; these aspects +correspond respectively to three qualities in man and nature, known +as Tamas, Rajas and Satva. The Tamas is the gross, material or +dark quality; Rajas is active and passional; the attributes of +Satva are light, peace, happiness, wisdom. No one while in the +body can escape from the action of the three qualities, for they +are brought about by nature which is compounded of them. We have +to recognize this, and to continue action, aspiration and thought, +impersonally or with some universal motive, in the manner nature +accomplishes these things. Not one of these methods can be laid +aside or ignored, for the Spirit moveth within all, these are its +works, and we have to learn to identify ourselves with the moving +forces of nature. + +Having always this idea of brotherhood or unity in mind, by action-- +which we may interpret as service in some humanitarian movement-- +we purify the Tamas. + +By a pure motive, which is the Philosopher's Stone, a potent force +in the alchemy of nature, we change the gross into the subtle, we +initiate that evolution which shall finally make the vesture of +the soul of the rare, long-sought-for, primordial substance. +Devotion is the highest possibility for the Rajas; that quality +which is ever attracted and seduced by the beautiful mayas of fame, +wealth and power, should be directed to that which it really seeks +for, the eternal universal life; the channels through which it +must flow outwards are the souls of other men, it reaches the One +Life through the many. Spiritual discernment should be the aim of +the Satva, "there is not anything, whether animate or inanimate +which is without me," says Krishna, and we should seek for the +traces of THAT in all things, looking upon it as the cause of the +alchemical changes in the Tamas, as that which widens the outflowing +love of the Rajas. By a continued persistence of this subtle +analytic faculty, we begin gradually to perceive that those things +which we formerly thought were causes, are in reality not causes +at all; that there is but one cause for everything, "The Atma by +which this universe is pervaded. By reason of its proximity alone +the body, the organs, Manas and Buddhi apply themselves to their +proper objects as if applied (by some one else)." (The Crest Jewel +of Wisdom). By uniting these three moods, action, devotion and +spiritual discernment, into one mood, and keeping it continuously +alight, we are accompanying the movements of spirit to some extent. +This harmonious action of all the qualities of our nature, for +universal purposes without personal motive, is in synchronous +vibration with that higher state spoken of at the beginning of the +paper; therefore we are at one with it. "When the wise man +perceiveth that the only agents of action are these qualities, +and comprehends that which is superior to the qualities of goodness, +action and indifference--which are co-existent with the body, it +is released from rebirth and death, old age and pain, and drinketh +of the water of immortality." + +--February 15, 1893 + + + + + +Verse by AE in the "Irish Theosophist" + + + + +Contents: + +1--"While the yellow constellations...." (untitled) +2--Om +3--Krishna +4--Pain +5--Three Councelors +6--Dusk +7--Dawn +8--Desire +9--Deep Sleep +10--Day +11--To A Poet +12--The Place of Rest +13--Comfort +14--H.P.B. (In Memoriam.) +15--By the Margin of the Great Deep +16--The Secret +17--Dust +18--Magic +19--Immortality +20--The Man to the Angel +21--The Robing of the King +22--Brotherhood +23--In the Womb +24--In the Garden of God +25--The Breath of Light +26--The Free +27--The Magi +28--W.Q.J. (?) +29--From the Book of the Eagle +30--The Protest of Love +31--The King Initiate +32--The Dream of the Children +33--The Chiefs of the Air +34--The Palaces of the Sidhe +35--The Voice of the Wise +36--A Dawn Song +37--The Fountain of Shadowy Beauty +38--A New Earth +39--Duality + + + + + +While the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory, +In the lilac-scented stillness, let us listen to Earth's story. +All the flow'rs like moths a-flutter glimmer rich with dusky hues, +Everywhere around us seem to fall from nowhere the sweet dews. +Through the drowsy lull, the murmur, stir of leaf and sleep hum +We can feel a gay heart beating, hear a magic singing come. +Ah, I think that as we linger lighting at Earth's olden fire +Fitful gleams in clay that perish, little sparks that soon expire, +So the mother brims her gladness from a life beyond her own, +From whose darkness as a fountain up the fiery days are thrown +Starry worlds which wheel in splendour, sunny systems, histories, +Vast and nebulous traditions told in the eternities: +And our list'ning mother whispers through her children all the story: +Come, the yellow constellations shine with pale and tender glory! + +--October 15, 1892 + + + + + +Om + + +Faint grew the yellow buds of light + Far flickering beyond the snows, +As leaning o'er the shadowy white + Morn glimmered like a pale primrose. + +Within an Indian vale below + A child said "Om" with tender heart, +Watching with loving eyes the glow + In dayshine fade and night depart. + +The word which Brahma at his dawn + Outbreathes and endeth at his night; +Whose tide of sound so rolling on + Gives birth to orbs of golden light; + +And beauty, wisdom, love, and youth, + By its enchantment, gathered grow +In age-long wandering to the truth, + Through many a cycle's ebb and flow. + +And here all lower life was stilled, + The child was lifted to the Wise: +A strange delight his spirit filled, + And Brahm looked from his shining eyes. + +--December 15, 1892 + + + + + +Krishna + + +The East was crowned with snow-cold bloom + And hung with veils of pearly fleece; +They died away into the gloom, + Vistas of peace, and deeper peace. + +And earth and air and wave and fire + In awe and breathless silence stood, +For One who passed into their choir + Linked them in mystic brotherhood. + +Twilight of amethyst, amid + The few strange stars that lit the heights, +Where was the secret spirit hid, + Where was Thy place, O Light of Lights? + +The flame of Beauty far in space-- + When rose the fire, in Thee? in Me? +Which bowed the elemental race + To adoration silently. + +--February 15, 1893 + + + + + +Pain + + +Men have made them gods of love, +Sun gods, givers of the rain, +Deities of hill and grove, +I have made a god of Pain. + +Of my god I know this much, +And in singing I repeat, +Though there's anguish in his touch +Yet his soul within is sweet. + +--March 15, 1893 + + + + + +Three Counselors + + +It was the fairy of the place + Moving within a little light, +Who touched with dim and shadowy grace + The conflict at its fever height. + +It seemed to whisper "quietness," + Then quietly itself was gone; +Yet echoes of its mute caress + Still rippled as the years flowed on. + +It was the Warrior within + Who called "Awake! prepare for fight, +"Yet lose not memory in the din; + "Make of thy gentleness thy might. + +"Make of thy silence words to shake + "The long-enthroned kings of earth; +"Make of thy will the force to break + "Their towers of wantonness and mirth." + +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 cease." + +--April 15, 1893 + + + + + +Dusk + + +Dusk wraps the village in its dim caress; +Each chimney's vapour, like a thin grey rod, +Mounting aloft through miles of quietness, + Pillars the skies of God. + +Far up they break or seem to break their line, +Mingling their nebulous crests that bow and nod +Under the light of those fierce stars that shine + Out of the house of God. + +Only in clouds and dreams I felt those souls +In the abyss, each fire hid in its clod, +From which in clouds and dreams the spirit rolls + Into the vast of God. + +--May 15, 1893 + + + + + +Dawn + + +Still as the holy of holies breathes the vast, +Within its crystal depths the stars grow dim, +Fire on the altar of the hills at last + Burns on the shadowy rim. + +Moment that holds all moments, white upon +The verge it trembles; then like mists of flowers +Break from the fairy fountain of the dawn + The hues of many hours. + +Thrown downward from that high companionship +Of dreaming inmost heart with inmost heart, +Into the common daily ways I slip + My fire from theirs apart. + +--June 15, 1893 + + + + + +Desire + + +With Thee a moment! then what dreams have play! +Traditions of eternal toil arise, +Search for the high, austere and lonely way, +Where Brahma treads through the eternities. +Ah, in the soul what memories arise! + +And with what yearning inexpressible, +Rising from long forgetfulness I turn +To Thee, invisible, unrumoured, still: +White for Thy whiteness all desires burn! +Ah, with what longing once again I turn! + +--August 15, 1893 + + + + + +Deep Sleep + + +Heart-hidden from the outer things I rose, +The spirit woke anew in nightly birth +Into the vastness where forever glows + The star-soul of the earth. + +There all alone in primal ecstasy, +Within her depths where revels never tire, +The olden Beauty shines; each thought of me + Is veined through with its fire. + +And all my thoughts are throngs of living souls; +They breath in me, heart unto heart allied +With joy undimmed, though when the morning tolls + The planets may divide. + +--September 15, 1893 + + + + + +Day + + +In day from some titanic past it seems +As if a thread divine of memory runs; +Born ere the Mighty One began his dreams, + Or yet were stars and suns. + +But here an iron will has fixed the bars; +Forgetfulness falls on earth's myriad races, +No image of the proud and morning stars + Looks at us from their faces. + +Yet yearning still to reach to those dim heights, +Each dream remembered is a burning-glass, +Where through to darkness from the light of lights + Its rays in splendour pass. + +--September 15, 1893 + + + + + +To A Poet + + + Oh, be not led away. +Lured by the colour of the sun-rich day. + The gay romances of song +Unto the spirit-life doth not belong. + Though far-between the hours +In which the Master of Angelic Powers + Lightens the dusk within +The Holy of Holies; be it thine to win + Rare vistas of white light, +Half-parted lips, through which the Infinite + Murmurs her ancient story; +Hearkening to whom the wandering planets hoary + Waken primeval fires, +With deeper rapture in celestial choirs + Breathe, and with fleeter motion +Wheel in their orbits through the surgeless ocean. + So, hearken thou like these, +Intent on her, mounting by slow degrees, + Until thy song's elation +Echoes her multitudinous meditation. + +--November 15, 1893 + + + + + +The Place of Rest + + +--The soul is its own witness and its own refuge. + +Unto the deep the deep heart goes. + It lays its sadness nigh the breast: +Only the mighty mother knows + The wounds that quiver unconfessed. + +It seeks a deeper silence still; + It folds itself around with peace, +Where thoughts alike of good or ill + In quietness unfostered, cease. + +It feels in the unwounding vast + For comfort for its hopes and fears: +The mighty mother bows at last; + She listens to her children's tears. + +Where the last anguish deepens--there-- + The fire of beauty smites through pain, +A glory moves amid despair, + The Mother takes her child again. + +--December 15, 1893 + + + + + +Comfort + + +Dark head by the fireside brooding, + Sad upon your ears +Whirlwinds of the earth intruding + Sound in wrath and tears: + +Tender-hearted, in your lonely + Sorrow I would fain +Comfort you, and say that only + Gods could feel such pain. + +Only spirits know such longing + For the far away; +And the fiery fancies thronging + Rise not out of clay. + +Keep the secret sense celestial + Of the starry birth; +Though about you call the bestial + Voices of the earth. + +If a thousand ages since + Hurled us from the throne: +Then a thousand ages wins + Back again our own. + +Sad one, dry away your tears: + Sceptred you shall rise, +Equal mid the crystal spheres + With seraphs kingly wise. + +--February, 1894 + + + + + +H. P. B. +(In Memoriam.) + + +Though swift the days flow from her day, + No one has left her day unnamed: +We know what light broke from her ray + On us, who in the truth proclaimed + +Grew brother with the stars and powers + That stretch away--away to light, +And fade within the primal hours, + And in the wondrous First unite. + +We lose with her the right to scorn + The voices scornful of her truth: +With her a deeper love was born + For those who filled her days with ruth. + +To her they were not sordid things: + In them sometimes--her wisdom said-- +The Bird of Paradise had wings; + It only dreams, it is not dead. + +We cannot for forgetfulness + Forego the reverence due to them, +Who wear at times they do not guess + The sceptre and the diadem. + +With wisdom of the olden time + She made the hearts of dust to flame; +And fired us with the hope sublime + Our ancient heritage to claim; + +That turning from the visible, + By vastness unappalled nor stayed, +Our wills might rule beside that Will + By which the tribal stars are swayed; + +And entering the heroic strife, + Tread in the way their feet have trod +Who move within a vaster life, + Sparks in the Fire--Gods amid God. + +--August 15, 1894 + + + + + +By the Margin of the Great Deep + + +When the breath of twilight blows to flame the misty skies, + All its vapourous sapphire, violet glow and silver gleam +With their magic flood me through the gateway of the eyes; + I am one with the twilight's dream. + +When the trees and skies and fields are one in dusky mood, + Every heart of man is rapt within the mother's breast: +Full of peace and sleep and dreams in the vasty quietude, + I am one with their hearts at rest. + +From our immemorial joys of hearth and home and love, + Strayed away along the margin of the unknown tide, +All its reach of soundless calm can thrill me far above + Word or touch from the lips beside. + +Aye, and deep, and deep, and deeper let me drink and draw + From the olden Fountain more than light or peace or dream, +Such primeval being as o'erfills the heart with awe, + Growing one with its silent stream. + +--March 15, 1894 + + + + + +The Secret + + +One thing in all things have I seen: + One thought has haunted earth and air; +Clangour and silence both have been + Its palace chambers. Everywhere + +I saw the mystic vision flow, + And live in men, and woods, and streams, +Until I could no longer know + The dream of life from my own dreams. + +Sometimes it rose like fire in me, + Within the depths of my own mind, +And spreading to infinity, + It took the voices of the wind. + +It scrawled the human mystery, + Dim heraldry--on light and air; +Wavering along the starry sea, + I saw the flying vision there. + +Each fire that in God's temple lit + Burns fierce before the inner shrine, +Dimmed as my fire grew near to it, + And darkened at the light of mine. + +At last, at last, the meaning caught: + When spirit wears its diadem, +It shakes its wondrous plumes of thought, + And trails the stars along with them. + +--April 15, 1894 + + + + + +Dust + + +I heard them in their sadness say, + "The earth rebukes the thought of God: +We are but embers wrapt in clay + A little nobler than the sod." + +But I have touched the lips of clay-- + Mother, thy rudest sod to me +Is thrilled with fire of hidden day, + And haunted by all mystery. + +--May 15, 1894 + + + + + +Magic +--After reading the Upanishads + + +Out of the dusky chamber of the brain +Flows the imperial will through dream on dream; +The fires of life around it tempt and gleam; +The lights of earth behind it fade and wane. + +Passed beyond beauty tempting dream on dream, +The pure will seeks the hearthold of the light; +Sounds the deep "OM," the mystic word of might; +Forth from the hearthold breaks the living stream. + +Passed out beyond the deep heart music-filled, +The kingly Will sits on the ancient throne, +Wielding the sceptre, fearless, free, alone, +Knowing in Brahma all it dared and willed. + +--June 15, 1894 + + + + + +Immortality + + +We must pass like smoke, or live within the spirits' fire; + For we can no more than smoke unto the flame return. +If our thought has changed to dream, or will into desire, + As smoke we vanish o'er the fires that burn. + +Lights of infinite pity star the grey dusk of our days; + Surely here is soul; with it we have eternal breath; +In the fire of love we live or pass by many ways, + By unnumbered ways of dream to death. + + +--July 15, 1894 + + + + + +The Man to the Angel + + +I have wept a million tears; + Pure and proud one, where are thine? +What the gain of all your years + That undimmed in beauty shine? + +All your beauty cannot win + Truth we learn in pain and sighs; +You can never enter in + To the Circle of the Wise. + +They are but the slaves of light + Who have never known the gloom, +And between the dark and bright + Willed in freedom their own doom. + +Think not in your pureness there + That our pain but follows sin; +There are fires for those who dare + Seek the Throne of Might to win. + +Pure one, from your pride refrain; + Dark and lost amid the strife, +I am myriad years of pain + Nearer to the fount of life. + +When defiance fierce is thrown + At the God to whom you bow, +Rest the lips of the Unknown + Tenderest upon the brow. + +--September 15, 1894 + + + + + +Songs of Olden Magic--II. + + +The Robing of the King +--"His candle shined upon my head, and by his light I walked +through darkness."--Job, xxix. 3 + + +On the bird of air blue-breasted + glint the rays of gold, +And a shadowy fleece above us + waves the forest old, +Far through rumorous leagues of midnight + stirred by breezes warm. +See the old ascetic yonder, + Ah, poor withered form! +Where he crouches wrinkled over + by unnumbered years +Through the leaves the flakes of moonfire + fall like phantom tears. +At the dawn a kingly hunter + passed proud disdain, +Like a rainbow-torrent scattered + flashed his royal train. +Now the lonely one unheeded + seeks earth's caverns dim, +Never king or princes will robe them + radiantly as him. +Mid the deep enfolding darkness, + follow him, oh seer, +While the arrow will is piercing + fiery sphere on sphere. +Through the blackness leaps and sparkles + gold and amethyst, +Curling, jetting and dissolving + in a rainbow mist. +In the jewel glow and lunar + radiance rise there +One, a morning star in beauty, + young, immortal, fair. +Sealed in heavy sleep, the spirit + leaves its faded dress, +Unto fiery youth returning + out of weariness. +Music as for one departing, + joy as for a king, +Sound and swell, and hark! above him + cymbals triumphing. +Fire an aureole encircling + suns his brow with gold +Like to one who hails the morning + on the mountains old. +Open mightier vistas changing + human loves to scorns, +And the spears of glory pierce him + like a Crown of Thorns. +As the sparry rays dilating + o'er his forehead climb +Once again he knows the Dragon + Wisdom of the prime. +High and yet more high to freedom + as a bird he springs, +And the aureole outbreathing, + gold and silver wings +Plume the brow and crown the seraph. + Soon his journey done +He will pass our eyes that follow, + sped beyond the sun. +None may know the darker radiance, + King, will there be thine. +Rapt above the Light and hidden + in the Dark Divine. + +--September 15, 1895 + + + + + +Brotherhood + + +Twilight a blossom grey in shadowy valleys dwells: +Under the radiant dark the deep blue-tinted bells +In quietness reimage heaven within their blooms, +Sapphire and gold and mystery. What strange perfumes, +Out of what deeps arising, all the flower-bells fling, +Unknowing the enchanted odorous song they sing! +Oh, never was an eve so living yet: the wood +Stirs not but breathes enraptured quietude. +Here in these shades the Ancient knows itself, the Soul, +And out of slumber waking starts unto the goal. +What bright companions nod and go along with it! +Out of the teeming dark what dusky creatures flit, +That through the long leagues of the island night above +Come wandering by me, whispering and beseeching love,-- +As in the twilight children gather close and press +Nigh and more nigh with shadowy tenderness, +Feeling they know not what, with noiseless footsteps glide +Seeking familiar lips or hearts to dream beside. +Oh, voices, I would go with you, with you, away, +Facing once more the radiant gateways of the day; +With you, with you, what memories arise, and nigh +Trampling the crowded figures of the dawn go by; +Dread deities, the giant powers that warred on men +Grow tender brothers and gay children once again; +Fades every hate away before the Mother's breast +Where all the exiles of the heart return to rest. + +--July 15, 1895 + + + + +In the Womb + +Still rests the heavy share on the dark soil: + Upon the dull black mould the dew-damp lies: +The horse waits patient: from his lonely toil + The ploughboy to the morning lifts his eyes. + +The unbudding hedgerows, dark against day's fires, + Glitter with gold-lit crystals: on the rim +Over the unregarding city's spires + The lonely beauty shines alone for him. + +And day by day the dawn or dark enfolds, + And feeds with beauty eyes that cannot see +How in her womb the Mighty Mother moulds + The infant spirit for Eternity. + +--January 15, 1895 + + + + + +In the Garden of God + + +Within the iron cities + One walked unknown for years, +In his heart the pity of pities + That grew for human tears + +When love and grief were ended + The flower of pity grew; +By unseen hands 'twas tended + And fed with holy dew. + +Though in his heart were barred in + The blooms of beauty blown; +Yet he who grew the garden + Could call no flower his own. + +For by the hands that watered, + The blooms that opened fair +Through frost and pain were scattered + To sweeten the dull air. + +--February 15, 1895 + + + + + +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 pass: +And the restless ploughman pauses, + turns, and wondering +Deep beneath his rustic habit + finds himself a king; +For a fiery moment looking + with the eyes of God +Over fields a slave at morning + bowed him to the sod. +Blind and dense with revelation + every moment flies, +And unto the Mighty Mother + gay, eternal, rise +All the hopes we hold, the gladness, + dreams of things to be. +One of all they generations, + Mother, hails to thee! +Hail! and hail! and hail for ever: + though I turn again +For they joy unto the human + vestures of pain. +I, thy child, who went forth radiant + in the golden prime +Find thee still the mother-hearted + through my night in time; +Find in thee the old enchantment, + there behind the veil +Where the Gods my brothers linger, + Hail! for ever, Hail! + +--May 15, 1895 + + + + + +The Free + + +They bathed in the fire-flooded fountains; + Life girdled them round and about; +They slept in the clefts of the mountains: + The stars called them forth with a shout. + +They prayed, but their worship was only + The wonder at nights and at days, +As still as the lips of the lonely + Though burning with dumbness of praise. + +No sadness of earth ever captured + Their spirits who bowed at the shrine; +They fled to the Lonely enraptured + And hid in the Darkness Divine. + +At twilight as children may gather + They met at the doorway of death, +The smile of the dark hidden Father + The Mother with magical breath. + +Untold of in song or in story, + In days long forgotten of men, +Their eyes were yet blind with a glory + Time will not remember again. + +--November 15, 1895 + + + + + +Songs of Olden Magic--IV + + + +The Magi + +"The mountain was filled with the hosts of the Tuatha de Dannan." +--Old Celtic Poem + + +See where the auras from the olden fountain + Starward aspire; +The sacred sign upon the holy mountain + Shines in white fire: +Waving and flaming yonder o'er the snows + The diamond light +Melts into silver or to sapphire glows + Night beyond night; +And from the heaven of heavens descends on earth + A dew divine. +Come, let us mingle in the starry mirth + Around the shrine! +Enchantress, mighty mother, to our home + In thee we press, +Thrilled by the fiery breath and wrapt in some + Vast tenderness +The homeward birds uncertain o'er their nest + Wheel in the dome, +Fraught with dim dreams of more enraptured rest, + Wheel in the dome, +But gather ye to whose undarkened eyes + The night is day: +Leap forth, Immortals, Birds of Paradise, + In bright array +Robed like the shining tresses of the sun; + And by his name +Call from his haunt divine the ancient one + Our Father Flame. +Aye, from the wonder-light that wraps the star, + Come now, come now; +Sun-breathing Dragon, ray thy lights afar, + Thy children bow; +Hush with more awe the breath; the bright-browed races + Are nothing worth +By those dread gods from out whose awful faces + The earth looks forth +Infinite pity, set in calm; their vision cast + Adown the years +Beholds how beauty burns away at last + Their children's tears. +Now while our hearts the ancient quietness + Floods with its tide, +The things of air and fire and height no less + In it abide; +And from their wanderings over sea and shore + They rise as one +Unto the vastness and with us adore + The midnight sun; +And enter the innumerable All, + And shine like gold, +And starlike gleam in the immortals' hall, + The heavenly fold, +And drink the sun-breaths from the mother's lips + Awhile--and then +Fail from the light and drop in dark eclipse + To earth again, +Roaming along by heaven-hid promontory + And valley dim. +Weaving a phantom image of the glory + They knew in Him. +Out of the fulness flow the winds, their son + Is heard no more, +Or hardly breathes a mystic sound along + The dreamy shore: +Blindly they move unknowing as in trance, + Their wandering +Is half with us, and half an inner dance + Led by the King. + +--January 15, 1896 + + + + + +W. Q. J. * + + +O hero of the iron age, +Upon thy grave we will not weep, +Nor yet consume away in rage +For thee and thy untimely sleep. +Our hearts a burning silence keep. + +O martyr, in these iron days +One fate was sure for soul like thine: +Well you foreknew but went your ways. +The crucifixion is the sign, +The meed of all the kingly line. + +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 years;-- +For tears give birth alone to tears. + +One wreath upon they grave we lay +(The silence of our bitter thought, +Words that would scorch their hearts of clay), +And turn to learn what thou has taught, +To shape our lives as thine was wrought. + +--April 15, 1896 + +[* This is unsigned but is very possibly G.W. Russell's. It was a +memoriam to William Quan Judge (W.Q.J), the leader of the American +and European Theosophical Societies at the time, one of the original +founders of the Theosophical Society, and close co-worker with +H.P. Blavatsky.] + + + + + +Fron the Book of the Eagle +--[St. John, i. 1-33] + + +In the mighty Mother's bosom was the Wise +With the mystic Father in aeonian night; +Aye, for ever one with them though it arise + Going forth to sound its hymn of light. + +At its incantation rose the starry fane; +At its magic thronged the myriad race of men; +Life awoke that in the womb so long had lain + To its cyclic labours once again. + +'Tis the soul of fire within the heart of life; +From its fiery fountain spring the will and thought; +All the strength of man for deeds of love or strife, + Though the darkness comprehend it not. + +In the mystery written here +John is but the life, the seer; +Outcast from the life of light, +Inly with reverted sight +Still he scans with eager eyes +The celestial mysteries. +Poet of all far-seen things +At his word the soul has wings, +Revelations, symbols, dreams +Of the inmost light which gleams. + +The winds, the stars, and the skies though wrought +By the one Fire-Self still know it not; +And man who moves in the twilight dim +Feels not the love that encircles him, +Though in heart, on bosom, and eyelids press +Lips of an infinite tenderness, +He turns away through the dark to roam +Nor heeds the fire in his hearth and home. + +They whose wisdom everywhere +Sees as through a crystal air +The lamp by which the world is lit, +And themselves as one with it; +In whom the eye of vision swells, +Who have in entranced hours +Caught the word whose might compels +All the elemental powers; +They arise as Gods from men +Like the morning stars again. +They who seek the place of rest +Quench the blood-heat of the breast, +Grow ascetic, inward turning +Trample down the lust from burning, +Silence in the self the will +For a power diviner still; +To the fire-born Self alone +The ancestral spheres are known. + +Unto the poor dead shadows came +Wisdom mantled about with flame; +We had eyes that could see the light +Born of the mystic Father's might. +Glory radiant with powers untold +And the breath of God around it rolled. + +Life that moved in the deeps below +Felt the fire in its bosom glow; +Life awoke with the Light allied, +Grew divinely stirred, and cried: +"This is the Ancient of Days within, +Light that is ere our days begin. + +"Every power in the spirit's ken +Springs anew in our lives again. +We had but dreams of the heart's desire +Beauty thrilled with the mystic fire. +The white-fire breath whence springs the power +Flows alone in the spirit's hour." + +Man arose the earth he trod, +Grew divine as he gazed on God: +Light in a fiery whirlwind broke +Out of the dark divine and spoke: +Man went forth through the vast to tread +By the spirit of wisdom charioted. + +There came the learned of the schools +Who measure heavenly things by rules, +The sceptic, doubter, the logician, +Who in all sacred things precision, +Would mark the limit, fix the scope, +"Art thou the Christ for whom we hope? +Art thou a magian, or in thee +Has the divine eye power to see?" +He answered low to those who came, +"Not this, nor this, nor this I claim. +More than the yearning of the heart +I have no wisdom to impart. +I am the voice that cries in him +Whose heart is dead, whose eyes are dim, +'Make pure the paths where through may run +The light-streams from that golden one, +The Self who lives within the sun.' +As spake the seer of ancient days." +The voices from the earthly ways +Questioned him still: "What dost thou here, +If neither prophet, king nor seer? +What power is kindled by they might?" +"I flow before the feet of Light: +I am the purifying stream. +But One of whom ye have no dream, +Whose footsteps move among you still, +Though dark, divine, invisible. +Impelled by Him, before His ways +I journey, though I dare not raise +Even from the ground these eyes so dim +Or look upon the feet of Him." + +When the dead or dreamy hours + Like a mantle fall away, +Wakes the eye of gnostic powers + To the light of hidden day, + +And the yearning heart within + Seeks the true, the only friend, +He who burdened with our sin + Loves and loves unto the end. + +Ah, the martyr of the world, + With a face of steadfast peace +Round whose brow the light is curled: + 'Tis the Lamb with golden fleece. + +So they called of old the shining, + Such a face the sons of men +See, and all its life divining + Wake primeval fires again. + +Such a face and such a glory + Passed before the eyes of John, +With a breath of olden story + Blown from ages long agone + +Who would know the God in man. +Deeper still must be his glance. +Veil on veil his eye must scan +For the mystic signs which tell +If the fire electric fell +On the seer in his trance: +As his way he upward wings +From all time-encircled things, +Flames the glory round his head +Like a bird with wings outspread. +Gold and silver plumes at rest: +Such a shadowy shining crest +Round the hero's head reveals him +To the soul that would adore, +As the master-power that heals him +And the fount of secret lore. +Nature such a diadem +Places on her royal line, +Every eye that looks on them +Knows the Sons of the Divine. + +--April 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Protest of Love + "Those who there take refuge nevermore return."--Bhagavad Gita + + +Ere I lose myself in the vastness and drowse myself with the peace, +While I gaze on the light and beauty afar from the dim homes of men, +May I still feel the heart-pang and pity, love-ties that I would + not release, +May the voices of sorrow appealing call me back to their succour again. + +Ere I storm with the tempest of power the thrones and dominions + of old, +Ere the ancient enchantment allures me to roam through the star- + misty skies, +I would go forth as one who has reaped well what harvest the earth + may unfold: +May my heart be o'erbrimmed with compassion, on my brow be the + crown of the wise. + +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 light: +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 night. + +Not alone, not alone would I go to my rest in the Heart of the Love: +Were I tranced in the innermost beauty, the flame of its tenderest breath, +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 death. + +--May 15, 1896 + + + + + +The King Initiate + "They took Iesous and scourged him."--St. John + +Age after age the world has wept + A joy supreme--I saw the hands +Whose fiery radiations swept + And burned away his earthly bands: +And where they smote the living dyes +Flashed like the plumes of paradise. + +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 snows: +It held the magic wand that gave +Rule over earth, air, fire and wave. + +What sorrow makes the white cheeks wet: + The mystic cross looms shadowy dim-- +There where the fourfold powers have met + And poured their living tides through him, +The Son who hides his radiant crest +To the dark Father's bosom pressed. + +--June 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Dream of the Children + + +The children awoke in their dreaming + While earth lay dewy and still: +They followed the rill in its gleaming + To the heart-light of the hill. + +Its sounds and sights were forsaking + The world as they faded in sleep, +When they heard a music breaking + Out from the heart-light deep. + +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 play. + +From the misty mountain under + Shot gleams of an opal star: +Its pathways of rainbow wonder + Rayed to their feet from afar. + +From their feet as they strayed in the meadow + It led through caverned aisles, +Filled with purple and green light and shadow + For mystic miles on miles. + +The children were glad; it was lonely + To play on the hill-side by day. +"But now," they said, "we have only + To go where the good people stray." + +For all the hill-side was haunted + By the faery folk come again; +And down in the heart-light enchanted + Were opal-coloured men. + +They moved like kings unattended + Without a squire or dame, +But they wore tiaras splendid + With feathers of starlight flame. + +They laughed at the children over + And called them into the heart: +"Come down here, each sleepless rover: + We will show you some of our art." + +And down through the cool of the mountain + The children sank at the call, +And stood in a blazing fountain + And never a mountain at all. + +The lights were coming and going + In many a shining strand, +For the opal fire-kings were blowing + The darkness out of the land. + +This golden breath was a madness + To set a poet on fire, +And this was a cure for sadness, + And that the ease of desire. + +And all night long over Eri + They fought with the wand of light +And love that never grew weary + The evil things of night. + +They said, as dawn glimmered hoary, + "We will show yourselves for an hour;" +And the children were changed to a glory + By the beautiful magic of power. + +The fire-kings smiled on their faces + And called them by olden names, +Till they towered like the starry races + All plumed with the twilight flames. + +They talked for a while together, + How the toil of ages oppressed; +And of how they best could weather + The ship of the world to its rest. + +The dawn in the room was straying: + The children began to blink, +When they heard a far voice saying, + "You can grow like that if you think!" + +The sun came in yellow and gay light: + They tumbled out of the cot, +And half of the dream went with daylight + And half was never forgot. + +--July 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Chiefs of the Air + + +Their wise little heads with scorning + They laid the covers between: +"Do they think we stay here till morning?" + Said Rory and Aileen. + +When out their bright eyes came peeping + The room was no longer there, +And they fled from the dark world creeping + Up a twilight cave of air. + +They wore each one a gay dress, + In sleep, if you understand, +When earth puts off its grey dress + To robe it in faeryland. + +Then loud o'erhead was a humming + As clear as the wood wind rings; +And here were the air-boats coming + And here the airy kings. + +The magic barks were gleaming + And swift as the feathered throng: +With wonder-lights out-streaming + They blew themselves along. + +And up on the night-wind swimming, + With pose and dart and rise, +Away went the air fleet skimming + Through a haze of jewel skies. + +One boat above them drifted + Apart from the flying bands, +And an air-chief bent and lifted + The children with mighty hands. + +The children wondered greatly, + Three air-chiefs met them there, +They were tall and grave and stately + With bodies of purple air. + +A pearl light with misty shimmer + Went dancing about them all, +As the dyes of the moonbow glimmer + On a trembling waterfall. + +The trail of the fleet to the far lands + Was wavy along the night, +And on through the sapphire starlands + They followed the wake of light. + +"Look down, Aileen," said Rory, + "The earth's as thin as a dream." +It was lit by a sun-fire glory + Outraying gleam on gleam. + +They saw through the dream-world under + Its heart of rainbow flame +Where the starry people wander; + Like gods they went and came. + +The children looked without talking + Till Roray spoke again, +"Are those our folk who are walking + Like little shadow men? + +"They don't see what is about them, + They look like pigmies small, +The world would be full without them + And they think themselves so tall!" + +The magic bark went fleeting + Like an eagle on and on; +Till over its prow came beating + The foam-light of the dawn. + +The children's dream grew fainter, + Three air-chiefs still were there, +But the sun the shadow painter + Drew five on the misty air. + +The dream-light whirled bewild'ring, + An air-chief said, "You know. +You are living now, my children, + Ten thousand years ago." + +They looked at themselves in the old light, + And mourned the days of the new +Where naught is but darkness or cold light, + Till a bell came striking through. + +"We must go," said the wise young sages: + It was five at dawn by the chimes, +And they ran through a thousand ages + From the old De Danaan Times. + +--August 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Palaces of the Sidhe + + +Two small sweet lives together + From dawn till the dew falls down, +They danced over rock and heather + Away from the dusty town. + +Dark eyes like stars set in pansies, + Blue eyes like a hero's bold-- +Their thoughts were all pearl-light fancies, + Their hearts in the age of gold. + +They crooned o'er many a fable + And longed for the bright-capped elves, +The faery folk who are able + To make us faery ourselves. + +A hush on the children stealing + They stood there hand in hand, +For the elfin chimes were pealing + Aloud in the underland. + +And over the grey rock sliding, + A fiery colour ran, +And out of its thickness gliding + The twinkling mist of a man-- + +To-day for the children had fled to + An ancient yesterday, +And the rill from its tunnelled bed too + Had turned another way. + +Then down through an open hollow + The old man led with a smile: +"Come, star-hearts, my children, follow + To the elfin land awhile." + +The bells above them were hanging, + Whenever the earth-breath blew +It made them go clanging, clanging, + The vasty mountain through. + +But louder yet than the ringing + Came the chant of the elfin choir, +Till the mountain was mad with singing + And dense with the forms of fire. + +The kings of the faery races + Sat high on the thrones of might, +And infinite years from their faces + Looked out through eyes of light. + +And one in a diamond splendour + Shone brightest of all that hour, +More lofty and pure and tender, + They called him the Flower of Power. + +The palace walls were glowing + Like stars together drawn, +And a fountain of air was flowing + The primrose colour of dawn. + +"Ah, see!" said Aileen sighing, + With a bend of her saddened head +Where a mighty hero was lying, + He looked like one who was dead. + +"He will wake," said their guide, "'tis but seeming, + And, oh, what his eyes shall see +I will know of only in dreaming + Till I lie there still as he." + +They chanted the song of waking, + They breathed on him with fire, +Till the hero-spirit outbreaking, + Shot radiant above the choir. + +Like a pillar of opal glory + Lit through with many a gem-- +"Why, look at him now," said Rory, + "He has turned to a faery like them!" + +The elfin kings ascending + Leaped up from the thrones of might, +And one with another blending + They vanished in air and light. + +The rill to its bed came splashing + With rocks on the top of that: +The children awoke with a flashing + Of wonder, "What were we at?" + +They groped through the reeds and clover-- + "What funny old markings: look here, +They have scrawled the rocks all over: + It's just where the door was: how queer!" + +--September 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Voice of the Wise + + +They sat with hearts untroubled, + The clear sky sparkled above, +And an ancient wisdom bubbled + From the lips of a youthful love. + +They read in a coloured history + Of Egypt and of the Nile, +And half it seemed a mystery, + Familiar, half, the while. + +Till living out of the story + Grew old Egyptian men, +And a shadow looked forth Rory + And said, "We meet again!" + +And over Aileen a maiden + Looked back through the ages dim: +She laughed, and her eyes were laden + With an old-time love for him. + +In a mist came temples thronging + With sphinxes seen in a row, +And the rest of the day was a longing + For their homes of long ago. + +"We'd go there if they'd let us," + They said with wounded pride: +"They never think when they pet us + We are old like that inside." + +There was some one round them straying + The whole of the long day through, +Who seemed to say, "I am playing + At hide-and-seek with you." + +And one thing after another + Was whispered out of the air, +How God was a big kind brother + Whose home was in everywhere. + +His light like a smile come glancing + From the cool, cool winds as they pass; +From the flowers in heaven dancing + And the stars that shine in the grass, + +And the clouds in deep blue wreathing, + And most from the mountains tall, +But God like a wind goes breathing + A heart-light of gold in all. + +It grows like a tree and pushes + Its way through the inner gloom, +And flowers in quick little rushes + Of love to a magic bloom. + +And no one need sigh now or sorrow + Whenever the heart-light flies, +For it comes again on some morrow + And nobody ever dies. + +The heart of the Wise was beating + In the children's heart that day, +And many a thought came fleeting, + And fancies solemn and gay. + +They were grave in a way divining + How childhood was taking wings, +And the wonder world was shining + With vast eternal things. + +The solemn twilight fluttered + Like the plumes of seraphim, +And they felt what things were uttered + In the sunset voice of Him. + +They lingered long, for dearer + Than home were the mountain places +Where God from the stars dropt nearer + Their pale, dreamy faces. + +Their very hearts from beating + They stilled in awed delight. +For Spirit and children were meeting + In the purple, ample night. + +Dusk its ash-grey blossoms sheds on violet skies +Over twilight mountains where the heart-songs rise, +Rise and fall and fade again from earth to air: +Earth renews the music sweeter. Oh, come there. +Come, ma cushla, come, as in ancient times +Rings aloud and the underland with faery chimes. +Down the unseen ways as strays each tinkling fleece +Winding ever onward to a fold of peace, +So my dreams go straying in a land more fair; +Half I tread the dew-wet grasses, half wander there. +Fade your glimmering eyes in a world grown cold: +Come, ma cushla, with me to the mountain's fold, +Where the bright ones call us waving to and fro: +Come, my children, with me to the Ancient go. + +--October 15, 1896 + + + + + +A Dawn Song + + +While the earth is dark and grey + How I laugh within: I know +In my breast what ardours gay + From the morning overflow. + +Though the cheek be white and wet + In my heart no fear may fall: +There my chieftain leads, and yet + Ancient battle-trumpets call. + +Bend on me no hasty frown + If my spirit slight your cares: +Sunlike still my joy looks down + Changing tears to beamy airs. + +Think me not of fickle heart + If with joy my bosom swells +Though your ways from mine depart: + In the true are no farewells. + +What I love in you I find + Everywhere. A friend I greet +In each flower and tree and wind-- + Oh, but life is sweet, is sweet. + +What to you are bolts and bars + Are to me the hands that guide +To the freedom of the stars + Where my golden kinsmen bide. + +From my mountain top I view: + Twilight's purple flower is gone, +And I send my song to you + On the level light of dawn. + +--November 15, 1896 + + + + + +--An Ancient Eden + +Our legends tell of aery fountains upspringing in Eri, and +how the people of long ago saw them not but only the Tuatha de Danaan. +Some deem it was the natural outflow of water at these places which +was held to be sacred; but above fountain, rill and river rose up +the enchanted froth and foam of invisible rills and rivers breaking +forth from Tir-na-noge, the soul of the island, and glittering in +the sunlight of its mystic day. What we see here is imaged forth +from that invisible soul and is a path thereto. In the heroic +Epic of Cuculain Standish O'Grady writes of such a fountain, and +prefixes his chapter with the verse from Genesis, "And four rivers +went forth from Eden to water the garden," and what follows in +reference thereto. + + +The Fountain of Shadowy Beauty +--A Dream + +I would I could weave in + The colour, the wonder, +The song I conceive in + My heart while I ponder, + +And show how it came like + The magi of old +Whose chant was a flame like + The dawn's voice of gold; + +Who dreams followed near them + A murmur of birds, +And ear still could hear them + Unchanted in words. + +In words I can only + Reveal thee my heart, +Oh, Light of the Lonely, + The shining impart. + +Between the twilight and the dark +The lights danced up before my eyes: +I found no sleep or peace or rest, +But dreams of stars and burning skies. + +I knew the faces of the day-- +Dream faces, pale, with cloudy hair, +I know you not nor yet your home, +The Fount of Shadowy Beauty, where? + +I passed a dream of gloomy ways +Where ne'er did human feet intrude: +It was the border of a wood, +A dreadful forest solitude. + +With wondrous red and fairy gold +The clouds were woven o'er the ocean; +The stars in fiery aether swung +And danced with gay and glittering motion. + +A fire leaped up within my heart +When first I saw the old sea shine; +As if a god were there revealed +I bowed my head in awe divine; + +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 ways. + +The black night dropped upon the sea: +The silent awe came down with it: +I saw fantastic vapours flit +As o'er the darkness of the pit. + +When, lo! from out the furthest night +A speck of rose and silver light +Above a boat shaped wondrously +Came floating swiftly o'er the sea. + +It was no human will that bore +The boat so fleetly to the shore +Without a sail spread or an oar. + +The Pilot stood erect thereon +And lifted up his ancient face, +(Ancient with glad eternal youth +Like one who was of starry race.) + +His face was rich with dusky bloom; +His eyes a bronze and golden fire; +His hair in streams of silver light +Hung flamelike on his strange attire + +Which starred with many a mystic sign, +Fell as o'er sunlit ruby glowing: +His light flew o'er the waves afar +In ruddy ripples on each bar +Along the spiral pathways flowing. + +It was a crystal boat that chased +The light along the watery waste, +Till caught amid the surges hoary +The Pilot stayed its jewelled glory. + +Oh, never such a glory was: +The pale moon shot it through and through +With light of lilac, white and blue: +And there mid many a fairy hue +Of pearl and pink and amethyst, +Like lightning ran the rainbow gleams +And wove around a wonder-mist. + +The Pilot lifted beckoning hands; +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 night. + +"Make haste, make haste!" he cried. "Away! +A thousand ages now are gone. +Yet thou and I ere night be sped +Will reck no more of eve or dawn." + +Swift as the swallow to its nest +I leaped: my body dropt right down: +A silver star I rose and flew. +A flame burned golden at his breast: +I entered at the heart and knew +My Brother-Self who roams the deep, +Bird of the wonder-world of sleep. + +The ruby body wrapped us round +As twain in one: we left behind +The league-long murmur of the shore +And fleeted swifter than the wind. + +The distance rushed upon the bark: +We neared unto the mystic isles: +The heavenly city we could mark, +Its mountain light, its jewel dark, +Its pinnacles and starry piles. + +The glory brightened: "Do not fear; +For we are real, though what seems +So proudly built above the waves +Is but one mighty spirit's dreams. + +"Our Father's house hath many fanes; +Yet enter not and worship not, +For thought but follows after thought +Till last consuming self it wanes. + +"The Fount of Shadowy Beauty flings +Its glamour o'er the light of day: +A music in the sunlight sings +To call the dreamy hearts away +Their mighty hopes to ease awhile: +We will not go the way of them: +The chant makes drowsy those who seek +The sceptre and the diadem. + +"The Fount of Shadowy Beauty throws +Its magic round us all the night; +What things the heart would be, it sees +And chases them in endless flight. +Or coiled in phantom visions there +It builds within the halls of fire; +Its dreams flash like the peacock's wing +And glow with sun-hues of desire. +We will not follow in their ways +Nor heed the lure of fay or elf, +But in the ending of our days +Rest in the high Ancestral Self." + +The boat of crystal touched the shore, +Then melted flamelike from our eyes, +As in the twilight drops the sun +Withdrawing rays of paradise. + +We hurried under arched aisles +That far above in heaven withdrawn +With cloudy pillars stormed the night, +Rich as the opal shafts of dawn. + +I would have lingered then--but he-- +"Oh, let us haste: the dream grows dim, +Another night, another day, +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 morn. + +"A thousand of our years to him +Are but the night, are but the day, +Wherein he rests from cyclic toil +Or chants the song of starry sway. + +"He falls asleep: the Shadowy Fount +Fills all our heart with dreams of light: +He wakes to ancient spheres, and we +Through iron ages mourn the night. +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 line." + +Even then a vasty twilight fell: +Wavered in air the shadowy towers: +The city like a gleaming shell, +Its azures, opals, silvers, blues, +Were melting in more dreamy hues. +We feared the falling of the night +And hurried more our headlong flight. +In one long line the towers went by; +The trembling radiance dropt behind, +As when some swift and radiant one +Flits by and flings upon the wind +The rainbow tresses of the sun. + +And then they vanished from our gaze +Faded the magic lights, and all +Into a Starry Radiance fell +As waters in their fountain fall. + +We knew our time-long journey o'er +And knew the end of all desire, +And saw within the emerald glow +Our Father like the white sun-fire. + +We could not say if age or youth +Were on his face: we only burned +To pass the gateways of the Day, +The exiles to the heart returned. + +He rose to greet us and his breath, +The tempest music of the spheres, +Dissolved the memory of earth, +The cyclic labour and our tears. +In him our dream of sorrow passed, +The spirit once again was free +And heard the song the Morning-Stars +Chant in eternal revelry. + +This was the close of human story; +We saw the deep unmeasured shine, +And sank within the mystic glory +They called of old the Dark Divine. + +Well it is gone now, + The dream that I chanted: +On this side the dawn now + I sit fate-implanted. + +But though of my dreaming + The dawn has bereft me, +It all was not seeming + For something has left me. + +I fell in some other + World far from this cold light +The Dream Bird, my brother, + Is rayed with the gold light. + +I too in the Father + Would hide me, and so, +Bright Bird, to foregather + With thee now I go. + +--December 15, 1896 + + + + + +A New Earth + + + "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies + When a new planet swims within his ken." + +I who had sought afar from earth + The faery land to greet, +Now find content within its girth, + And wonder nigh my feet. + +To-day a nearer love I choose + And seek no distant sphere, +For aureoled by faery dews + The dear brown breasts appear. + +With rainbow radiance come and go + The airy breaths of day, +And eve is all a pearly glow + With moonlit winds a-play. + +The lips of twilight burn my brow, + The arms of night caress: +Glimmer her white eyes drooping now + With grave old tenderness. + +I close mine eyes from dream to be + The diamond-rayed again, +As in the ancient hours ere we + Forgot ourselves to men. + +And all I thought of heaven before + I find in earth below, +A sunlight in the hidden core + To dim the noon-day glow. + +And with the Earth my heart is glad, + I move as one of old, +With mists of silver I am clad + And bright with burning gold. + +--February 1896 + + + + + +Duality + + + "From me spring good and evil." +Who gave thee such a ruby flaming heart, +And such a pure cold spirit? Side by side +I know these must eternally abide +In intimate war, and each to each impart +Life from their pain, with every joy a dart +To wound with grief or death the self-allied. +Red life within the spirit crucified, +The eyes eternal pity thee, thou art +Fated with deathless powers at war to be, +Not less the martyr of the world than he +Whose thorn-crowned brow usurps the due of tears +We would pay to thee, ever ruddy life, +Whose passionate peace is still to be at strife, +O'erthrown but in the unconflicting spheres. + +--March 15, 1896 (This is unsigned, but in AE's "Collected Poems") + + + + + +The Element Language + + + + +In a chapter in the Secret Doctrine dealing with the origin of +language, H.P. Blavatsky makes some statements which are quoted +here and which should be borne well in mind in considering what +follows. "The Second Race had a 'Sound Language,' to wit, chant-like +sounds composed of vowels alone." From this developed "monosyllabic +speech which was the vowel parent, so to speak, of the monosyllabic +languages mixed with hard consonants still in use among the yellow +races which are known to the anthropologist. The linguistic +characteristics developed into the agglutinative languages.... +The inflectional speech, the root of the Sanskrit, was the first +language (now the mystery tongue of the Initiates) of the Fifth Race." + +The nature of that language has not been disclosed along with other +teaching concerning the evolution of the race, but like many other +secrets the details of which are still preserved by the Initiates, +it is implied in what has already been revealed. The application +to speech of the abstract formula of evolution which they have put +forward should result in its discovery, for the clue lies in +correspondences; know the nature of any one thing perfectly, learn +its genesis, development and consummation, and you have the key to +all the mysteries of nature. The microcosm mirrors the macrocosm. +But, before applying this key, it is well to glean whatever hints +have been given, so that there may be less chance of going astray +in our application. First, we gather from the Secret Doctrine that +the sounds of the human voice are correlated with the forces, colours, +numbers and forms. "Every letter has its occult meaning, the vowels +especially contain the most occult and formidable potencies." +(S.D., I, 94) and again it is said "The magic of the ancient priests +consisted in those days in addressing their gods in their own language. +The speech of the men of earth cannot reach the Lords, each must +be addressed in the language of his respective element"---is a +sentence which will be shown pregnant with meaning. "The book of +rules" cited adds as an explanation of the nature of that element- +language: "It is composed of Sounds, not words; of sounds, numbers +and figures. He who knows how to blend the three, will call forth +the response of the superintending Power" (the regent-god of the +specific element needed). Thus this "language is that of incantations +or of Mantras, as they are called in India, sound being the most +potent and effectual magic agent, and the first of the keys which +opens the door of communication between mortals and immortals." +(S.D. I, 464) + +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 evolutionists. 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 +(i.e. the letters) are so arranged that speech becomes potent enough +to guide the elements, 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 it. Yet those who wish to defend their right to hold +the occult teaching have little to fear from the champions of these +theories; they need not at all possess any deep scholarship or +linguistic attainment; the most cursory view of the roots of +primitive speech, so far as they have been collected, will show +that they contain few or no sounds of a character which would bear +out either the onomatopoetic or interjectional theories. The vast +majority of the roots of the Aryan language express abstract ideas, +they rarely indicate the particular actions which would be capable +of being suggested by any mimicry possible to the human voice. +I have selected at random from a list of roots their English +equivalents, in order to show the character of the roots and to +make clearer the difficulty of holding such views. The abstract +nature of the ideas, relating to actions and things which often +have no attendant sound in nature, will indicate what I mean. +What possible sounds could mimic the sense of "to move, to shine, +to gain, to flow, to burn, to blow, to live, to possess, to cover, +to fall, to praise, to think"? In fact the most abstract of all +seem the most primitive for we find them most fruitful in combination +to for other words. I hope to show this clearly later on. It is +unnecessary to discuss the claims of the interjectional theory, +as it is only a theory, and there are few roots for which we could +infer even a remote origin of this nature. The great objection +to the theory that speech was originally a matter of convention +and mutual agreement, is the scarcity of words among the roots +which express the wants of primitive man. As it is, 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 developed. However as the exponents of +rival theories have demolished each other's arguments, without +anyone having established a clear case for himself, it is not +necessary here to do more than indicate these theories and how +they may be met. + +In putting forward a hypothesis more in accord with the doctrine +of the spiritual origin of man, and in harmony with those occult +ideas concerning speech already quoted, I stand in a rather unusual +position, as I have to confess my ignorance of any of these primitive +languages. I am rather inclined however, to regard this on the +whole as an advantage for the following reasons. I think primitive +man (the early Aryan) chose his words by a certain intuition which +recognised an innate correspondence between the thought and the symbol. +Para passu with the growing complexity of civilization language lost +it spiritual character, "it fell into matter," to use H.P. Blavatsky's +expression; as the conventional words necessary to define artificial +products grew in number, in the memory of these words the spontaneity +of speech was lost, and that faculty became atrophied which enable +man to arrange with psychic rapidity ever new combinations of sounds +to express emotion and thought. Believing then that speech was +originally intuitive, and that it only need introspection and a +careful analysis of the sounds of the human voice, to recover the +faculty and correspondences between these sounds and forces, colours, +forms, etc., it will be seen why I do not regard my ignorance of +these languages as altogether a drawback. The correspondences +necessarily had to be evolved out of my inner consciousness, and +in doing this no aid could be derived from the Aryan roots as they +now stand. In the meaning attached to each letter is to be found +the key to the meaning and origin of roots; but the value of each +sound separately could never be discovered by an examination of +them in their combinations, though their value and purpose in +combination to form words might be evident enough once the +significance of the letters is shewn. Any lack of knowledge then +is only a disadvantage in this, that it limits the area from which +to choose illustrations. I have felt it necessary to preface what +I have to say with this confession, to show exactly the position +in which I stand. The correspondences between sounds and forces +were first evolved, and an examination of the Aryan roots proved +the key capable of application. + +-------- +Note:--In an article which appeared in the Theosophist, Dec. 1887, +I had attempted, with the assistance of my friend Mr. Chas. Johnston, +to put forward some of the ideas which form the subject matter of +this paper. Owing to the numerous misprints which rendered it +unintelligible I have felt it necessary to altogether re-write it. +---G.W.R. +-------- + +It is advisable at this point to consider how correspondences arose +between things seeming so diverse as sounds, forms, colors and forces. +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 life. This primal unity lies at the +root of all occult philosophy and science; the One becomes Many; the +ideas latent in Universal Mind are thrown outwards into manifestation. +In the Bhagavad-Gita (chap. IV) Krishna declares: "even though myself +unborn, of changeless essence, and the lord of all existence, yet +in presiding over nature--which is mine--I am born but through my +own maya, the mystic power of self-ideation, the eternal thought +in the eternal mind." "I establish the universe with a single +portion of myself and remain separate;" he says later on, and in +so presiding he becomes the cause of the appearance of the different +qualities. "I am in the taste in water, the light in the sun and moon, +the mystic syllable OM in all the Vedas, sound in space, the masculine +essence in men, the sweet smell in the earth, the brightness in the +fire" etc. Pouring forth then from one fountain we should expect +to find correspondences running everywhere throughout nature; we +should expect to find all these things capable of correlation. +Coexistent with manifestation arise the ideas of time and space, +and these qualities, attributes or forces, which are latent and +unified in the germinal thought, undergo a dual transformation; +they appear successively in time, and what we call evolution +progresses through Kalpa after Kalpa and Manvantara after Manvantara: +the moods which dominate these periods incarnate in matter, which +undergoes endless transformations and takes upon itself all forms +in embodying these sates of consciousness. + +The order in which these powers manifest is declared in the Puranas, +Upanishads and Tantric works. It is that abstract formula of +evolution which we can apply alike to the great and little things +in nature. This may be stated in many ways, but to put it briefly, +there is at first one divine Substance-Principle, Flame, Motion or +the Great Breath; from this emanate the elements Akasa, ether, fire, +air, water and earth; the spiritual quality becoming gradually +lessened in these as they are further removed from their divine +source; this is the descent into matter, the lowest rung of +manifestation. "Having consolidated itself in its last principle +as gross matter, it revolves around itself and informs with the +seventh emanation of the last, the first and lowest element." +(S.D. I, p. 297) This involution of the higher into the lower +urges life upwards through the mineral, vegetable, animal and human +kingdoms, until it culminates in spiritually and self consciousness. +It is not necessary here to go more into detail, it is enough to +say that the elements in nature begin as passive qualities, their +ethereal nature becomes gross, then positive and finally spiritual, +and this abstract formula holds good for everything in nature. +These changes which take place in the universe are repeated in man +its microcosm, the cosmic force which acts upon matter and builds +up systems of suns and planets, working in him repeats itself and +builds up a complex organism which corresponds and is correlated +with its cosmic counterpart. The individual spirit Purusha dwells +in the heart of every creature, its powers ray forth everywhere; +they pervade the different principles or vehicles; they act through +the organs of sense; they play upon the different plexuses; +every principle and organ being specialised as the vehicle for a +particular force or state of consciousness. All the sounds we can +utter have their significance; they express moods; they create forms; +they arouse to active life within ourselves spiritual and psychic +forces which are centered in various parts of the body. Hence the +whole organism of man is woven through and through with such +correspondences; our thoughts, emotions, sensations, the forces +we use, colours and sounds acting on different planes are all +correlated among themselves, and are also connected with the forces +evolving present about us, in which we live and move. We find +such correspondences form the subject matter of many Upanishads +and other occult treatises; for example in Yajnavalkyasamhita, +a treatise on Yoga philosophy, we find the sound "Ra" associated +with the element of fire, Tejas Tatwa, with the God Rudra, with a +centre in the body just below the heart. Other books add, as +correspondences of Tejas Tatwa, that its colour is red, its taste +is hot, its form is a triangle and its force is expansion. The +correspondences given in different treatises often vary; but what +we can gather with certainty is that there must have existed a +complete science of the subject; the correlation of sound with +such things, once understood, is the key which explains, not only +the magic potency of sound, but also the constuction of those roots +which remain as relics of the primitive Aryan speech. + +The thinking principle in man, having experiences of nature through +its vehicles, the subtle, astral and gross physical bodies, translates +these sensations into its own set of correspondences: this principle +in man, called the Manas, is associated with the element of akasa, +whose property is sound; the Manas moves about in akasa, and so +all ideas which enter into the mind awaken their correspondences +and are immediately mirrored in sound. Let us take as an instance +the perception of the colour red; this communicated to the mind +would set up a vibration, causing a sound to be thrown outwards in +mental manifestation, and in this way the impulse would arise to +utter the letter R, the correspondence of this colour. This Manasic +principle in man, the real Ego, is eternal in its nature; it exists +before and after the body, something accruing to it from each +incarnation; and so, because there is present in the body of man +this long-traveled soul, bearing with it traces of its eternal past, +these letters which are the elements of its speech have impressed +on them a correspondence, not only with the forces natural to its +transitory surroundings, but also with that vaster evolution of +nature in which it has taken part. These correspondences next +claim our attention. + +The correspondences here suggested do not I think at all exhaust +the possible significance of any of the letters. Every sound ought +to have a septenary relation to the planes of consciousness, and +the differentiations of life, force and matter on each. Complete +mastery of these would enable the knower to guide the various +currents of force, and to control the elemental knower to guide +the various currents of force, and to control the elemental beings +who live on the astral planes, for these respond, we are told, +"when the exact scale of being to which they belong is vibrated, +whether it be that of colour, form, sound or whatever else," +(Path, May, 1886) These higher interpretations I am unable to give; +it requires the deeper being to know the deeper meaning. Those +here appended may prove suggestive; I do not claim any finality +or authority for them, but they may be interesting to students of +the occult Upanishads where the mystic power of sound is continually +dwelt upon. + +The best method of arranging the letters is to begin with A and +conclude with M or OO: between these lie all the other letters, +and their successive order is determined by their spiritual or +material quality. Following A we get letters with an ethereal or +liquid sound, such as R, H, L or Y; they become gradually harsher +as they pass from the A, following the order of nature in this. +Half way we get letters like K, J, TCHAY, S, or ISH; then they +become softer, and the labials, like F, B and M, have something +of the musical quality of the earlier sounds. If we arrange them +in this manner, it will be found to approximate very closely to the +actual order in which the sounds arise in the process of formation. +We begin then with + +A--This represents God, creative force, the Self, the I, the +beginning or first cause. "Among letters I am the vowel A," says +Krishna in the Bagavad. It is without colour, number or form. + +R--This is motion, air, breath or spirit; it is also abstract desire, +and here we find the teaching of the Rig-Veda in harmony. "Desire +first arose in It which was the primal germ of mind, and which sages, +searching with their intellect, have discovered in their hearts to +be the bond which connects Entity with non-Entity." The corresponding +colour of this letter is Red. + +H (hay) and L--Motion awakens Heat and Light which correspond +respectively to H and L. That primordial ocean of being, says the +book of Dzyan, was "fire and heat and motion:" which are explained +as the noumenal essences of these material manifestations. The +colour of H is Orange, of L yellow. L also conveys the sense +of radiation. + +Y (yea)--This letter signifies condensation, drawing together, the +force of attraction, affinity. Matter at the stage of evolution +to which this refers is gaseous, nebulous, or ethereal: the fire- +mists in space gather together to become worlds. The colour Y +is green. + +W (way)--Water is the next element in manifestation: in cosmic +evolution it is spoken of as chaos, the great Deep; its colour, +I think, is indigo. After this stage the elements no longer manifest +singly, but in pairs, or with a dual aspect. + +G (gay) and K--Reflection and Hardness; matter becomes crystalline +or metalic: the corresponding colour is blue. + +S and Z--A further differentiation; matter is atomic: the abstract +significance of number or seed is attached to these letters: their +colour is violet. + +J and Tchay--Earth and gross Substance: this is the lowest point +in evolution; the worlds have now condensed into solid matter. +The colour of these letters is orange. + +N and Ng--Some new forces begin to work here; the corresponding +sounds have, I think, the meaning of continuation and transformation +or change: these new forces propel evolution in the upward or +ascending arc: their colour is yellow. + +D and T--The colour of these letters is red. The involution of +the higher forces into the lower forms alluded to before now begins. +D represents this infusion of life into matter; it is descent and +involution, death or forgetfulness, perhaps, for a time to the +incarnating power. T is evolution, the upward movement generating +life; the imprisoned energies surge outwards and vegetation begins. + +Ith and Ish--These correspond respectively to growth or expansion +and vegetation; the earth, as Genesis puts it, "puts forth grass +and herbs and trees yielding fruit." The colour of these letters +is green. + +B and P--After the flora the fauna. B is Life or Being, animal and +human. Humanity appears; B is masculine, P feminine. P has also +a meaning of division, differentiation or production, which may +refer to maternity. The colour here is blue. + +F and V--The colour is violet. Evolution moves still upwards, +entering the ethereal planes once more. Lightness and vastness +are the characteristics of this stage: we begin to permeate with +part of our nature the higher spheres of being and reach the +consummation in the last stage, represented by + +M--which has many meanings; it is thought, it is the end or death +to the personality, it is the Receiver into which all flows, it +is also the Symbol of maternity in a universal sense, it has this +meaning when the life impulse (which is always represented by a +vowel) follows it, as in "ma." It is the Pralaya of the worlds; +the lips close as it is uttered. Its colour is indigo. + +O--The last vowel sound symbolizes abstract space, the spirit +assumes once more the garment of primordial matter; it is the +Nirvana of eastern philosophy. + +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 allow. Prof. Max Muller says in the +introduction to Biographies of Words. "Of ultimates in the sense +of primary elements of language, we can never hope to know anything," +and he also asserts that the roots are incapable of further analysis. +I will endeavour now to show that this further analysis can be made. + +I should not be understood to say that all the so-called roots can +be made to yield a secret meaning when analysed. Philologists are +not all agreed as to what constitutes a root, or what words are roots, +and in this general uncertainty it should not be expected that these +correspondences, which as I have said are not complete, will apply +in every instance. There are many other things which add to the +difficulty; a root is often found to have very many different meanings; +some of these may have arisen in the manner I suggest, and many +more are derived from the primary meanings and are therefore not +intuitive at all. The intuition will have to be exercised to discover +what sensations would likely be awakened by the perception of an +action or object; or if the root has an abstract significance, +the thought must be analysed in order to discover its essential +elements. I described previously the manner in which I thought a +single sensation, the perception of the colour Red, would suggest +its correspondence in sound, the letter R. Where the idea is more +complex, a combination of two, tree or four sounds are necessary +to express it, but they all originate in the same way. The reader +who desires to prove the truth of the theory here put forward can +adopt either of two methods; he can apply the correspondences to +the roots, or he may try for himself to create words expressing +simple, elemental ideas by combining the necessary letters; and +then, if he turns to the roots, he will probably find that many +of the words he has created in this way were actually used long ago, +and this pratice will enable him more easily to understand in what +sense, or on what plane, any particular letter should be taken. +I think it probably that in the Sacred Language before mentioned, +this could at once have been recognized by a difference in the +intonation of the voice. This may have been a survival to some +extent of the chanting which was the distinguishing characteristic +of the speech of the Second Race. (Secret Doctrine, vol. II, p. 198) +In the written language it is not easily possible to discover this +without much thought, unless endeavour has previously been made to +re-awaken the faculty of intuitive speech, which we formerly possessed +and which became atrophied. + +It is not possible here to go into the analysis of the roots at +much length: I can only illustrate the method which will be found to +apply more surely where the roots express most elemental conceptions. +Let us take as example the root, Wal, to boil. Boiling is brought +about by the action of fire upon water, and here we find the letters W, +water, and L, light or fire, united. In War, to well up as a spring, +the sounds for water and motion are combined. A similar idea is +expressed in Wat, to well out; the abstract significance of T, +which is to evolve, come forth or appear, being here applied to a +special action. A good method to follow in order to understand +how the pure abstract meaning of a letter may be applied in many +different ways, is to take some of the roots in which any one letter +is prominent and then compare them. Let us take D. It has an +abstract relation to involution or infusion; it may be view in +two ways, either as positive or negative; as the exertion of force +or the reception of force. Now I think if we compare the following +roots a similarity of action will be found to underlie them all. +Id, to swell; Ad, to eat; Dhu, to put; Da, to bind; Ad, to smell; +Du, to enter; Da, to suck. + +I am not here going exhaustively to analyse the roots, as this is +not an essay upon philology, but an attempt to make clear some of +the mysteries of sound; those who wish to study this side of the +subject more fully can study with this light the primitive languages. +A few more examples must suffice. The root, Mar, to die, may be +variously interpreted as the end of motion, the cessation of breath, +or the withdrawal of spirit, R being expressive of what on various +planes is motion, spirit, air and breath. In Bur, to be active, +life and movement are combined,: in Gla, to glow, reflection and +light; the same idea is in Gol, a lake. We find combined in Kar, +to grind, hardness and motion: in Thah, to generate, expansion +and heat; in Pak, to comb, division and hardness, the suggestion +being division with some hard object; the same idea is in Pik, +to cut. In Pis, to pound, the letters for division and matter in +its molecular state are combined: in Fath, to fly, lightness and +expansion: in Yas, to gird, drawing together and number; in Rab, +to be vehement, energy and life; in Rip, to break, energy and +division. In Yudh, to fight, the meaning suggested may be, coming +together to destroy. 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 words. +Ak, to be sharp; Ank, to bend; Idh, to kindle; Ar, to move; +Al, to burn; Ka, to sharpen; Har, to burn; Ku, to hew; Sa, to +produce; Gal, to be yellow or green; Ghar, to be yellow or green; +Thak, to thaw; Tar, to go through; Thu, to swell; Dak, to bite; +Nak, to perish; Pa, to nourish, to feed; Par, to spare; Pi, to +swell, to be fat; Pu, to purify; Pu, to beget; pau, little; +Put, to swell out; Flu, to fly, to float; Bar, to carry; Bhu, +to be, to become; Bla, to blow as a flower; Ma, to think; Mak, +to pound; Mi, to diminish; Mu, to shut up, to enclose; Yas, to +seethe, to ferment; Ys, to bind together, to mix; Yuk, to yoke, +to join; Ra, to love; Rik, to furrow; Luh, to shine; Rud, to +redden, to be red; Lub, to lust [?]; Lu, to cast off from; Wag, +to be moist; Wam, to spit out; So, to sow, to scatter; Sak, to +cut, to cleave; Su, to generate; Swa, to toss; Swal, to boil up; +Ska, to cut; Skap, to hew; Sniw, to snow; Spew, to spit out; +Swid, to sweat; etc. An analysis of some sacred words and the +names of Deities may now prove interesting. + +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 name, for in this way the powers +and functons of the various gods were indicated. If we take as +examples names familiar to everyone, Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra, +the three aspects of Parabrahm in manifestation, and analyse them +in the same way as the roots, they will be found to yield up their +essential meaning. Form the union of B, life, R, breath, and Ma, +the producer, I would translate Brahma as "the creative breath of life." +Vishnu similarly analysed is the power that "pervades, expands, and +preserves;" I infer this from the union of V, whose force is pervasion, +Sh, expansion, and N, continuation. Rudra is "the breath that absorbs +the breath." Aum is the most sacred name of all names; it is held +to symbolize the action of the Great breath from its dawn to its close: +it is the beginning, A, the middle, U, and the close M. It is also +an affirmation of the relation of our spiritual nature to the universal +Deity whose aspects are Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra. I shall have +more to say of the occult power of this word later on. Taken in +conjunction with two other words, it is "the threefold designation +of the Supreme Being." Om Tat Sat has a significance referable to +a still higher aspect of Deity than that other Trinity; the Om +here signifies that it is the All; Tat that it is self-existent +or self-evolved; I think the repetition of the T in Tat gives it +this meaning: Sat would signify that in it are contained the seeds +of all manifestation. H.P. Blavatsky translates this word as Be-ness, +which seems to be another way of expressing the same idea. The +mystic incantation familiar to all students of the Upanishads, Om, +bhur, Om, Bhwar, Om, Svar," is an assertion of the existence of +the Divine Self in all the three worlds or Lokas. Loka is generally +translated as a place; the letters suggest to me that a place or +world is only a hardening or crystalization of Fire or Light. +In Bhur Loka the crystalization of the primordial element of Fire +leaves only one principle active, the life principle generally called +Prana. Bhur Loka then is the place where life is active; we have +B, life, and R, movement, to suggest this. In the word Bhuvar a +new letter, V, is inserted: this letter, as I have said, corresponds +to the Astral world, so the Bhuvar Loka is the place where both +the Astral and Life principles are active. It is more difficult +to translate Svar Loka: there is some significance attached here +to the letter S, which I cannot grasp. It might mean that this +world contains the germs of Astral life; but this does not appear +sufficiently distinctive, Svar Loka is generally known as Devachan, +and the whole incantation would mean that the Deity is present +throughout the Pranic, Astral and Devachanic worlds. It is +interesting to note what is said in the Glossary by H.P.B., about +these three words (p. 367): they are said to be "lit by and born +of fire," and to possess creative powers. The repetition of them +with the proper accent should awaken in the occultist the powers +which correspond to the three worlds. I think by these examples +that the student will be able to get closer to the true significance +of incantation; those who understand the occult meaning of the +colours attached to the letters will be able to penetrate deeper +than others into these mysteries. + +I may here say something about the general philosophy of incantation. +There is said to be in nature a homogenous sound or tone which +everywhere stirs up the molecules into activity. This is the "Word" +which St. John says was in the beginning (the plane of causation); +in another sense it is the Akasa of occult science, the element +of sound, it is the Pythagorean "music of the spheres." The +universe is built up, moulded and sustained by this element which +is everywhere present, though inaudible by most men at this stage +of evolution. It is not sound by the physical ears, but deep in +the heart sometimes may be heard "the mystic sounds of the Akasic +heights." The word Aum represents this homogeneous sound, it stirs +up a power which is latent in it called the Yajna. The Glossary +says that this "is one of the forms of Akasa within which the mystic +word calls it into existence:" it is a bridge by means of which +the soul can cross over to the world of the Immortals. It is this +which is alluded to in the Nada-Bindu Upanishad. "The mind becoming +insensible to the external impressions, becomes one with the sound, +as milk with water, and then becomes rapidly absorbed in chidakas +(the Akasa where consciousness pervades). The sound..... serves +the purpose of a lure to the ocean waves of Chitta (mind), ...the +serpent Chitta through listening to the Nada is entirely absorbed +in it, and becoming unconscious of everything concentrates itself +on the sound." We may quote further from another Upanishad. +"Having left behind the body, the organs and objects of sense, and +having seized the bow whose stick is fortitude and whose string +is asceticism, and having killed with the arrow of freedom from +egoism the first guardian, ....he crosses by means of the boat Om +to the other side of the ether within the heart, and when the ether +is revealed he enters slowly, as a miner seeking minerals enters +a mine, into the hall of Brahman. ...Thenceforth, pure, clean, +tranquil, breathless, endless, imperishable, firm, unborn, and +independent, he stands in his own greatness, and having seen the +Self standing in his own greatness, he looks at the wheel of +the world." + +Let no one think that this is all, and that the mere repetition of +words will do anything except injure those who attempt the use of +these methods without further knowledge. It has been said (Path, +April, 1887) that Charity, Devotion, and the like virtues are +structural necessities in the nature of the man who would make this +attempt. We cannot, unless the whole nature has been purified by +long services and sacrifice, and elevated into mood at once full +of reverence and intense will, become sensitive to the subtle powers +possessed by the spiritual soul. + +What is here said about the Aum which is the name of our own God, +and the way in which it draws forth the hidden power will serve to +illustrate the method in using other words. The Thara-Sara Upanishad +of Sukla-Yajur Veda says "Through Om is Brahm produced: through Na +is Vishnu produced; through Ma is Rudra produced, etc." All these +are names of gods; they correspond to forces in man and nature, +in their use the two are united, and the man mounts upwards to +the Immortals. + +I have been forced to compress what I had to say in these articles, +I have only been able to suggest rather than put forward ideas, +for my own knowledge of these correspondences is very incomplete. +As far as I know the subject has been untouched hitherto, and this +must be my excuse for the meagre nature of the information given. +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 flowers, +trees, and natural forms. 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 alphabets. + +--5/15, 6/15, 7/15, 8/15, 9/15, 1893 + + + + + +At the Dawn of the Kaliyuga * + + + + +Where we sat on the hillside together that evening the winds were +low and the air was misty with light. The huge sunbrowned slope +on which we were sitting was sprinkled over with rare spokes of grass; +it ran down into the vagueness underneath where dimly the village +could be seen veiled by its tresses of lazy smoke. Beyond was a +bluer shade and a deeper depth, out of which, mountain beyond mountain, +the sacred heights of Himalay rose up through star-sprinkled zones +of silver and sapphire air. How gay were our hearts! The silent +joy of the earth quickened their beating. What fairy fancies +alternating with the sweetest laughter came from childish lips! +In us the Golden Age whispered her last, and departed. Up came +the white moon, her rays of dusty pearl slanting across the darkness +from the old mountain to our feet. "A bridge!" we cried, "Primaveeta, +who long to be a sky-walker, here is a bridge for you!" + +Primaveeta only smiled; he was always silent; he looked along +the gay leagues of pulsating light that lead out to the radiant +mystery. We went on laughing and talking; then Primaveeta broke +his silence. + +"Vyassa," he said, "I went out in thought, I went into the light, +but it was not that light. I felt like a fay; I sparkled with +azure and lilac; I went on, and my heart beat with longing for I +knew not what, and out and outward I sped till desire stayed and I +paused, and the light looked into me full of meaning. I felt like +a spark, and the dancing of the sea of joy bore me up, up, up!" + +"Primaveeta, who can understand you?" said his little sister Vina, +"you always talk of the things no one can see; Vyassa, sing for us." + +"Yes! yes! let Vyassa sing!" they all cried; and they shouted and +shouted until I began:-- + +"Shadowy petalled, like the lotus, loom the mountains with their snows: +Through the sapphire Soma rising, such a flood of glory throws +As when the first in yellow splendour Brahma from the lotus rose. + +"High above the darkening mounds where fade the fairy lights of day, +All the tiny planet folk are waving us from far away; +Thrilled by Brahma's breath they sparkle with the magic of the gay. + +"Brahma, all alone in gladness, dreams the joys that throng in space, +Shepherds all the whirling splendours onward to their resting place, +Where at last in wondrous silence fade in One the starry race." + +"Vyassa is just like Primaveeta, he is full of dreams to-night," +said Vina. And indeed I was full of dreams; my laughter had all +died away; a vague and indescribable unrest came over me; the +universal air around seemed thrilled by the stirring of unknown powers. +We sat silent awhile; then Primaveeta cried out: "Oh, look, look, +look, the Devas! the bright persons! they fill the air with +their shining." + +We saw them pass by and we were saddened, for they were full of +solemn majesty; overhead a chant came from celestial singers full +of the agony of farewell and departure, and we knew from their +song that the gods were about to leave the earth which would +nevermore or for ages witness their coming. The earth and the air +around it seemed to tingle with anguish. Shuddering we drew closer +together on the hillside while the brightness of the Devas passed +onward and away; and clear cold and bright as ever, the eternal +constellations, which change or weep not, shone out, and we were +alone with our sorrow. To awed we were to speak, but we clung closer +together and felt a comfort in each other; and so, crouched in +silence; within me I heard as from far away a note of deeper anguish, +like a horn blown out of the heart of the ancient Mother over a +perished hero: in a dread moment I saw the death and the torment; +he was her soul-point, the light she wished to shine among men. +What would follow in the dark ages to come, rose up before me in +shadowy, over-crowding pictures; like the surf of a giant ocean +they fluctuated against the heavens, crested with dim, giantesque +and warring figures. I saw stony warriors rushing on to battle; +I heard their fierce hard laughter as they rode over the trampled foe; +I saw smoke arise from a horrible burning, and thicker and blacker +grew the vistas, with here and there a glow from some hero-heart +that kept the true light shining within. I turned to Primaveeta +who was crouched beside me: he saw with me vision for vision, but, +beyond the thick black ages that shut me out from hope, he saw the +resurrection of the True, and the homecoming of the gods. All this +he told me later, but now our tears were shed together. Then +Primaveeta rose up and said, "Vyasa, where the lights were shining, +where they fought for the True, there you and I must fight; for, +from them spreads out the light of a new day that shall dawn behind +the darkness." I saw that he was no longer a dreamer; his face +was firm with a great resolve. I could not understand him, but I +determined to follow him, to fight for the things he fought for, +to work with him, to live with him, to die with him; and so, +thinking and trying to understand, my thought drifted back to that +sadness of the mother which I had first felt. I saw how we share +joy or grief with her, and, seized with the inspiration of her sorrow, +I sang about her loved one:-- + +"Does the earth grow grey with grief +For her hero darling fled? +Though her vales let fall no leaf, +In our hearts her tears are shed. + +"Still the stars laugh on above, +Not to them her grief is said; +Mourning for her hero love +In our hearts her tears are shed. + +"We her children mourn for him, +Mourn the elder hero dead; +In the twilight grey and dim +In our hearts the tears are shed." + +"Vyassa," they said, "you will break our hearts." And we sat in +silence and sorrow more complete till we heard weary voices calling +up to us from the darkness below: "Primaveeta! Vyassa! Chandra! +Parvati! Vina! Vasudeva!" calling all our names. We went down +to our homes in the valley; the breadth of glory had passed away +from the world, and our hearts were full of the big grief that +children hold. + +--October 15, 1893 + +-------------- +* Note--Kaliyuga. The fourth, the black or iron age, our present +period, the duration of which is 432,000 years. It began 3,102 +years B.C. at the moment of Krishna's death, and the first cycle +of 5,000 years will end between the years 1897 and 1898. +-------------- + + + + + +The Meditation of Parvati + + + + +Parvata rose up from his seat under the banyan tree. He passed +his hand unsteadily over his brow. Throughout the day the young +ascetic had been plunged in profound meditation, and now, returning +from heaven to earth, he was dazed like one who awakens in darkness +and knows not where he is. All day long before his inner eye burned +the light of the Lokas, until he was wearied and exhausted with +their splendours; space glowed like a diamond with intolerable +lustre, and there was no end to the dazzling processions of figures. +He had seen the fiery dreams of the dead in Swargam. He had been +tormented by the sweet singing of the Gandharvas, whose choral song +reflected in its ripples the rhythmic pulse of Being. He saw how +the orbs, which held them, were set within luminous orbs still of +wider circuit, and vaster and vaster grew the vistas, and smaller +seemed the soul at gaze, until at last, a mere speck of life, he +bore the burden of innumerable worlds. Seeking for Brahma, he +found only the great illusion as infinite as Brahma's being. + +If these things were shadows, the earth and the forests he returned +to, viewed at evening, seemed still more unreal, the mere dusky +flutter of a moth's wings in space. Filmy and evanescent, if he +had sunk down as through a transparency into the void, it would not +have been wonderful. Parvati turned homeward, still half in trance: +as he threaded the dim alleys he noticed not the flaming eyes that +regarded him from the gloom; the serpents rustling amid the +undergrowths; the lizards, fire-flies, insects, the innumerable +lives of which the Indian forest was rumourous; they also were +but shadows. He paused half unconsciously at the village, hearing +the sound of human voices, of children at play. He felt a throb +of pity for these tiny being who struggled and shouted, rolling +over each other in ecstasies of joy; the great illusion had indeed +devoured them before whom the Devas once were worshipers. Then +close beside him he heard a voice; its low tones, its reverence +soothed him: there was something akin to his own nature in it; +it awakened him fully. A little crowd of five or six people were +listening silently to an old man who read from a palm-leaf manuscript. +Parvati knew his order by the orange-coloured robes he wore; a +Bhikshu of the new faith. What was his delusion? + +The old man lifted his head for a moment as the ascetic came closer, +and then he continued as before. He was reading the "Legend of +the Great King of Glory." Parvati listened to it, comprehending +with the swift intuition and subtlety of a mystic the inner meaning +of the Wonderful Wheel, the elephant Treasure, the Lake and palace +of Righteousness. He followed the speaker, understanding all +until he came to the meditation of the King: then he heard with +vibrating heart, how "the Great King of Glory entered the golden +chamber, and set himself down on the silver couch. And he let his +mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of Love: and +so the second quarter, and so the third, and so the fourth. And +thus the whole wide world, above below, around and everywhere, +did he continue to pervade with heart of Love, far-reaching, grown +great, and beyond measure." When the old Bhikshu had ended, Parvati +rose up, and went back again into the forest. He had found the +secret of the True--to leave behind the vistas, and enter into the +Being. Another legend rose up in his mind, a fairy legend of +righteousness, expanding and filling the universe, a vision beautiful +and full of old enchantment; his heart sang within him. He seated +himself again under the banyan tree; he rose up in soul; he saw +before him images, long-forgotten, of those who suffer in the +sorrowful old earth; he saw the desolation and loneliness of old age, +the insults to the captive, the misery of the leper and outcast, +the chill horror and darkness of life in a dungeon. He drank in +all their sorrow. For his heart he went out to them. Love, a +fierce and tender flame arose; pity, a breath from the vast; +sympathy, born of unity. This triple fire sent forth its rays; +they surrounded those dark souls; they pervaded them; they beat +down oppression. + + +While Parvati, with spiritual magic, sent forth the healing powers, +far away at that moment, in his hall, a king sat enthroned. A +captive was bound before him; bound, but proud, defiant, unconquerable +of soul. There was silence in the hall until the king spake the doom, +the torture, for this ancient enemy. The king spake: "I had thought +to do some fierce thing to thee, and so end thy days, my enemy. +But, I remember with sorrow, the great wrongs we have done to each +other, and the hearts made sore by our hatred. I shall do no more +wrong to thee. Thou art free to depart. Do what thou wilt. I will +make restitution to thee as far as may be for thy ruined state." +Then the soul no might could conquer was conquered, and the knees +were bowed; his pride was overcome. "My brother!" he said, and +could say no more. + + +To watch for years a little narrow slit high up in the dark cell, +so high that he could not reach up and look out; and there to see +daily a little change from blue to dark in the sky had withered +that prisoner's soul. The bitter tears came no more; hardly even +sorrow; only a dull, dead feeling. But that day a great groan +burst from him: he heard outside the laugh of a child who was playing +and gathering flowers under the high, grey walls: then it all came +over him, the divine things missed, the light, the glory, and the +beauty that the earth puts forth for her children. The narrow slit +was darkened: half of a little bronze face appeared. + +"Who are you down there in the darkness who sigh so? Are you all +alone there? For so many years! Ah, poor man! I would come down +to you if I could, but I will sit here and talk to you for a while. +Here are flowers for you," and a little arm showered them in handfuls; +the room was full of the intoxicating fragrance of summer. Day +after day the child came, and the dull heart entered into human +love once more. + + +At twilight, by a deep and wide river, sat an old woman alone, dreamy, +and full of memories. The lights of the swift passing boats, and +the lights of the stars, were just as in childhood and the old +love-time. Old, feeble, it was time for her to hurry away from +the place which changed not with her sorrow. + +"Do you see our old neighbour there?" said Ayesha to her lover. +"They say she once was as beautiful as you would make me think I +am now. How lonely she must be! Let us come near and speak to her"; +and the lover went gladly. Though they spoke to each other rather +than to her, yet something of the past--which never dies when love, +the immortal, has pervaded it--rose up again as she heard their voices. +She smiled, thinking of years of burning beauty. + + +A teacher, accompanied by his chelas, was passing by the wayside +where a leper was sitting. The teacher said, "Here is our brother +whom we may not touch. But he need not be shut out from truth. +We may sit down where he can listen." He sat down on the wayside +beside the leper, and his chelas stood around him. He spoke words +full of love, kindliness, and pity, the eternal truths which make +the soul grow full of sweetness and youth. A small old spot began +to glow in the heart of the leper, and the tears ran down his +withered cheeks. + +All these were the deeds of Parvati, the ascetic; and the Watcher +who was over him from all eternity made a great stride towards +that soul. + +--November 15, 1893 + + + + + +A Talk by the Euphrates + + + + +Priest Merodach walked with me at evening along the banks of the +great river. + +"You feel despondent now," he said, "but this was inevitable. You +looked for a result equal to your inspiration. You must learn to +be content with that alone. Finally an inspiration will come for +every moment, and in every action a divine fire reveal itself." + +"I feel hopeless now. Why is this? Wish and will are not less +strong than before." + +"Because you looked for a result beyond yourself, and, attached +to external things, your mind drew to itself subtle essences of +earth which clouded it. But there is more in it than that. Nature +has a rhythm, and that part of us which is compounded of her elements +shares in it. You were taught that nature is for ever becoming: +the first emanation in the great deep is wisdom: wisdom changes +into desire, and an unutterable yearning to go outward darkens the +primeval beauty. Lastly, the elements arise, blind, dark, troubled. +Nature in them imagines herself into forgetfulness. This rhythm +repeats itself in man: a moment of inspiration--wise and clear, +we determine; then we are seized with a great desire which impels +us to action; the hero, the poet, the lover, all alike listen to +the music of life, and then endeavour to express its meaning in +word or deed; coming in contact with nature, its lethal influence +drowses them; so baffled and forgetful, they wonder where the God is. +To these in some moment the old inspiration returns, the universe is +as magical and sweet as ever, a new impulse is given, and so they +revolve, perverting and using, each one in his own way, the +cosmic rhythm." + +"Merodach, what you say seems truth, and leaving aside the cosmic +rhythm, which I do not comprehend, define again for me the three states." + +"You cannot really understand the little apart from the great; but, +applying this to your own case, you remember you had a strange +experience, a God seemed to awaken within you. This passed away; +you halted a little while, full of strange longing, eager for the +great; yet you looked without on the hither side of that first moment, +and in this second period, which is interchange and transition, your +longing drew to you those subtle material essences I spoke of, which, +like vapour surround, dull and bewilder the mind with strange +phantasies of form and sensation. Every time we think with longing +of any object, these essences flow to us out of the invisible spheres +and steep us with the dew of matter: then we forget the great, we +sleep, we are dead or despondent as you are despondent." + +I sighed as I listened. A watchfulness over momentary desires was +the first step; I had thought of the tasks of the hero as leading +upwards to the Gods, but this sleepless intensity of will working +within itself demanded a still greater endurance. I neared my +destination; I paused and looked round; a sudden temptation +assailed me; the world was fair enough to live in. Why should I +toil after the far-off glory? Babylon seemed full of mystery, its +temples and palaces steeped in the jewel glow and gloom of evening. +In far-up heights of misty magnificence the plates of gold on the +temples rayed back the dying light: in the deepening vault a starry +sparkle began: an immense hum arose from leagues of populous streets: +the scents of many gardens by the river came over me: I was lulled +by the splash of fountains. Closer I heard voices and a voice I +loved: I listened as a song came + +"Tell me, youthful lover, whether + Love is joy or woe? +Are they gay or sad together + On that way who go?" + +A voice answered back + +"Radiant as a sunlit feather, + Pure and proud they go; +With the lion look together + Glad their faces show." + +My sadness departed; I would be among them shortly, and would walk +and whisper amid those rich gardens where beautiful idleness was +always dreaming. Merodach looked at me. + +"You will find these thoughts will hinder you much," he said. + +"You mean--" I hesitated, half-bewildered, half-amazed. "I say +that a thought such as that which flamed about you just now, driving +your sadness away, will recur again when next you are despondent, +and so you will accustom yourself to find relief on the great quest +by returning to an old habit of the heart, renewing what should be +laid aside. This desire of men and women for each other is the +strongest tie among the many which bind us: it is the most difficult +of all to overcome. The great ones of the earth have passed that +way themselves with tears." + +"But surely, Merodach, you cannot condemn what I may say is so much +a part of our nature--of all nature." + +"I did not condemn it, when I said it is the strongest tie that +binds us here: it is sin only for those who seek for freedom." + +"Merodach, must we then give up love?" + +"There are two kinds of love men know of. There is one which begins +with a sudden sharp delight--it dies away into infinite tones of +sorrow. There is a love which wakes up amid dead things: it is +a chill at first, but it takes root, it warms, it expands, it lays +hold of universal joys. So the man loves: so the God loves. +Those who know this divine love are wise indeed. They love not +one or another: they are love itself. Think well over this: +power alone is not the attribute of the Gods; there are no such +fearful spectres in that great companionship. And now, farewell, +we shall meet again." + +I watched his departing figure, and then I went on my own way. I +longed for that wisdom, which they only acquire who toil, and strive, +and suffer; but I was full of a rich life which longed for excitement +and fulfilment, and in that great Babylon sin did not declare itself +in its true nature, but was still clouded over by the mantle of +primeval beauty. + +--December 15, 1893 + + + + + +The Cave of Lilith + + + + +Out of her cave came the ancient Lilith; Lilith the wise; Lilith +the enchantress. There ran a little path outside her dwelling; +it wound away among the mountains and glittering peaks, and before +the door, one of the Wise Ones walked to and fro. Out of her cave +came Lilith, scornful of his solitude, exultant in her wisdom, +flaunting her shining and magical beauty. + +"Still alone, star gazer! Is thy wisdom of no avail? Thou hast +yet to learn that I am more powerful knowing the ways of error than +you who know the ways of truth." + +The Wise One heeded her not, but walked to and fro. His eyes were +turned to the distant peaks, the abode of his brothers. The +starlight fell about him; a sweet air came down the mountain path, +fluttering his white robe; he did not cease from his steady musing. +Like a mist rising between rocks wavered Lilith in her cave. +Violet, with silvery gleams her raiment; her face was dim; over +her head rayed a shadowy diadem, 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 to, that the eyes burnt +with his own longing, that the lips were parted to yield to the +secret wishes of his heart. + +"Tell me, for I would know, why do you wait so long? I, here in +my cave between the valley and the height blind the eyes of all +who would pass. Those who by chance go forth to you come back to +me again, and but one in ten thousand passes on. My delusions are +sweeter to them than truth. I offer every soul its own shadow; +I pay them their own price. I have grown rich, though the simple +shepards of old gave me birth. Men have made me; the mortals have +made me immortal. I rose up like a vapour from their first dreams, +and every sigh since then and every laugh remains with me. I am +made up of hopes and fears. The subtle princes lay out their plans +of conquest in my cave, and there the hero dreams, and there the +lovers of all time write in flame their history. I am wise, holding +all experience, to tempt, to blind, to terrify. None shall pass by. +Why, therefore, dost thou wait?" + +The Wise One looked at her and she shrank back a little, and a +little her silver and violet faded, but out of her cave her voice +still sounded: + +"The stars and the starry crown are not yours alone to offer, and +every promise you make, I make also. I offer the good and the bad +indifferently. The lover, the poet, the mystic, and all who would +drink of the first Fountain, I delude with my mirage. I was the +Beatrice who led Dante upward: the gloom was in me, and the glory +was mine also, and he went not out of my cave. The stars and the +shining of heaven were delusions of the infinite I wove about him. +I captured his soul with the shadow of space; a nutshell would +have contained the film. I smote on the dim heart-chords the +manifold music of being. God is sweeter in the human than the +human in God: therefore he rested in me." + +She paused a little, and then went on. + +"There is that fantastic fellow who slipped by me--could your wisdom +not keep him? He returned to me full of anguish, and I wound my +arms round him like a fair melancholy, and now his sadness is as +sweet to him as hope was before his fall. Listen to his song." +She paused again. A voice came up from the depths chanting a +sad knowledge-- + +"What of all the will to do? + It has vanished long ago, +For a dream shaft pierced it through + From the unknown Archer's bow. + +What of all the soul to think? + Some one offered it a cup +Filled with a diviner drink, + And the flame has burned it up. + +What of all the hope to climb? + Only in the self we grope +To the misty end of time; + Truth has put an end to hope. + +What of all the heart to love? + Sadder than for will or soul, +No light lured it on above; + Love has found itself the whole." + + "Is it not pitiful? I pity only those who pity themselves. Yet +he is mine more surely than ever. This is the end of human wisdom. +How shall he now escape? What shall draw him up?" + +"His will shall awaken," said the Wise One. "I do not sorrow over +him, for long is the darkness before the spirit is born. He learns +in your caves not to see, not to hear, not to think, for very anguish +flying your delusions." + +"Sorrow is a great bond," Lilith said. + +"It is a bond to the object of sorrow. He weeps what thou can never +give him, a life never breathed in thee. He shall come forth, and +thou shalt not see him at the time of passing. When desire dies, +will awakens, the swift, the invisible. He shall go forth, and +one by one the dwellers in your caves will awaken and pass onwards; +this small old path will be trodden by generation after generation. +You, too, oh, shining Lilith, will follow, not as mistress, but +as hand-maiden." + +"I shall weave spells," Lilith cried. "They shall never pass me. +With the sweetest poison I will drug them. They will rest drowsily +and content as of old. Were they not giants long ago, mighty men +and heroes? I overcame them with young enchantment. Will they +pass by feeble and longing for bygone joys, for the sins of their +proud exultant youth, while I have grown into a myriad wisdom?" + +The Wise One walked to and fro as before, and there was silence, +and I thought I saw that with steady will he pierced the tumultuous +gloom of the cave, and a heart was touched here and there in its +blindness. And I thought I saw that Sad Singer become filled with +a new longing to be, and that the delusions of good and evil fell +from him, and that he came at last to the knees of the Wise One +to learn the supreme truth. In the misty midnight I hear these +three voices, the Sad Singer, the Enchantress Lilith, and the Wise +One. From the Sad Singer I learned that thought of itself leads +nowhere, but blows the perfume from every flower, and cuts the +flower from every tree, and hews down every tree from the valley, +and in the end goes to and fro in waste places gnawing itself in +a last hunger. I learned from Lilith that we weave our own +enchantment, and bind ourselves with out own imagination; to think +of the true as beyond us, or to love the symbol of being, is to +darken the path to wisdom, and to debar us from eternal beauty. +From the Wise One I learned that the truest wisdom is to wait, to +work, and to will in secret; those who are voiceless today, tomorrow +shall be eloquent, and the earth shall hear them, and her children +salute them. Of these three truths the hardest to learn is the +silent will. Let us seek for the highest truth. + +--February 15, 1894 + + + + + +A Strange Awakening + + + + +Chapter I. + + +That we are living in the Dark Age we all know, yet we do not realise +half its darkness. We endure physical and moral suffering; but, +fortunately or unfortunately, we are oblivious of the sorrow of +all sorrows--the Spiritual Tragedy. Such a rust has come over the +pure and ancient spirit of life, that the sceptre and the diadem +and the starry sway we held are unremembered; and if anyone speaks +of these things he is looked at strangely with blank eyes, or with +eyes that suspect madness. I do not know whether to call him great, +or pity him, who feels such anguish; for although it is the true +agony of the crucifixion, it is only gods who are so martyred. +With these rare souls memory is not born: life flows on, and they +with it go on in dreams: they are lulled by lights, flowers, stars, +colours, and sweet odours, and are sheltered awhile from heaven +and hell; then in some moment the bubble bursts, and the god +awakens and knows himself, and he rises again with giant strength +to conquer; or else he succumbs, and the waves of Lethe, perhaps +in mercy, blot out his brief knowledge. + +I knew such an one many years ago, and I tell of him because I know +of no deeper proof of the existence of a diviner nature than that +man's story. Arthur Harvey, as I have heard people describe him, +in his early years was gentle, shy, and given to much dreaming. +He was taken from school early, came up from the country to the city, +and was put to business. He possessed the apathy and unresisting +nature characteristic of so many spiritual people, and which is +found notably among the natives of India; so he took his daily +confinement at first as a matter of course, though glad enough when +it was over, and the keen sweet air blew about him in spring or +summer evenings, and the earth looked visionary, steeped in dew +and lovely colour, and his soul grew rich with strange memories +and psychic sensations. And so day-by-day he might have gone on +with the alternation of work and dream, and the soul in its +imaginings might never have known of the labours of the mind, each +working by habit in its accustomed hour, but for an incident which +took place about two years after his going to business. + +One morning his manager said: "Harvey, take this letter; deliver +it, and wait for an answer." He started up eagerly, glad for the +unwonted freedom from his desk. At the door, as he went out, the +whole blinding glory of the sunlight was dashed on him. He looked +up. Ah! what spaces illimitable of lustrous blue. How far off! +How mighty! He felt suddenly faint, small, mean, and feeble. +His limbs trembled under him: he shrank from the notice of men +as he went on his way. Vastness, such as this, breaking in upon +the eye that had followed the point of the pen, unnerved him: he +felt a bitter self-contempt. What place had he amid these huge +energies? The city deafened him as with one shout: the tread of +the multitude; the mob of vehicles; glitter and shadow; rattle, +roar, and dust; the black smoke curled in the air; higher up the +snowy and brilliant clouds, which the tall winds bore along; all +were but the intricate and wondrous workings of a single monstrous +personality; a rival in the universe who had absorbed and wrested +from him his own divine dower. Out of him; out of him, the power-- +the free, the fearless--whirled in play, and drove the suns and +stars in their orbits, and sped the earth through light and shadow. +Out of him; out of him; never to be reconquered; never to be +regained. The exultant laugh of the day; the flame of summer; +the gigantic winds careering over the city; the far-off divine +things filled him with unutterable despair. What was he amid it all? +A spark decaying in its socket; a little hot dust clinging together. + +He found himself in a small square; he sat down on a bench; his +brain burning, his eyes unseeing. + +"Oh! my, what's he piping over?" jeered a grotesque voice, and a +small figure disappeared, turning somersaults among the bushes. + +"Poor young man! Perhaps he is ill. Are you not well, sir?" asked +a sympathetic nurse. + +He started up, brought to himself, and muttering something +unintelligible, continued his journey through the city. The +terrible influence departed, and a new change came over him. The +laugh of the urchin rankled in his mind: he hated notice: there +must be something absurd or out of the common in his appearance +to invoke it. He knew suddenly that there was a gulf between him +and the people he lived among. They were vivid, actual, suited +to their places. How he envied them! Then the whole superficies +of his mind became filled with a desire to conceal this difference. +He recalled the various characteristics of those who worked along +with him. One knew all topical songs, slang and phrases; another +affected a smartness in dress; a third discussed theatres with +semi-professional knowledge. Harvey, however, could never have +entered the world, or lived in it, if he had first to pass through +the portals of such ideas! He delivered his letter; he was wearied +out, and as he returned he noticed neither sky nor sunlight, and +the hurrying multitudes were indifferent and without character. +He passed through them; his mind dull like theirs; a mere machine +to guide rapid footsteps. + +That evening, a clerk named Whittaker, a little his senior in the +office, was struck by Harvey's curious and delicate face. + +"I say, Harvey," he said, "how do you spend your evenings?" + +Harvey flushed a little at the unwonted interest. + +"I take long walks," he said. + +"Do you read much?" + +"A little." + +"Do you go to the theatre?" + +"No." + +"Never?" + +"Never." + +"Whew! what a queer fellow! No clubs, classes, music-halls-- +anything of the sort, eh?" + +"No," said Harvey, a little bitterly, "I know nothing, nobody; I +am always alone." + +"What an extraordinary life! Why, you are out of the universe +completely. I say," he added, "come along with me this evening. +I will initiate you a little. You know you must learn your profession +as a human being." + +His manner was very kindly; still Harvey was so shy that he would +have found some excuse, but for that chance expression, "out of +the universe." Was not this apartness the very thing he had just +been bitterly feeling? While he hesitated and stammered in his +awkwardness, the other said: "There, no excuses! You need not go +to your lodgings for tea. Come along with me." + +They went off together through the darkening streets. One cheerful +and irreverent, brimful of remark or criticism; the other silent, +his usual dreaminess was modified, but had not departed, and once, +gazing up through the clear, dark blue, where the stars were shining, +he had a momentary sense as if he were suspended from them by a fine +invisible thread, as a spider hung from her roof; suspended from +on high, where the pure and ancient aether flamed around the +habituations of eternity; and below and about him, the thoughts +of demons, the smoke, darkness, horror and anguish of the pit. + + + + + +Chapter II. + + + + +I Cannot tell all the steps by which the young soul came forth from +its clouds and dreams, but must hurry over the years. This single +incident of his boyhood I have told to mark the character and +tendency of his development; spirituality made self-conscious +only in departing; life, a falling from ideals which grew greater, +more beautiful and luminous as the possibility of realizing them +died away. But this ebbtide of inner life was not regular and +incessant, but rather after the fashion of waves which retreat +surely indeed, but returning again and again, seem for moments to +regain almost more than their past altitude. His life was a series +of such falls and such awakenings. Every new experience which drew +his soul from its quietude brought with it a revelation of a spiritual +past, in which, as it now seemed, he had been living unconsciously. +Every new experience which enriched his mind seemed to leave his +soul more barren. The pathetic anguish of these moments had little +of the moral element, which was dormant and uncultivated rather +than perverted. He did not ponder over their moral aspect, for he +shared the superficial dislike to the ethical, which we often see +in purely artistic natures, who cannot endure the entrance of +restraint or pain upon their beauty. His greatest lack was the +companionship of fine men or noble women. He had shot up far beyond +the reach of those whom he knew, and wanting this companionship +he grew into a cynical or sensuous way of regarding them. He began +to write: 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 inner, secret and spiritual being. +The double strain upon his energies, which daily work and nightly +study with mental productiveness involved, acted injuriously upon +his health, 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 rest. Obtaining leave from his employers, he went +back for a period of six weeks to the village where he had been born. +Here in the early summer and sunshine his health rapidly improved; +his mind even more than his body drank deep draughts of life; and +here, more than at any period in his life, did his imagination begin +to deal with mighty things, and probe into the secret mysteries of +life, and here passed into the long descended line by which the +human spirit passed from empire; he began to comprehend dimly by +what decadence from starry state the soul of man is ushered into +the great visible life. These things came to him not clearly as +ideas, but rather as shadowy and shining vision thrown across the +air of dawn of twilight as he moved about. + +Not alone did this opulence of spiritual life make him happy, another +cause conspired with it to this end. He had met a nature somewhat +akin to his own: Olive Rayne, the woman of his life. + +As the days passed over he grew eager not to lose any chance of +speech with her, and but two days before his departure he walked +to the village hoping to see her. Down the quiet English lane in +the evening he passed with the rapid feet that bear onward unquiet +or feverish thought. The clear fresh air communicated delight to him; +the fields grown dim, the voice of the cuckoo, the moon like a yellow +globe cut in the blue, the cattle like great red shadows driven +homeward with much unnecessary clamour by the children; all these +flashed in upon him and became part of him: ready made accessories +and backgrounds to his dreams, their quietness stilled and soothed +the troubled beauty of passion. His pace lessened as he came near +the village, half wondering what would serve as excuse for visits +following one so soon upon the other. Chance served as excuse. +He saw her grey dress, her firm upright figure coming out from among +the lilac brushes at the gate of her father's house. She saw Harvey +coming towards her and waited for him with a pleasant smile. Harvey, +accustomed to introspect and ideal imaginings, here encountered no +shock gazing upon the external. Some last light of day reflected +upward from the white gate-post, irradiated her face, and touched +with gold the delicate brown hair, the nosrtils, lips, chin, and +the lilac of her throat. Her features were clear-cut, flawless; +the expression exquisitely grave and pure; the large grey eyes +had that steady glow which shows a firm and undisturbed will. In +some undefinable way he found himself thinking of the vague objects +of his dreams, delicate and subtle things, dew, starlight, and +transparencies rose up by some affinity. He rejected them--not +those--then a strong warrior with a look of pity on his face appeared +and disappeared: all this quick as a flash before she spoke. + +"I am going doctoring," she said. "Old nurse Winder is ill, and my +father will not be back until late." Mr. Rayne was the country doctor. + +"May I go with you?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, why not? But I have first to call at two or three places +on the way." + +He went with her. He was full of wonder at her. How could she +come out of her own world of aspiration and mystic religion and +show such perfect familiarity, ease and interest in dealing with +these sordid village complaints, moral and physical? Harvey was +a man who disliked things like these which did not touch his sense +of beauty. He could not speak to these people as she did: he could +not sympathize with them. The pain of the old woman made him shrink +into himself almost with more disgust than pity. While Olive was +bending over her tenderly and compassionately, he tried to imagine +what it was inspired such actions and such self-forgetfulness. +Almost it seemed for a moment to him as if some hidden will in the +universe would not let beauty rest in its own sphere, but bowed it +down among sorrows continually. He felt a feeling of relief as +they came out agin into the night. + +It was a night of miracle and wonder. Withdrawn far aloft into +fairy altitudes, the stars danced with a gaiety which was more +tremendous and solemn than any repose. The night was wrought out +of a profusion of delicate fires. The grass, trees, and fields +glowed with the dusky colours of rich pottery. Everywhere silence; +everywhere the exultant breathing of life, subtle, universal, +penetrating. Into the charmed heart fell the enchantment we call +ancient, though the days have no fellows, nor will ever have any. +Harvey, filled up with this wonder, turned to his companion. + +"See how the Magician of the Beautiful blows with his mystic breath +upon the world! How tremulous the lights are; what still ness! +How it banishes the memory of pain!" + +"Can you forget pain so easily? I hardly noticed the night--it is +wonderful indeed. But the anguish it covers and enfolds everywhere +I cannot forget." + +"I could not bear to think of pain at any time, still less while +these miracles are over and around us. You seem to me almost to +seek pain like a lover. I cannot understand you. How can you bear +the ugly, the mean, the sordid--the anguish which you meet. You-- +so beautiful?" + +"Can you not understand?" she said, almost impetuously. "Have you +never felt pity as universal as the light that floods the world? +To me a pity seems to come dropping, dropping, dropping from that +old sky, upon the earth and its anguish. God is not indifferent. +Love eternal encircles us. Its wishes are for our redemption. +Its movements are like the ripples starting from the rim of a pond +that overcome the outgoing ripples and restore all to peace. + +"But what is pain if there is this love?" asked Harvey. + +"Ah, how can I answer you? Yet I think it is the triumph of love +pushing back sin and rebellion. The cry of this old nature being +overcome is pain. And this is universal, and goes on everywhere, +through we cannot comprehend it; and so, when we yield to this +divine love, and accept the change, we find in pain a secret +sweetness. It is the first thrill that heralds an immense dawn." + +"But why do you say it is universal? Is not that a frightful thought?" + +"If God is the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow, then the life +of Christ on earth was a symbol--must be a symbol--of what endures +for ever: the Light and Darkness for ever in conflict: a crucifixion +in eternity." + +This belief, so terrible, so pathetic, so strange, coming from this +young girl affected Harvey profoundly. He did not reject it. The +firmness and surety of her utterance, the moral purity of her +character, appealed to him who felt his own lack of clear belief +and heroic purpose. Like all spiritual people, he assimilated +easily the spiritual moods of those whom he came into contact with. +Coming from her, the moral, pathetic, and Christian doctrine had +that element of beauty which made it blend with his ideal paganism. +As he went homewards he pondered over her words, her life, her +thoughts. He began to find an inexpressible beauty in her pity, +as a feeling welling up from unknown depths, out of the ancient +heart of things. Filled with this pity he could overcome his dislike +of pain and go forth as the strong warrior of his momentary vision. +He found himself repeating again and again her words: "We find in +pain a secret sweetness--a secret sweetness--a secret sweetness." +If he could only find it, what might he not dare, to what might he +not attain? And revolving all these things upon his restless pillow, +there came over him one of those mystic moods I have spoken of: +wandering among dim originals, half in dream and half in trance, +there was unfolded within him this ancient legend of the soul:-- + + +There was a great Gloom and a great Glory in nature, and the legions +of darkness and the glorious hosts were at war perpetually with one +another. Then the Ancient of Days, who holds all this within himself, +moved the Gloom and the Glory together: the Sons of the Bright Fire +he sent into the darkness, and the children of Darkness he brought +unto the gates of the day. And in the new life formed out of the +union of these two, pain, self-conscious, became touched with a +spiritual beauty, and those who were of the Hosts of Beauty wore +each one a Crown of Thorns upon the brow. + + + + +Chapter III. + +Harvey rose up early; as he walked to and fro in the white dawn, +he found the answers to every question in his mind: they rose up +with a sweet and joyful spontaneity. Life became filled with +happiest meaning: a light from behind the veil fell upon the things +he had before disliked, and in this new light, pain, sorrow, and +the old moralities were invested with a significance undreamt of +before. In admitting into his own mind Olive Rayne's ideas, he +removed something of their austerity: what he himself rejected, +seen in her, added another and peculiar interest to the saintly +ideal of her which he had formed. She had once said, peace and +rest were inconceivable while there existed strife and suffering +in nature. Nowhere could there be found refuge; drawing near unto +the divine, this pain only became wider, more intense, almost +insufferable, feeling and assimilating the vastness of divine sorrow +brooding over the unreclaimed deep. This pity, this consciousness +of pain, not her own, filling her own, filling her life, marked +her out from everyone he knew. She seemed to him as one consecrated. +Then this lover in his mystic passion passed in the contemplation +of his well-beloved from the earthly to the invisible soul. He +saw behind and around her a form unseen by others; a form, spiritual, +pathetic, of unimaginable beauty, on which the eternal powers kept +watch, which they nourished with their own life, and on which they +inflicted their own pain. This form was crowned, but with a keen- +pointed radiance from which there fell a shadowy dropping. As he +walked to and fro in the white dawn he made for her a song, and +inscribed it. + +To One Consecrated + +Your paths were all unknown to us: +We were so far away from you, +We mixed in thought your spirit thus-- +With whiteness, stars of gold, and dew. + +The mighty mother nourished you: +Her breath blew from her mystic bowers: +Their elfin glimmer floated through +The pureness of your shadowy hours. + +The mighty mother made you wise; +Gave love that clears the hidden ways: +Her glooms were glory to your eyes; +Her darkness but the Fount of Days. + +She made all gentleness in you, +And beauty radiant as the morn's: +She made our joy in yours, then threw +Upon your head a crown of thorns. + +Your eyes are filled with tender light, +For those whose eyes are dim with tears; +They see your brow is crowned and bright, +But not its ring of wounding spears. + +We can imagine no discomfiture while the heavenly light shines +through us. Harvey, though he thought with humility of his past +as impotent and ignoble in respect of action, felt with his rich +vivid consciousness that he was capable of entering into her subtlest +emotions. He could not think of the future without her; he could +not give up the hope of drawing nigh with her to those mysteries +of life which haunted them both. His thought, companioned by her, +went ranging down many a mystic year. He began to see strange +possibilities, flashes as of old power, divine magic to which all +the world responded, and so on till the thought trembled in vistas +ending in a haze of flame. Meanwhile, around him was summer: +gladness and youth were in his heart, 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 dreams. + +Later on that evening, while Olive was sitting in her garden, Dr. +Rayne came out and handed her a bundle of magazines. + +"There are some things in these which may interest you, Olive," he +said: "Young Harvey writes for them, I understand. I looked over +one or two. They are too mystical for me. You will hardly find them +mystical enough." + +She took the papers from him without much interest, and laid them +beside her on the seat. After a time she took them up. As she +read her brows began to knit, and her face grew cold. These verses +were full of that mystical voluptuousness which I said characterised +Harvey's earlier productions; all his rich imagination was employed +to centre interest upon moments of half-sensual sensations; the +imagery was used in such a way that nature seemed to aid and abet +the emotion; out of the heart of things, out of wild enchantment +and eternal revelry shot forth into the lives of men the fires of +passion. Nothing could be more unlike the Christ-soul which she +worshiped as underlying the universe and on which she had reliance. + +"He does not feel pity; he does not understand love," she murmured. +She felt a cold anger arise; she who had pity for most things felt +that a lie had been uttered defiling the most sacred things in the +Holy of Holies, the things upon which her life depended. She could +never understand Harvey, although he had been included in the general +kindliness with which she treated all who came near her; but here +he seemed revealed, almost vaunting an inspiration from the +passionate powers who carry on their ancient war against the Most High. + +The lights were now beginning to fade about her in the quiet garden +when the gate opened, and someone came down the path. It was Harvey. +In the gloom he did not notice that her usual smile was lacking, +and besides he was too rapt in his own purpose. He hesitated for +a moment, then spoke. + +"Olive," he said tremulously, "as I came down the lanes to say good-bye +to you my heart rebelled. I could not bear the thought: Olive, I +have learned so many things from you; your words have meant so much +to me that I have taken them as the words of God. Before I knew +you I shrank from pain; I wandered in search of a false beauty. +I see now the purpose of life--to carry on the old heroic battle +for the true; to give the consolation of beauty to suffering; +to become so pure that through us may pass that divine pity which +I never knew until you spoke, and I then saw it was the root of +all life, and there was nothing behind it--such magic your words +have. My heart was glad this morning for you at this truth, and +I saw in it the power which would transfigure the earth. Yet all +this hope has come to me through you; I half hold it still through +you. To part from you now--it seems to me would be like turning +away from the guardian of the heavenly gateway. I know I have but +little to bring you. I must make all my plea how much you are to +me when I ask can you love me." + +She had hardly heard a word of all he said. She was only conscious +that he was speaking of love. What love? Had he not written of it? +It would have emptied Heaven into the pit. She turned and faced him, +speaking coldly and deliberately: + +"You could speak of love to me, and write and think of it like this!" +She placed her hand on the unfortunate magazines. Harvey followed +the movement of her arm. He took the papers up, then suddenly saw +all as she turned and walked away,--what the passion of these poems +must have seemed to her. What had he been in her presence that +could teach her otherwise? Only a doubter and questioner. In a +dreadful moment his past rose up before him, dreamy, weak, sensual. +His conscience smote him through and through. He could find no +word to say. Self-condemned, he moved blindly to the gate and went +out. He hardly knew what he was doing. Before him the pale dry +road wound its way into the twilight amid the hedges and cottages. +Phantasmal children came and went. There seemed some madness in +all they were doing. Why did he not hear their voices? They ran +round and round; there should have been cries or laughter or some +such thing. Then suddenly something seemed to push him forward, +and he went on blankly and walked down the lane. In that tragic +moment his soul seemed to have deserted him, leaving only a half- +animal consciousness. With dull attention he wondered at the muffled +sound of his feet upon the dusty road, and the little puffs of smoke +that shot out before them. Every now and then something would throb +fiercely for an instant and be subdued. He went on and on. His +path lay across some fields. He stopped by force of habit and +turned aside from the road. Again the same fierce throb. In a +wild instant he struggled for recollection and self-mastery, and +then the smothered soul rushed out of the clouds that oppressed it. +Memories of hope and shame: the morning gladness of his heart: +the brilliant and spiritual imaginations that inspired him: their +sudden ending: the degradation and drudgery of the life he was +to return to on the morrow: all rose up in tumultuous conflict. +A feeling of anguish that was elemental and not of the moment +filled him. Drifting and vacillating nature--he saw himself as +in a boat borne along by currents that carried him, now near isles +of beauty, and then whirled him away from their vanishing glory +into gloomy gulfs and cataracts that went down into blackness. +He was master neither of joy nor sorrow. Without will: unpractical; +with sensitiveness which made joy a delirium and gloom a very hell; +the days he went forward to stretched out iron hands to bind him +to the deadly dull and commonplace. These vistas, intolerable and +hopeless, overcame him. He threw himself down in his despair. +Around his head pressed the cool grasses wet with dew. Strange +and narrow, the boundary between heaven and hell! All around him +primeval life innocent and unconscious was at play. All around him, +stricken with the fever of life, that Power which made both light +and darkness, inscrutable in its workings, was singing silently +the lovely carol of the flowers. + + + + +Chapter IV. + + + + +Little heaps of paper activities piled themselves up, were added to, +diminished, and added to again, all the day long before Harvey at +his desk. He had returned to his work: there was an unusual press +of business, and night after night he was detained long beyond the +usual hours. The iron hand which he had foreseen was laid upon him: +it robbed him even of his right to sorrow, the time to grieve. +But within him at moments stirred memories of the past, poignant +anguish and fierce rebellion. With him everything transformed +itself finally into ideal images and aspects, and it was not so +much the memory of an incident which stung him as the elemental +sense of pain in life itself. He felt that he was debarred from +a heritage of spiritual life which he could not define even to himself. +The rare rays of light that slanted through the dusty air of the +office, mystic gold fallen through inconceivable distances from the +pure primeval places, wakened in him an unutterable longing: he +felt a choking in his throat as he looked. Often, at night, too, +lifting his tired eyes from the pages flaring beneath the bright +gas jet, he could see the blueness deepen rich with its ancient +clouds of starry dust. What pain it was to him, immemorial quiet, +passivity and peace, though over it a million tremors fled and +chased each other throughout the shadowy night! What pain it was +to let the eyes fall low and see about him the pale and feverish faces +looking ghostly through the hot, fetid, animal, and flickering air! + +His work over, out into the night he would drag himself wearily-- +out into the night anywhere; but there no more than within could +he escape from that power which haunted him with mighty memories, +the scourge which the Infinite wields. Nature has no refuge for +those in whom the fire of spirit has been kindled: earth has no +glory for which it does not know a greater glory. As Harvey passed +down the long streets, twinkling with their myriad lights fading +into blue and misty distances, there rose up before him in the +visionary air solemn rows of sphinxes in serried array, and starlit +pyramids and temples--greatness long dead, a dream that mocked the +lives around him, hoarding the sad small generations of humanity +dwindling away from beauty. Gone was the pure and pale splendour +of the primeval skies and the lustre of the first-born of stars. +But even this memory, which linked him in imagination to the ideal +past, was not always his: he was weighted, like all his race, with +an animal consciousness which cried out fiercely for its proper life, +which thirsted for sensation, and was full of lust and anger. The +darkness was not only about him, but in him, and struggled there +for mastery. It threw up forms of meanness and horrible temptations +which clouded over his soul; their promise was forgetfulness; +they seemed to say: "Satisfy us, and your infinite longing shall +die away: to be of clay is very dull and comfortable; it is the +common lot." + +One night, filled with this intolerable pain, as he passed through +the streets he yielded to the temptation to kill out this torturing +consciousness: he accosted one of the women of the streets and +walked away with her. She was full of light prattle, and chattered +on and on. Harvey answered her not a word; he was set on his +stony purpose. Child of the Stars! what had he to do with these +things? He sought only his soul's annihilation. Something in +this terrible silence communicated itself to his companion. She +looked at his face in the light of a lamp; it was white, locked, +and rigid. Child of the Stars, no less, though long forgetful, +she shuddered at this association. She recoiled from him crying +out "You brute--you brute!" and then fled away. The unhappy man +turned homeward and sat in his lonely room with stupid, staring +eyes, fixed on darkness and vacancy until the pale green light of +dawn began to creep in upon him. + +Into this fevered and anguished existence no light had yet come. +Drunken with wretchedness, Harvey could not or would not think; +and the implacable spirit which followed him deepened and quickened +still more the current of his being, and the GLOOM and the GLORY +of his dream moved still nearer to each other. Mighty and mysterious +spirit, thou who crownest pain with beauty, and by whom the mighty +are bowed down from their seats, under they guidance, for such a +crowning and for such agony, were coiled together the living streams +of evil and good, so that at last the man might know himself--the +soul--not as other than Thee! + +The ways by which he was brought to that moment were unremembered; +the sensations and thoughts and moods which culminated in the fire +of self-consciousness could be retraced but vaguely. He had gone +out of the city one Sunday, and lying down in the fields under the +trees, for a time he grew forgetful of misery. He went once more +into the world of dreams. He, or the creature of his imagination, +some shadow of himself, lived in and roamed through antique forests +where the wonderful days were unbroken by sense of sorrow. Childhood +shared in an all-pervading exultation; through the pulses of youth +ran the fiery energy that quickened the world; 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 films: he entered this kingdom of fire; its life became his +life; he knew the secret ways to the sun, and the sunny secrets +living in the golden world. "It was I, myself," rushed into Harvey's +mind: "It was I. Ah, how long ago!" Then for the first time, +his visions, dreams and imaginations became real to him, as memories +of a spirit traveling through time and space. Looking backwards, +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 ideas. They began to move about swiftly +in his mind and arrange themselves in order. 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 life. As Harvey walked homewards +through the streets, some power must have guided his steps, for +he saw or knew nothing of what was about him. With the sense of +the reality of his imaginations came an energy he had never before +felt: his soul took complete possession of him: he knew, though +degraded, that he was a spirit. Then, in that supreme moment, +gathered about him the memories of light and darkness, and they +became the lips through which eternal powers spake to him in a +tongue unlike the speech of men. The spirit of light was behind +the visions of mystical beauty: the spirit of darkness arrayed +itself in the desires of clay. These powers began to war within +him: he heard voices as of Titans talking. + +The spirit of light spake within him and said--"Arouse now, and be +thou my voice in this dead land. There are many things to be spoken +and sung--of dead language the music and significance, old world +philosophies; you will be the singer of the sweetest songs; +stories wilder and stranger than any yet will I tell you--deeds +forgotten of the vaporous and dreamy prime. + +The voice came yet again closer, full of sweet promise, with magical +utterance floating around him. He became old--inconceivably old +and young together. He was astonished in the wonders of the primal +world. Chaos with tremendous agencies, serpentine powers, strange +men-beasts and men-birds, the crude first thought of awakening +nature was before him; from inconceivable heights of starlike +purity he surveyed it; he went forth from glory; he descended +and did battle; he warred with behemeths, with the flying serpents +and the monstrous creeping things. With the Lords of Air he descended +and conquered; he dwelt in a new land, a world of light, where all +things were of light, where the trees put forth leaves of living +green, where the rose would blossom into a rose of light and lily +into a white radiance, and over the vast of gleaming plains and +through the depths of luminous forests, the dreaming rivers would +roll in liquid and silver flame. Often he joined in the mad dance +upon the highlands, whirling round and round until the dark grass +awoke fiery with rings of green under the feet. And so, on and +on through endless transformations he passed, and he saw how the +first world of dark elements crept in upon the world of beauty, +clothing it around with grossness and veiling its fires; and the +dark spirits entered by subtle ways into the spheres of the spirits +of light, and became as a mist over memory and a chain upon speed; +the earth groaned with the anguish. Then this voice cried within +him--"Come forth; come out of it; come out, oh king, to the +ancestral spheres, to the untroubled spiritual life. Out of the +furnace, for it leaves you dust. Come away, oh king, to old dominion +and celestial sway; come out to the antique glory!" + +Then another voice from below laughed at the madness. Full of scorn +it spake, "You, born of clay, a ruler of stars? Pitiful toiler with +the pen, feeble and weary body, what shall make of you a spirit?" +Harvey thrust away this hateful voice. From his soul came the +impulse to go to other lands, to wander for ever and ever under +the star-rich skies, to be a watcher of the dawn and eve, to live +in forest places or on sun-nurtured plains, to merge himself once +more in the fiery soul hidden within. But the mocking voice would +not be stifled, showing him how absurd and ridiculous it was "to +become a vagabond," so the voice said, and finally to die in the +workhouse. So the eternal spirit in him, God's essence, conscious +of its past brotherhood, with the morning stars, the White Aeons, +in its prisonhouse writhed with the meanness, till at last he cried, +"I will struggle no longer; it is only agony of spirit to aspire +here at all; I will sit and wait till the deep darkness has vanished." + +But the instruction was not yet complete; he had learned the primal +place of spirit; he had yet to learn its nature. He began to think +with strange sadness over the hopes of the world, the young children. +He saw them in his vision grow up, bear the burden in silence or +ignorance; he saw how they joined in dragging onward that huge +sphinx which men call civilization; there was no time for loitering +amid the beautiful, for if one paused it was but to be trampled by +the feet of the many who could not stay or rest, and the wheels +of the image ground that soul into nothingness. He felt every pain +almost in an anguish of sympathy. Helpless to aid, to his lips +came the cry to another which immemorial usage has made intuitive +in men. But It is high and calm above all appeal; to It the cries +from all the sorrowing stars sound but as one great music; lying +in the infinite fields of heaven, from the united feelings of many +universes It draws only a vast and passionless knowledge, without +distinction of pleasure or pain. From the universal which moves +not and aids not, Harvey in his agony turned away. He himself +could fly from the struggle; thinking of what far place or state +to find peace, he found it true in his own being that nowhere could +the soul find rest while there was still pain or misery in the world. +He could imagine no place or state where these cries of pain would +not reach him: he could imagine no heaven where the sad memory +would not haunt him and burn him. He knew then that the nature +of the soul was love eternal; he knew that if he fled away a +divine compassion would compel him to renew his brotherhood with +the stricken and suffering; and what was best forever to do was +to fight out the fight in the darkness. There was a long silence +in Harvey's soul; then with almost a solemn joy he grew to realize +at last the truth of he himself--the soul. The fight was over; +the Gloom and the Glory were linked together, and one inseparably. +Harvey was full of a sense of quietness, as if a dew fell from +unseen places on him with soothing and healing power. He looked +around. He was at the door of his lodgings. The tall narrow +houses with their dull red hues rose up about him; from their +chimneys went up still higher the dark smoke; but behind its +nebulous wavering the stars were yet; they broke through the smoke +with white lustre. Harvey looked at them for a moment, and went +in strangely comforted. + +The End + +--March 15-June 15, 1894 + + + + + +The Midnight Blossom + +--"Arhans are born at midnight hour..... together with the holy +flower that opes and blooms in darkness."--The Voice of the Silence + + + + + +We stood together at the door of our hut: we could see through the +gathering gloom where our sheep and goats were cropping the sweet +grass on the side of the hill: we were full of drowsy content as +they were. We had naught to mar our own happiness--neither memory +nor unrest for the future. We lingered on while the vast twilight +encircled us; we were one with its dewy stillness. The lustre +of the early stars first broke in upon our dreaming: we looked up +and around: the yellow constellations began to sing their choral +hymn together. As the night deepened they came out swiftly from +their hiding places in depths of still and unfathomable blue; +they hung in burning clusters; they advanced in multitudes that +dazzled: the shadowy shining of night was strewn all over with +nebulous dust of silver, with long mists of gold with jewels of +glittering green. We felt how fit a place the earth was to live on, +with these nightly glories over us, with silence and coolness upon +its lawns and lakes after the consuming day. Valmika, Kedar, I +and Ananda watched together; through the rich gloom we could see +far distant forests and lights--the lights of village and city in +King Suddhodana's realm. + +"Brothers," said Valmika, "How good it is to be here, and not yonder +in the city where they know not peace, even in sleep." + +"Yonder and yonder," said Kedar, "I saw the inner air full of a +red glow where they were busy in toiling and strife. It seemed to +reach up to me; I could not breathe. I climbed the hills at dawn +to laugh where the snows were, and the sun is as white as they +are white." + +"But, brothers, if we went down among them and told them how happy +we were, and how the flowers grow on the hillside, and all about +the flocks, they would surely come up and leave all sorrow. They +cannot know or they would come." Ananda was a mere child though +so tall for his years. + +"They would not come," said Kedar. "All their joy is to haggle +and hoard. When Siva blows upon them with his angry breath they +will lament, or when the Prets in fierce hunger devour them." + +"It is good to be here," repeated Valmika drowsily, "to mind the +flocks and be at rest, and to hear the wise Varunna speak when he +comes among us." + +I was silent. I knew better than they that busy city which glowed +beyond the dark forests. I had lived there until, grown sick and +weary, I had gone back to my brothers on the hillside. I wondered +would life, indeed, go on ceaselessly until it ended in the pain +of the world. I said within myself--Oh, mighty Brahma, on the +outermost verges of they dream are our lives; thou old invisible, +how faintly through our hearts comes the sound of thy song, the +light of thy glory! Full of yearning to rise and return, I strove +to hear in the heart the music Anahata had spoken of in our sacred +scrolls. There was silence, and then I thought I heard sounds, +not glad, a myriad murmur. As I listen it deepened, it grew into +passionate prayer and appeal and tears, as if the cry of the long- +forgotten souls of men went echoing through empty chambers. My +eyes filled with tears, for it seemed world-wide, and to sigh from +out many ages, long agone, to be and yet to be. + +"Ananda! Ananda! where is the boy running to?" cried Valmika. +Ananda had vanished into the gloom. We heard his glad laugh below +and then another voice speaking. Presently up loomed the tall +figure of Varunna. Ananda held his hand and danced beside him. +We could see by the starlight his simple robe of white. I could +trace clearly every feature of the grave and beautiful face, the +radiant eyes; not by the starlight I saw, but because a silvery +shining rayed a little way into the blackness around the dark hair +and face. Valmika, as elder, first spake. + +"Holy sir, be welcome. Will you come in and rest?" + +"I cannot stay now. I must pass over the mountain ere dawn; but +you may come a little way with me--such of you as will." + +We assented gladly--Kedar and I; Valmika remained. Then Ananda +prayed to go. We bade him stay, fearing for him the labour of +climbing and the chill of the snows, but Varunna said: "Let the +child come; he is hardy; he will not tire if he holds my hands." + +So we set out together and faced the highlands that rose and rose +above us; we knew well the way even at night. We waited in silence +for Varunna to speak, but for nigh two hours we mounted without +words, save for Ananda's shouts of delight and wonder at the heavens +spread above us. But I was hungry for an answer to my thoughts, +so I spake. + +"Master, Valmika was saying, ere you came, how good it was to be +here rather than in the city where they are full of strife, and +Kedar thought their lives would flow on into fiery pain and no +speech would avail. Ananda, speaking as a child indeed, said if +one went down among them they would listen to his story of the +happy life. But, Master, do not many speak and interpret the +sacred writings, and how few they are who lay to heart the words +of the gods! They seem, indeed, to go on through desire into pain, +and even here upon our hills we are not free, for Kedar felt the +hot glow of their passion and I heard in my heart their sobs of +despair. Master, it was terrible, for they seemed to come from +the wide earth over, and out of ages far away." + +"There is more of the true in the child's hope than in your despair, +for it is of much avail to speak though but a few listen. Better +is the life which aids, though in sorrow, than the life which +withdraws from pain unto solitude. Yet it is not well to speak +without power, for only the knower of Brahma can interpret the +sacred writings truly. It is well to be free ere we speak of freedom; +then we have power and many hearken." + +"But who would leave joy for sorrow, and who being one with Brahma +may return to give council?" + +"Brother," said Varunna, "here is the hope of the world. Though +many seek only for the eternal joy, yet the cry you heard has been +heard by great ones who have turned backwards, called by these +beseeching voices. The small old path stretching far away leads +through many wonderful beings to the place of Brahma; there is +the first fountain, the world of beautiful silence, the light that +has been undimmed since the beginning of time--the joy where life +fades into being; but turning backwards, the small old path winds +away into the world of men, it enters every sorrowful heart, and +the way of him who would tread therethro' is stayed by its pain +and barred by its delusion. This is the way the great ones go; +they turn with the path from the door of Brahma the warriors and +the strong ones: they move along its myriad ways; they overcome +darkness with wisdom and pain with compassion. After many conquered +worlds, after many races of men, purified and uplifted they go to +greater than Brahma. In these, though few, is the hope of the world; +these are the heroes for whom, returning, the earth puts forth her +signal fires, and the Devas sing their hymns of welcome." + +We paused where the plateau widened out; there was scarce a ripple +in the chill air; in quietness the snows glistened, a light +reflected from the crores of stars that swung with gay and +glittering motion above us. We could hear the immense heart-beat +of the world in the stillness; we had thoughts that went ranging +through the heavens, not sad, but full of solemn hope. + +"Brothers! Master! Look, the wonderful thing! and another, and +yet another!" We heard Ananda calling; we looked and saw the holy +blossom--the midnight flower--oh, may the earth again put forth +such beauty--it grew up from the snows with leaves of delicate crystal, +a nimbus encircled each radiant bloom, a halo pale yet lustrous. +I bowed down before it lost in awe. I heard Varunna say:--"The earth, +indeed puts forth her signal fires, and the Devas sing their hymn; +listen!" We heard a music as of beautiful thought moving along the +high places of the earth, full of infinite love and hope and yearning. + +"Brothers, be glad, for One is born who has chosen the greater way. +Now I must pass onwards. Kedar, Narayan, Ananda, farewell! Nay, +no further; it is long way to return, and the child will tire." + +He went on and passed from our sight. But we did not return; we +remained long, long in silence, looking at the sacred flower. + + +Vow, taken long ago, be strong in our hearts to-day. Here where +the pain is fiercer, to rest is more sweet. Here where beauty +dies away, it is more joy to be lulled in dreams. Here the good, +the true, our hope, seem but a madness born of ancient pain. +Out of rest, dream, or despair, let us arise. Let us go the way +the Great Ones go. + +--July, 1894 + + + + + +The Story of a Star + + + + +The emotion that haunted me in that little cathedral town would be +most difficult to describe. After the hurry, rattle, and fever of +the city, the rare weeks spent here were infinitely peaceful. They +were full of a quaint sense of childhood, with sometimes a deeper +chord touched--the giant and spiritual things childhood has dreams of. +The little room I slept in had opposite its window the great grey +cathedral wall; it was only in the evening that the sunlight crept +round it and appeared in the room strained through the faded green +blind. It must have been this silvery quietness of colour which +in some subtle way affected me with the feeling of a continual Sabbath; +and this was strengthened by the bells chiming hour after hour: +the pathos, penitence, and hope expressed by the flying notes +coloured the intervals with faint and delicate memories. They +haunted my dreams, and I heard with unutterable longing the astral +chimes pealing from some dim and vast cathedral of the cosmic memory, +until the peace they tolled became almost a nightmare, and I longed +for utter oblivion or forgetfulness of their reverberations. + +More remarkable were the strange lapses into other worlds and times. +Almost as frequent as the changing of the bells were the changes from +state to state. I realised what is meant by the Indian philosophy +of Maya. Truly my days were full of Mayas, and my work-a-day city +life was no more real to me than one of those bright, brief glimpses +of things long past. I talk of the past, and yet these moments +taught me how false our ideas of time are. In the ever-living +yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow are words of no meaning. 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 endure. Out of the old age +of earth I stepped into its childhood, and received once more the +primal blessing of youth, ecstasy, and beauty. But these things +are too vast and vague to speak of; the words we use to-day cannot +tell their story. Nearer to our time is the legend that follows. + +I was, I thought, one of the Magi of old Persia, inheritor of its +unforgotten lore, and using some of its powers. I tried to pierce +through the great veil of nature, and feel the life that quickened +it within. I tried to comprehend the birth and growth of planets, +and to do this I rose spiritually and passed beyond earth's confines +into that seeming void which is the matrix where they germinate. +On one of these journeys I was struck by the phantasm, so it seemed, +of a planet I had not observed before. I could not then observe +closer, and coming again on another occasion it had disappeared. +After the lapse of many months I saw it once more, brilliant with +fiery beauty--its motion was slow, rotating around some invisible +centre. I pondered over it, and seemed to know that the invisible +centre was its primordial spiritual state, from which it emerged +a little while and into which it then withdrew. Short was its day; +its shining faded into a glimmer, and then into darkness in a few +months. I learned its time and cycles; I made preparations and +determined to await its coming. + + +The Birth of a Planet + + +At first silence and then an inner music, and then the sounds of +song throughout the vastness of its orbit grew as many in number +as there were stars at gaze. Avenues and vistas of sound! They +reeled to and fro. They poured from a universal stillness quick +with unheard things. They rushed forth and broke into a myriad +voices gay with childhood. From age and the eternal they rushed +forth into youth. They filled the void with reveling and exultation. +In rebellion they then returned and entered the dreadful Fountain. +Again they came forth, and the sounds faded into whispers; they +rejoiced once again, and again died into silence. + +And now all around glowed a vast twilight; it filled the cradle +of the planet with colourless fire. I felt a rippling motion which +impelled me away from the centre to the circumference. At that +centre a still flame began to lighten; a new change took place, +and space began to curdle, a milky and nebulous substance rocked +to and fro. At every motion the pulsation of its rhythm carried +it farther and farther away from the centre, it grew darker, and +a great purple shadow covered it so that I could see it no longer. +I was now on the outer verge, where the twilight still continued +to encircle the planet with zones of clear transparent light. + +As night after night I rose up to visit it they grew many-coloured +and brighter. I saw the imagination of nature visibly at work. +I wandered through shadowy immaterial forests, a titanic vegetation +built up of light and colour; I saw it growing denser, hung with +festoons and trailers of fire, and spotted with the light of myriad +flowers such as earth never knew. Coincident with the appearance +of these things I felt within myself, as if in harmonious movement, +a sense of joyousness, an increase of self-consciousness; I felt +full of gladness, youth, and the mystery of the new. I felt that +greater powers were about to appear, those who had thrown outwards +this world and erected it as a place in space. + +I could not tell half the wonder of this strange race. I could +not myself comprehend more than a little of the mystery of their +being. They recognised my presence there, 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 life; yet I knew +that the highest I could reach to was but the outer verge of their +spiritual nature, and to tell you but a little I have many times +to translate it, for in the first unity with their thought I touched +on an almost universal sphere of life, I peered into the ancient +heart that beats throughout time; and this knowledge became change +in me, first, into a vast and nebulous symbology, and so down through +many degrees of human thought into words which hold not at all the +pristine and magical beauty. + +I stood before one of this race, and I thought, "What is the meaning +and end of life here?" Within me I felt the answering ecstasy that +illuminated with vistas of dawn and rest, it seemed to say: + +"Our spring and our summer are unfolding into light and form, and +our autumn and winter are a fading into the infinite soul." + +I thought, "To what end is this life poured forth and withdrawn?" + +He came nearer and touched me; once more I felt the thrill of being +that changed itself into vision. + +"The end is creation, and creation is joy: the One awakens out of +quiescence as we come forth, and knows itself in us; as we return +we enter it in gladness, knowing ourselves. After long cycles the +world you live in will become like ours; it will be poured forth +and withdrawn; a mystic breath, a mirror to glass your being." + +He disappeared while I wondered what cyclic changes would transmute +our ball of mud into the subtle substance of thought. + +In that world I dared not stay during its period of withdrawal; +having entered a little into its life, I became subject to its laws: +the Power on its return would have dissolved my being utterly. I +felt with a wild terror its clutch upon me, and I withdrew from the +departing glory, from the greatness that was my destiny--but not yet. + +From such dreams I would be aroused, perhaps by a gentle knock at +my door, and my little cousin Margaret's quaint face would peep in +with a "Cousin Robert, are you not coming down to supper?" + +Of these visions in the light of after thought I would speak a +little. All this was but symbol, requiring to be thrice sublimed +in interpretation ere its true meaning can be grasped. I do not +know whether worlds are heralded by such glad songs, or whether +any have such a fleeting existence, 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 time. There is within us a little space +through which all the threads of the universe are drawn; and, +surrounding that incomprehensible centre the mind of man sometimes +catches glimpses of things which are true only in those glimpses; +when we record them the true has vanished, and a shadowy story-- +such as this--alone remains. Yet, perhaps, the time is not altogether +wasted in considering legends like these, for they reveal, though +but in phantasy and symbol, a greatness we are heirs to, a destiny +which is ours, though it be yet far away. + +--August 15, 1894 + + + + + +How Theosophy Affects One's View of Life + +--A Paper Read Before the Dublin Lodge. + + + + +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 Life, I have to preface my remarks by the +confession that I have not extracted my ideas from portly volumes, +or indeed, engaged in any great research; and I have further to +ask you to believe that what you will hear is the most unbiased +statement, as far as possible, on the subjects which will necessarily +come under notice. + +The outlook of any individual mind is not a constant quantity; it +is to some extent determined by education, environment, and the +innate tendencies; but it is always subject to alteration; it is +constantly feeling the influence of subtle forces and circumstances, +and it changes with every fresh experience and every new sensation. +Still these influences seldom evince their presence by a great +reversal of the mental attitude, and we are best able to sense them +by seeing how the actions of the individual, which are very largely +the voluntary or involuntary expression of his standpoint, represent +at different times changes in that standpoint. Indeed, one's own +experience will supply plenty of material to work upon; for, 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 ago, +or even one year. A little examination will show that the mental +processes which precede some definite action are altered in some +important manner from those of 1890. The question which is of +importance is to find out how the change has come about, and whether +one is to allow extraneous events to mast his mental conclusions, +or one is to become, through wisdom acquired by effort, the conscious +master of his destiny. + +Theosophy has for its leading tenet the absolute unity in essence +and correlation of all life, whether visible, invisible, material, +intellectual, spiritual, and this affords at once a clue to the +consideration of the present subject; for, 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 involve; in other words, Ethics +or moral philosophy must be based upon metaphysics. Now, I wish +to be as brief as possible in pointing out the theosophic view of +the mind, and soul, and their powers and relations; and were it +not that it is necessary for the unity of my remarks, I would take +refuge in referring to the numerous able, intellectual, and forcible +expositions of this matter which you have heard in this room. + +Theosophy, to put it as concisely as possible, accepts the universe +as "the unfolding of a Divine life, functioning in every form of +living and nonliving thing." Man is viewed as a compound being, +a spark of this divine universal spirit being clothed with the body. +The immortal indestructible part of man consists of this spark of +universal spirit, its vehicle the human spirit, and the mind or +intellectual faculties. It uses as a dwelling the body, with its +animal life, its passions and appetites, to which mankind is so +prone to attach tremendous importance. The connecting link is the +mind, which, being full of agitation, strong, and obstinate, senses +all the material existence, is moved by the hopes and fears, and +the storm of existence. The lesson, ever insisted on as having to +be learnt, is that the lower part of man, the body, and its attachments, +have to be conquered and purified; and the only way to teach it +its true functions is by suffering; and when this is done, we shall +have got somewhere nearer the goal, when we shall identify our +consciousness with our true self, not with the illusion. The powers +of the mind to sense all existence, and its relations towards the +rest of our being as the connecting link, bearing the contact with +external things towards the soul, and at times being the vehicle +of the Wisdom which is one of the attributes of that which has no +attribute: I say, then, these powers and relations of the mind, +which one finds everywhere treated of in Theosophical literature, +are the determining factors in the formation of our Ethics. And +since, from Socrates down, we are taught that self-knowledge is +necessary for guidance of one's conduct, the knowledge of the mind +and its capacities is at once shadowed forth as of immense value. +It has at least three elementary powers--viz., the power of knowing, +the power of feeling, and the power of acting. These powers, though +distinguishable, are not separable; but rather when we distinguish +knowledge, feeling, and action, what we call by these names will +be found, when accurately examined, to be combinations of the three +elements, differing only in respect to the element which preponderates. +Locke would have us suppose that when I say "I know," it means that +an object is inserted into my consciousness as into a bag. But no +bag could produce the phenomenon of knowledge. To produce it +requires the putting forth of an active power, which we call +intelligence. The knowledge of an object always produces in the +mind some emotion with regard to it: this emotion is normally +pleasure. 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 them, together with the object +which excites them, from its consciousness. 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 them. +Thus we see that the antecedents of all action include intelligence +as an active power: and Ethics, more particularly Theosophical +Ethics, are seen to have practical value, and not merely a +speculative interest. + +Having digressed thus far from my subject, the point to which I +proceed to address myself is, the working out on the individual of +the system of which I have tried to shadow forth the greater truths. +The first class I will deal with are the indifferent. To them, +Theosophy presents the widest possible field of, and reasons for, +activity that can be desired. It shows that no action is without +its direct permanent result, and that consequently the position of +the indifferent is absolutely untenable. No one who has studied +Theosophical literature can ever find there a justification for +mere laissez-faire. It points out the enormous value of what we +call trifles, and the comparatively trifling value of what the +indifferent would take most note. Theosophy always insists on +action in some direction, preferably conscious, well-directed action, +with pure motive. + +The Agnostic is, as it were, Theosophy's special care--It shows +him at once the directions in which further, fuller, and greater +knowledge of every branch of science or philosophy can be gained. +It says to him "pursue your previous method of inquiry, and remember, +taking nothing for granted, do not accept other's authority. Seek +for knowledge: we can only point the way we have ourselves gone. +Investigate every nook and corner of your mind, and learn how to +control it and your sense perceptions. Then you will no longer +mistrust your results as possibly imperfect, but you will have +attained to some closer contact with Truth." To both the Agnostic +and the indifferent, the study of Theosophy will bring a consciousness +of the responsibility towards others, which is the basis of our +universal brotherhood. It will tend to remove the personal element +which has hitherto done so much to cloud and obscure one's +investigations; and it will gradually lead to the elimination of +the anxiety as to results, which will bring us (by the removal of +remorse or approval) to calmness of mind, in which condition great +work can be achieved. + +The appeal of theosophy to the scientific investigator is practically +identical with the last. It will show him what so many of his +confreres are more or less tacitly recognizing, that the hopeless +and soul-deadening belief of the Materialist (that all the growth +of the race, the struggling towards a higher life, the aspirations +towards virtue shall absolutely vanish, and leave no trace), is a +crushing mental burden which leads to absolute negation; it will +show the spiritual nature of man in perfect consistence with the +true theories, and as dependent on fundamental laws and causes. + +Coming from the region of unbelief to belief, to use these words in +their narrowest sense, let us consider what way Theosophy will +affect a believer in doctrines of some system of religious thought. +To take the ordinary Protestant first; Theosophy is apparently +likely to fail on account of its taking away the personality of the +Deity, and the habit of prayer: for to both of these doctrines the +earnest churchman is attached. But if it does do so, what does it +substitute? It puts forward an atonement, not an atonement of 1,861 +years ago, but a daily atonement to be carried out in each one's life, +and having as great an influence on one's fellows; it suggests the +possibilities are within each one of us, if we but seek the true path. +Also, and this is a small point, it removes the horrible canker of +church government, which ministers so powerfully to the idea of +separateness and personality: and lastly, it offers, in place of +mouthing prayers to a God whom one is taught to fear ten times to +the once that love is insisted on, a union with that higher self +which, if pursued, brings peace, wisdom, an infinite compassion, +and an infinite love. + +What has Theosophy to offer to the Roman Catholic? All that it +offers to the Protestant; with this addition, that not merely one +woman is exalted, but all womankind as being of the same essence +and spirit of all nature. It shows that there is no superiority, +but that by effort, by training, by aspiration, everyone, both man +and woman, shall be found worthy of being taken into heaven, and +joined again to the one source of life and being. It shows the +whole doctrine of saintliness and blessedness to have a source in +Truth, though overlaid and altered. + +And what of the other sheep? What of that soul which, feeling +compelled by its intuitions to recognise the essential divinity of +man, yet find no expression in the churches which will fit into +its emotional nature? What of him whom, for want of a better word, +I shall call a Symbolist, who is always striving to express in some +form of art or thought, that divine energy which is wisdom, +consciousness, and energy all in one? Does not Theosoophy afford +the very best outlet for his soul force? Are not its ideas on a +level with, if not higher than, what his most sublime moments of +feeling can bring before him? Surely if anyone can find peace in +its bosom, the symbolist, ever struggling to express his sense of +the True, the Beautiful, which are, after all, but a second +reflection of the Higher mind, with its knowledge of the essence +of all life, can therein do his noblest work for Humanity in company +with those who, having previously done all they could for the race +through a sense of duty arising from intuitions they declined to +recognise, have found in the doctrines of Theosophy the broadest +possible field for such work, and the purest motive. + +And now, changing from particular types, how do we look upon Theosophy +as a power in Ethics? 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 self; +we find the doctrine of Brotherhood put forward in its noblest aspects; +we find as a necessary corollary that responsibility is increased +and widened with an accompanying sense of power to accept and carry +on that responsibility; with the growth of higher feeling within +us comes a sense of added strength; we learn gradually to work +without consideration or anxiety for results; we grow more tolerant +of our neighbor's shortcomings, and less so of our own; we find +that by disengaging ourselves from the objects of the senses, we +become indifferent to small troubles, and more free to assist our +neighbor when they press on him; with the knowledge of the causes +of present conditions lying in past action, and our present actions +going to be the causes of future conditions, 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 whole; we learn to look upon death, not as the opening of the +spiritual life, but as a release from a weight which keeps under +the spiritual life, which is always with us, now as well as before +birth and after death; we learn to sense the methods by which the +universe works out its destiny; we find every day growing stronger +that sense of immortality, of absolute union with the universal soul, +which at first merely manifested itself in strange feelings and +emotions; we find the clues to the control of our physical and +mental faculties, and are not surprised to discover the ten-thousand- +fold increase in value these faculties then bear; we put ourselves +more and more in harmony with what we feel to be the source of all +Truth; we find ourselves gradually able to give expression to +those dumb feelings which we could not find words for, of its +grandeur and greatness; until finally we come, after many incarnations, +after suffering, after despair sometimes, to a knowledge which +transcends all human knowledge, to a bliss which is above our +present ideas, to a peace which the world cannot give, which +surpasseth all understanding, and are then ready to give up that +bliss and peace, and to use that knowledge for the divine compassion +towards our fellows who are following. + +But how are we to hope for this progress? What are we to do to +realize these ideas? Is it by wishing for it that this state will +come about? Is there no everyday way of getting forward? These +are some of the questions which will rise naturally to the lips of +any here who are not thoroughly acquainted with Theosophical ideas: +and what have we to say in reply? Are we to confess Theosophy is +a doctrine only for the learned, the cultured, the wealthy? Are +we to acknowledge that Christianity or Agnosticism is more practical, +easier for the men in the street to grasp? Are we to say that +Theosophy is not a gospel for to-day? No: a thousand times no! +If there is one result of a study of Theosophy, it is the gaining +of Hope, a sure and certain Hope, which soon becomes Trust, and later, +knowledge. I affirm most strongly that there is no one to whom +Theosophy in some of its myriad aspects does not appeal, and appeal +strongly enough to cause it to be the ruling passion of his existence; +but I do also affirm as strongly, that in Theosophy, as in all other +things, what are necessary are, pure motive and perseverance. It +costs no one anything to spend an hour a day in meditation on some +aspect of life; in thinking of our eternal nature and striving to +place ourselves en rapport with our highest ideals of purity, nobility, +Truth. Then cannot we get the idea of universal brotherhood firmly +fixed in our consciousness as an actual reality to be attained, and +always act upon that basis. To me, the thought of the absolute +unity of all life, affords as high an ideal for putting into +practical shape as my deficient development allows me. Cannot we +get this ideal or some other ideal so essential a part of our +thought that it colours all our feelings, emotions and actions? +We will then be doing our part in the struggle. We will not be of +the Laodiceans, who were neither hot nor cold. Let us try this: +let us see whether it will have such an effect, and if we, by our +personal experience, have convinced ourselves of the reality of this, +let us progress further, and by further trial find out the greater +truths beyond. Reincarnation and Karma are essentially doctrines +for the poor and needy; mental and physical. Intellectual subtleties +are not needed in Theosophy: it is spiritual perception, and who will +dare say to the poor that they have less of this than their fellows? + +The only region where the "exclusiveness" argument can have even a +momentary hold is with regard to Occultism. There is in most people's +mind a distrust of anything secret. But remember, believe only in +what your own test has shown you to be true: and learn not to +condemn those who have found some irresistible impulse urging them +forward to seek further. Besides, anyone who is not clear in his +motive in studying Occultism had better pause before he pledges +himself to anything, or undertakes that the result of which he does +not know even dimly. + +And before passing from this digression, let me insist strongly +once again on the fact that true progress will come only to those +who seek to attain it. + +They who would be something more +Than those who feast and laugh and die, will hear +The voice of duty, as the note of war, +Nerving their spirit to great enterprise, +And knitting every sinew for the charge. + + +Again, get rid of indolence, or its synonym, indifference. The +real hereditary sin of human nature is indolence. Conquer that, +and you will conquer the rest. We cannot afford to rest with what +we have done; we must keep moving on. In this, indeed, to stand +still is to go back--worse still, to keep others back. + +In conclusion I may, perhaps, be permitted to give you a few remarks +as to the influence Theosophy has had upon myself. It has furnished +me with satisfactory reasons for living and working; it has infused +an earnestness in that work which I prize as one of the valuable +things of my life's experience. It has ministered to that inmost +sense of worship and aspiration which all of us possess; it has +shown me that by expanding one's consciousness in that of the universe, +one gains more knowledge and opportunity for helping on humanity; +and it has pointed out where the materials for a scientific basis +of ethics can be found, and also what will be the outlines of the +future building; and finally it has shown that if the objects of +our desires be changed, and many things we held dear are no longer +prized, it is owning simply to the acquirement of larger and +fuller interests. + +--September 15, 1894 + + + + + +Comfort + + + + +We are continually called upon to give comfort, and it is a problem +to many what to say. For there are people who can see no outlet +from their pain other than this, that they shall obtain that which +they desire. The lover longs for the one who is absent or cold; +the poor demand wealth; the tortured cry out for relief from suffering; +and so on through all phases of human life we continually meet such +people. We, perhaps free from such afflictions, have schooled +ourselves into a heroic mood. These are not things to sorrow over, +we think; therefore, we are in a dilemma. We cannot aid them, +for their ideals often seem ignoble to us--their wish accomplished +would only bring on the renewal of old pain, and bind them closer +to the weary wheel. Yet we cannot be cold, we who would identify +ourselves with all life, for the soul must "lend its ear to every +cry of pain, like as the lotus bares its heart to drink the morning +sun." In the many cases where the suffering is unavoidable, and +cannot be otherwise received, what are we to do? Some, a little +above the ignoble view that the only relief is in the satisfaction +of desire, say reverently to those in pain: "It is God's will," +and some accept it as such with dull resignation. But with some +the iron has entered the soul--the words are empty. "What have I +to do with God, or He with me?" they demand in their hearts. +They join in the immemorial appeal and fierce revolt which at all +times the soul of man makes against any external restraint. We +who are disciples of old wisdom may touch some chord in them which +may awaken eternal endurance. + +It is not, we say, a pain imposed upon us by any eternal power; +but the path we tread is one which we ourselves very long ago determined. +To the question, "What have we to do with God?" we make answer that +we are the children of Deity--bright sparks born in the Divine flame, +the spirit in its primal ecstacy reflected in itself the multitudinous +powers that throng in space. It was nourished by divine love, and +all that great beauty thrilled through it and quickened it. But +from this vision which the spirit had, it passed to climb to still +greater heights--it was spiritual, it might attain divinity. The +change from the original transcendental state of vision to that +other state of being, of all-pervading consciousness, could only +be accomplished by what is known as the descent into matter where +spirit identifies itself with every form of life, and assimilates +their essences. This cyclic pilgrimage it undertook, foreseeing pain, +but "preferring free will to passive slavery, intellectual, self- +conscious pain, and even torture, 'while myriad time shall flow,' +to inane, imbecile, instinctual beatitude," foreseeing pain, but +knowing that out of it all would come a nobler state of life, a +divinity capable of rule, a power to assist in the general evolution +of nature. It is true in the experience of many that going deep +within themselves, an elemental consciousness whispers comfort; +it says all will be well with us; it is our primal will which so +orders. And so we justify the pain and hearts that break; and +that old appeal and fierce revolt we make dies out in the inner +light which shines from "the Goal, the Comforter, the Lord, the +Witness, the resting-place, the Asylum, the Friend." We can then +once more go forth with the old, heroic, Titan will for mastery, +seeking not to escape, but rather to meet, endure, and assimilate +sorrow and joy alike; for so we can permeate all life--life which +is in its essence one. This is the true centre on which all +endurance must rest; this is the comfort the soul may take to +itself; and beyond and after this we may say we struggle in a +chaos indeed, but in a chaos whose very disorder is the result of law. +That law is justice that cannot err. Out of confidence in this +justice may spring up immortal hopes; our motives, our faith shall +save us. We may dare more, give ourselves away more completely, +for is not the root of this law declared to be beauty, harmony, +compassion. We may trust that our acts shall have full fruition, +and remain careless of the manner, nor seek for such results. We +may look upon it if we will as the sweetest of the sweetest, the +tenderest of the tenderest; and this is true, though still it is +master of the fiery pain. Above all it is the law of our own being; +it is at one with our ancestral self. In all this lies, I think, +such consolation as we may take and offer for pain. Those who +comprehend, in their resignation, shall become one with themselves; +and out of this resignation shall arise will to go forth and fulfil +our lofty destiny. + +--May 15, 1894 + + + + + +The Ascending Cycle + + + + +The teaching of the Secret Doctrine divides the period during which +human evolution proceeds upon this globe into seven periods. During +the first three-and-a-half of these, the ethereal humanity who +appeared in the First Race gradually become material in form, and +the psychic spirituality of the inner man is transformed into +intellectuality. During the remaining three-and-a-half periods, +there is a gradual dematerialization of form; the inner man by +slow degrees rises from mere brain intellection to a more perfected +spiritual consciousness. We are told that there are correspondences +between the early and later periods of evolution; the old conditions +are repeated, but upon higher planes; we re-achieve the old +spirituality with added wisdom and intellectual power. Looked at +in this way we shall find that the Seventh Race corresponds to the +first; the Sixth to the Second; and the Fifth Race (which is ours) +corresponds with the Third. "We are now approaching a time," says +the Secret Doctrine, "when the pendulum of evolution will direct +its swing decidedly upward, bringing humanity back on a parallel +line with the primitive Third Root Race in spirituality." That is, +there will be existing on the earth, about the close of Fifth Race, +conditions in some way corresponding with those prevailing when +the Third Race men began their evolution. Through this period may +be yet distant hundreds of thousands of years, still it is of +interest to forecast that future as far as may be, for the future +is concealed in the present, and is the outcome of forces working +to-day. We may find out from this enquiry the true nature of +movements like the Theosophical Society. + +One of the most interesting passages in the Secret Doctrine is that +which describes the early Third Race. "It was not a Race, this progeny. +It was at first a wondrous Being, called the 'Initiator," and after +him a group of semi-divine and semi-human beings." Without at all +attempting to explain the real nature of this mysterious Being or +Race, we may assume that one of the things hinted at is the +consciousness of united being possessed by these ancient Adepts. +Walking abroad over the earth as instructors of a less progressed +humanity, their wisdom and power had a common root. They taught +truth from a heart-perception of life, ever fresh and eternal, +everywhere pervading nature and welling up in themselves. This +heart-perception is the consciousness of unity of inner being. +The pendulum of evolution which in its upward swing will bring +humanity backwards on a parallel line with the primitive Third +Root Race, should bring back something corresponding to this +primeval hierarchy of divine sages. We should see at the end of +the Kaliyuga a new brotherhood formed from those who have risen +out of material life and aims, who have conquered self, who have +been purified by suffering, who have acquired strength and wisdom, +and who have wakened up to the old magical perception of their +unity in true Being. "At the end of the Kali, our present age, +Vishnu, or the "Everlasting King,' will appear as Kalki, and +establish righteousness upon earth. The minds of those who live +at that time shall be awakened and become pellucid as crystal." +--(Secret Doctrine, II, 483) + +Passing beyond the turning point of evolution, where the delusion +of separateness is complete, and moving on the that future awaiting +us in infinite distances, 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 together, +entering in spirit their own parent rays before being united in +the source of all light and life. Such a brotherhood of men and +women we may expect will arise, conscious in unity, thinking from +one mind and acting from one soul. All such great achievements +of the race are heralded long before by signs which those who study +the lives of men may know. There is a gestation in the darkness +of the womb before the living being appears. Ideals first exist +in thought, and from thought they are outrealized into objective +existence. The Theosophical Society was started to form the +nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity, and its trend is +towards this ideal. 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 Third; a race which +shall in its inner life be truly a "Wondrous Being." 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 foster. There are many people who know that it is possible +by certain methods to participate in the soul-life of a co-worker, +and if it is possible to do this even momentarily with one comrade, +it is possible so to participate in the vaster life of great +movements. There will come a time to all who have devoted themselves +to this idea, as H.P. Blavatsky and some others have done, when +they will enter into the inner life of this great Being, and share +the hopes, the aspirations, the heroism, and the failures which +must be brought about when so many men and women are working together. +To achieve this we should continually keep in mind this sense of +unity; striving also to rise in meditation until we sense in the +vastness the beating of these innumerable hearts glowing with heroic +purpose: we should try to humanize our mysticism; "We can only +reach the Universal Mind through the minds of humanity," and we +can penetrate into their minds by continual concentration, +endeavouring to realise their thoughts and feelings, until we +carry always about with us in imagination, as [wrote] Walt Whitman, +"those delicious burdens, men and women." + +--November 15, 1893 + + + + + +The Mystic Nights' Entertainment + + + + +We went forth gay in the twilight's cover; +The dragon Day with his ruddy crest +Blazed on the shadowy hills hung over +The still grey fields in their dewy rest. + +We went forth gay, for all ancient stories +Were told again in our hearts as we trod; +Above were the mountain's dawn-white glories; +We climbed to it as the throne of God. + + +We pitched our tents in a sheltered nook on the mountain side. We +were great with glee during the day, forecasting happy holidays +remote from the crowded city. But now as we sat round the camp +fire at dusk silence fell upon us. What were we to do in the long +evenings? I could see Willie's jolly face on the other side of +the fire trying to smother a yawn as he refilled his pipe. Bryan +was watching the stars dropping into their places one by one. I +turned to Robert and directed the general attention to him as a +proper object for scorn. He had drawn a pamphlet on some scientific +subject from his breast-pocket and was trying to read it by the +flickering light. + +"Did you come up to the mountains for this," I asked, "to increase +your knowledge of the Eocene age? Put it by, or--we will send it +up as a burnt offering to the stars." + +"Well," he said, looking rather ashamed, "one must do something, +you know. Willie has his pipe, Bryan is holding some mysterious +intercourse with the planets, and you have the fire to take care of. +What is one to do?" + +This went to the root of the matter. I pondered over it awhile, +until an idea struck me. + +"There is Bryan. Let him tell us a story. He was flung into life +with a bundle of old legends. He knows all mystery and enchantment +since the days of the Rishees, and has imagined more behind them. +He has tales of a thousand incarnations hidden away in secretness. +He believes that everything that happened lives still in the memory +of Nature, and that he can call up out of the cycles of the past +heroic figures and forgotten history, simply by his will, as a +magician draws the elemental hordes together." + +"Have a dragon and a princess in it," said Willie, settling himself +into an attitude of listening. + +"Or authentic information about Eocene man," suggested Robert. + +"I could not tell a story that way," said Bryan simply. "I could +never invent a story, though all the characters, heroes and princess, +were to come and sit beside me so that I could describe them as +they really were. My stories come like living creatures into my mind; +and I can only tell them as they tell themselves to me. Today, +as I lay in the sunlight with closed eyes, I saw a haze of golden +light, then twilight trees appeared and moving figures and voices +speaking; it shaped itself into what is hardly a story, but only +an evening in some legendary existence." + +We waited while Bryan tried to recall his misty figures. We were +already in sympathy with his phantasmal world, for the valleys +below us were dim-coloured and quiet, and we heard but rarely and +far away the noises of the village; the creatures of the mountain +moved about in secretness, seeking their own peculiar joys in +stillness amid dews and darkness. After a little Bryan began. + + + + + +The Gardens of Twilight + + + + +I saw in my vision one of the heroes of the antique world. He +rode for many, many days, yet saw no kindly human face. After +long wanderings and toils he came to the Gardens of Twilight, the +rich and rare gardens of the primeval world, known by rumour to +the ancient Greeks as the Hesperides. He looked around with wonder; +the place was all a misty dazzle with light, a level light as of +evening that flowed everywhere about; the air was rich with the +scent of many blossoms; from each flower rose an odour that hovered +about it as a delicate vapour. While he gazed, one of the spirits +of the garden came nigh him in the guise of a beautiful human child. + +"How came you here?" + +"I wandered for many years," he said, "I fought with the dragons +that lie coiled in citron scales on the highways; I warred against +oppression; I made justice to prevail, and now that peace is on +the land I might have rested with peace in mine own heart, but I +could not yet. So I left behind the happy hearths and homes of +men and rode onward, a secret fire burning ceaselessly within me; +I know not in what strange home it will be still. But what gardens +are these?" + +"They are the Gardens of Twilight," answered the child. + +"How beautiful then must be the Gardens of Day! How like a faint +fine dust of amethyst and gold the mist arises from the enchanted +odorous flowers! Surely some spirit things must dwell within the +air that breaks so perpetually into hues of pearl and shell!" + +"They are the servants of Zeus," the child said. "They live within +these wandering airs; they go forth into the world and make mystery +in the hearts of men." + +"Was it one such guided me thither?" + +"I do not know; but this I know, whether led by the wandering +spirits or guided by their own hearts, none can remain here safely +and look upon the flowers save those who understand their mystery +or those who can create an equal beauty. For all others deadly +is the scent of the blossoms; stricken with madness, they are +whirled away into the outer world in fever, passion and unending +hunger and torment." + +"I do not care if I pass from them," said the wanderer. "It is +not here my heart could be still and its desire cease, but in the +first Fount." + +They passed on and went deeper into the Gardens of Twilight, which +were ever-changing, opalescent, ever-blushing with new and momentary +beauty, ever-vanishing before the steady gaze to reveal beneath +more silent worlds of mystic being. Like vapour, now gorgeous and +now delicate, they wavered, or as the giant weeds are shadowing +around the diver in the Indian wave sun-drenched through all its +deeps of green. Sometimes a path would unfold, with a million +shining flowers of blue, twinkling like stars in the Wilky Way, +beneath their feet, and would wind away delicately into the +faery distances. + +"Let us rest," said the child, leaning against a tree. She began +swaying a hand to and fro among the flowers; as her fingers touched +the bell-like blooms of burning amethyst they became stained with +the rich colour; she seemed to lose herself in dreams as one who +toils not for delight, living ever amid rich joys. He wondered +if she was as unreal as the gardens, and remembering her words, +they seemed familiar as if they were but echoes of the unuttered +thoughts that welled up as he moved about. While he watched the +flitting phantasmagoria with a sense expectant of music which never +came, phantasmagoria with a sense expectant of music which never +came, there arose before him images of peace, vanishing faster +than passion, and forms of steadfast purity came nigh, attired, +priestess-like, in white and gold; they laid their heads against +his breast; as he looked down, their eyes, eager and flamelike, +grew passionate and full of desire. He stretched out his hand to +pluck blossoms and twine wreaths for their beautiful heads. + +"Do not! Do not!" cried the child. "See how every blossom has +its guardian!" + +There were serpents coiling about the roots of every flower, or +amid the leaves, waiting with undulating head and forked tongue to +strike the uncautious hand. He shook off the drowsy influence of +the scents and o'er-burdened air; the forms vanished. He remembered +the child's words: "None can remain in safety an equal beauty." +He began to ponder over the meaning of the gardens. + +"While we sit here, late lingerers in the glory of twilight, I will +tell you a story which my fancy brings me," he said. "I thought +one came here long ago and built himself a mighty world in a dream +of many hundred years." + + +"He had lived with kings and counselors; he had wrought in magical +arts, and the great and wise of the earth were his fellows. When +a time came for him to depart he turned away sadly from the towers +of men. He passed, without knowing it, through the strange defiles +which lead to these gardens; but the light did not break upon him +in iridescent waves foamy with flowers and sparkling with vanishing +forms; the light was hidden in the bosom of the twilight; it was +all-pervading but invisible; the essence of the light bathed his soul; +the light was living; the light was exhaustless; by it everything +was born; touched by it everything went forth in ecstasy, blind, +seeking for realization. + +"The magician brought with him the seeds of human desire and wisdom +and aspiration. The light broke into his moody forgetfulness and +kindled long-forgotten fires. He awoke from his darkness and saw +before him in happiest vistas the island city of his lounging. +Around him were the men and women he knew; acting on his secret +wishes the multitudes hailed him as king, they bowed before him +as wise, they worshiped him as all-powerful.. It was not strange +to him, and rapt in royal imaginations for countless years he held +sway over the island city. He dreamed of it as a poet, and there +was no more beautiful city than this city of his dream. There +were places that shot up, pinnacle upon pinnacle, amid the jewel- +light of the stars; there were courts and porticoes full of +mysterious glory and gloom, magnificence and darkness; there were +fountains that jetted their pearly mists into the light; around +them with summer in their hearts lay the island inhabitants, each +one an angel for beauty. As the dream of the magician deepened +in rapture, the city wavered and changed more continually; its +towers pierced more daringly into the way of the stars; for the +darkness below he summoned birds of fire from the aerial deeps; +they circled the palaces with flaming wings; 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 joys. + +"His dream changed; he went forth no more but shut himself up in +his palace with his wisest princes, and as he took counsel with them, +the phantasmal and brilliant towers without faded and fell away +as a butterfly droops its wings. For countless years he lived in +the intoxication of thought; around him were sages who propounded +wisest laws, and poets who sang of love, humanity and destiny. As +his dream deepened still more in its rapture, they sang of mightier +themes; there was continual music and light; there was no limit +of glory or dominion which the human soul might not aspire to; +his warriors stepped from star to star in dreams of conquest, and +would have stayed the seraph princess of the wind and wave and fire, +to make more radiant the retinue of this magician of the Beautiful. + +"Again his desire changed. He sought to hold no further sway over +these wide realms beyond him; he shut himself up in an inner chamber +in lonely meditation, and as he entered into a deeper being the +sages and poets, who were with him at his royal feasts, vanished +and were no more. He, the wise mind, pondered within himself, +finding joy in the continual inward birth of thought following +thought, as in lonely seas wave rolls upon wave. From all things +he had known or experienced he drew forth their essence and hidden +meaning, and he found that he had been no less a king in his old +unconsciousness than he now was, and that at all times nature had +been obeisant and whatever had happened had still been by his own +will. Through the light, thin fretted by the fire of his aspirations, +he sometimes seemed to see the shining Law in all things and the +movement through the thought-swept fields of heaven of the universal +imagination. He saw that this, too, had been a minister to him. +He drew nigh to himself--divinity. The last rapture of his soul +was his radiant self-conception. Save for this vesture the light +of illusion fell from him. He was now in a circle of whitest fire, +that girdled and looked in upon the movements of worlds within its +breast. He tried to expand and enter this flaming circle; myriads +of beings on its verges watched him with pity; I felt their thought +thrilling within me. + +"He will never attain it!" + +"Ah, the Beautiful Bird, his plumage is stained!" + +"His glory will drag him down!" + +"Only in invisible whiteness can he pass!" + +"How he floats upwards, the Beautiful Bird!" + +"These voices of universal compassion did not reach him, rapt in +aspiration and imperious will. For an instant--an eternity--the +infinitudes thrilled him, those infinitudes which in that instant +he knew he could never enter but as one with all on the days of +the great return. All that longed, all that aspired and dared, +all but the immortal were in that movement destroyed, and hurled +downwards from the highest heaven of life, the pilgrim spark began +once more as a child to live over again the round of human days." + +"The spirit of the place o'ermastered you," said the child. "Here +may come and dream; and their dream of joy ended, out of each +dreaming sphere comes forth again in pain the infant spirit of man." + +"But beyond this illusive light and these ever-changing vistas-- +what lies? I am weary of their vanishing glories. I would not +wish to mount up through dreams to behold the true and fall away +powerlessly, but would rather return to earth, though in pain, +still eager to take up and renew the cyclic labours." + +"I belong to the gardens," said the child; "I do not know what +lies beyond. But there are many paths leading far away." + +Before them where they stood branched out paths of rich flowers. +Here a region of pinks lured on to vistas of delicate glory; +there ideal violet hues led to a more solemn beauty; here the +eyes were dazzled by avenues of rich, radiant, and sunny green; +another in beautiful golden colours seemed to invite to the land +of the sun, and yet another winded away through soft and shadowy +blues to remote spiritual distances. There was one, a path of +white flowers ending in light no eye could pierce. + +"I will choose this--the path of white flower," he said, waving +farewell to the child. I watched the antique hero in my vision as +he passed into the light; he seemed to shine, to grow larger; as +he vanished from my eyes he was transfigured, entering as a god the +region of gods." + + +"Did you really dream all that?" said Willie. "How jolly it must be! +It is like stepping from sphere to sphere. Before the night of one +day you are in the morning of another. I suppose you have some +theory about it all--as wonderful as your gardens?" + +"Yes!" said our sceptic, "I had an uneasy consciousness it was not +all pure story. I felt an allegory hiding its leanness somewhere +beneath the glow and colour." + +"What I want to know is how these things enter the imagination at all!" + +"With what a dreadfully scientific spirit you dissect a fantasy! +Perhaps you might understand if you recall what sometimes happens +before sleep. At first you see pictures of things, landscapes, +people you know; after a time people and places unknown before +begin to mingle with them in an ever-widening circle of visions; +the light on which these things are pictured is universal, though +everyone has around himself his own special sphere of light; +this is the mirror of himself--his memory; but as we go deeper +into ourselves in introspection we see beyond our special sphere +into the great of universal light, the memorial tablet of nature; +there lie hidden the secrets of the past; and so, as Felix said +a little while ago, we can call up and renew the life of legend +and tradition. This is the Astral Light of the mystics. Its +deeper and more living aspect seems to inflame the principle of +desire in us. All the sweet, seductive, bewitching temptations +of sense are inspired by it. After death the soul passing into +this living light goes on thinking, thinking, goes on aspiring, +aspiring, creating unconsciously around itself its own circumstance +in which all sweetest desires are self-fulfilled. When this dream- +power is exhausted the soul returns again to earth. With some +this return is due to the thirst for existence; with some to a +perception of the real needs of soul." + +"Do you really believe all that?" + +"Oh, yes! But that is only a general statement." + +"I wonder at your capacity for believing in these invisible spheres. +As for me I cannot go beyond the world I live in. When I think of +these things some dreadful necessity seems heaped upon me to continue +here--or, as you might put it, an angel with a flaming sword keeps +everywhere the avenues to the Tree of Life." + +"Oh!" said Willie, "it seems to me a most reasonable theory. After +all, what else could the soul do after death but think itself out? +It has no body to move about in. I am going to dream over it now. +Good-night!" + +He turned into the tent and Robert followed him. "Well, I cannot +rest yet," said Bryan, "I am going up for a little to the top of +the hill. Come, Felix, these drowsy fellows are going to hide +themselves from the face of night." We went up, and leaning on a +boulder of rock looked out together. Away upon the dream-built +margin of space a thousand tremors fled and chased each other all +along the shadowy night. The human traditions, memories of pain, +struggle, hope and desire floated away and melted in the quietude +until at last only the elemental consciousness remained at gaze. +I felt chilled by the vacancies. I wondered what this void was +to Bryan. I wished to see with his eyes. His arm was around my +shoulder. How I loved him--my nearest--my brother! The fierce +and tender flame, comrade to his spirit, glowed in my heart. I +felt a commingling of nature, something moved before my eyes. +"Look, Bryan!" I whispered, "this is faery!" A slight upright +figure, a child, stood a little apart shedding a delicate radiance +upon the dusky air. Curiously innocent, primeval, she moved, +withdrawn in a world only half-perceived of gorgeous blossoms and +mystic shadows. Through her hair of feathery brown drifting about +her the gleam of dust of gold and of rich colour seemed to come +from her dress. She raised her finger-tips from the flowers and +dashed the bright dew aside. I felt something vaguely familiar +about the gesture. Then Bryan said, "It is one of the Children +of Twilight." It was a revelation of his mind. I had entered +into the forms of his imagination. + +"This is wonderful Bryan! If I can thus share in the thought of one, +there can be no limit to the extension of this faculty. It seems +at the moment as if I could hope to finally enter the mind of +humanity and gaze upon soul, not substance." + +"It would be a great but terrible power. As often as not we imagine +ourselves into demons. Space is thronged with these dragon-like +forms, chimaeras of the fearful mind. Every thought is an entity. +Some time or other I think we will have to slay this brood we have +brought forth." + +But as we turned backwards I had no dread or thought of this future +contest. I felt only gay hopes, saw only ever-widening vistas. +The dreams of the Golden Age, of far-off happy times grew full of +meaning. I people all the future with their splendour. The air +was thronged with bright supernatural beings, they moved in air, +in light; and they and we and all together were sustained and +thrilled by the breath of the Unknown God. + +As we drew nigh to the tent, the light of the fire still flickering +revealed Robert's face within. He was sleeping. the warmth of the +sun had not yet charmed away the signs of study and anxious thought. + +"Do you know the old tradition that in the deepest sleep of the +body the soul goes into itself. I believe he now knows the truth +he feared to face. A little while ago he was here; he was in doubt; +now he is gone unto all ancient things. He was in prison; now +the Bird of Paradise has wings. We cannot call him by any name, +for we do not know what he is. We might indeed cry aloud to his +glory, as of old the Indian sage cried to a sleeper, 'Thou great one, +clad in raiment; Soma: King!" But who thinking what he is would +call back the titan to this strange and pitiful dream of life? +Let us breath softly to do him reverence. It is now the Hour of +the King, + +"Who would think this quite breather + From the world had taken flight? +Yet within the form we see there + Wakes the Golden King to-night. + +"Out upon the face of faces + He looked forth before his sleep; +Now he knows the starry races + Haunters of the ancient deep; + +"On the Bird of Diamond Glory + Floats in mystic floods of song; +As he lists, Time's triple story + Seems but as a day is long. + +"When he wakes--the dreamy-hearted-- + He will know not whence he came, +And the light from which he parted + Be the seraph's sword of flame; + +"And behind its host supernal + Guarding the lost Paradise, +And the Tree of Life eternal + From the weeping human eyes." + +"You are an enchanter, Bryan. As you speak I half imagine the +darkness sparkles with images, with heroes and ancient kings who +pass, and jeweled seraphs who move in flame. I feel mad. The +distance rushes at me. The night and stars are living, and--speak +unknown things! You have made me so restless I will never sleep." + +I lay down. The burden of the wonder and mystery of existence was +upon me. Through the opening of the tent the warm night air flowed in; +the stars seemed to come near--nearer--full of kindly intent--with +familiar whispering; until at last I sank back into the great deep +of sleep with a mysterious radiance of dream showering all about me. + + + + + +Night The Second + + + + +The skies were dim and vast and deep + Above the vales of rest; +They seemed to rock the stars asleep + Beyond the mountain's crest. + +Oh, vale and stars and rocks and trees, + He gives to you his rest, +But holds afar from you the peace + Whose home is in His breast! + +The massy night, brilliant with golden lights enfolded us. All +things were at rest. After a long day's ramble among the hills, +we sat down again before our fire. I felt, perhaps we all felt, +a mystic unquiet rebelling against the slumbrous mood of nature +rolled round her hills and valleys. + +"You must explain to us, Bryan, why it is we can never attain a +real quiet, even here where all things seem at peace." + +"We are aliens here, and do not know ourselves. We are always +dreaming of some other life. These dreams, if we could only rightly +interpret them, would be the doors through which we might pass into +a real knowledge of ourselves." + +"I don't think I would get much wisdom out of my dreams," said Willie. +"I had a dream last night; a lot of little goblin fellows dancing a +jig on the plains of twilight. Perhaps you could tell us a real dream?" + +"I remember one dream of a kind I mean, which I will tell you. It +left a deep impression upon me. I will call it a dream of + + + + + +The Northern Lights + + + + +I awoke from sleep with a cry. I was hurled up from the great +deep and rejected of the darkness. But out of the clouds and +dreams I built up a symbol of the going forth of the spirit--a +symbol, not a memory--for if I could remember, I could return +again at will and be free of the unknown land. But in slumber I +was free. I sped forth like an arrow. I followed a secret hope, +breasting the currents of life flowing all about me. I tracked +these streams winding in secretness far away. I said, "I am going +to myself. I will bathe in the Fountain of Life;" and so on and +on I sped northwards, with dark waters flowing beneath me and stars +companioning my flight. Then a radiance illumined the heavens, +the icy peaks and caves, and I saw the Northern Lights. Out of +the diamond breast of the air I looked forth. Below the dim world +shone all with pale and wintry green; the icy crests flickered +with a light reflect from the shadowy auras streaming over the +horizon. Then these auras broke out in fire, and the plains of +ice were illumined. The light flashed through the goblin caves, +and lit up their frosty hearts and the fantastic minarets drooping +above them. Light above in solemn array went forth and conquered +the night. Light below with a myriad flashing spears pursued the +gloom. Its dazzling lances shivered in the heart of the ice: +they sped along the ghostly hollows; the hues of the orient seemed +to laugh through winter; the peaks blossomed with starry and +crystalline flowers, lilac and white and blue; they faded away, +pearl, opal and pink in shimmering evanescence; then gleams of +rose and amethyst traveled slowly from spar to spar, lightened +and departed; there was silence before my eyes; the world once +more was all a pale and wintry green. I thought of them no more, +but of the mighty and unseen tides going by me with billowy motion. +"Oh, Fountain I seek, thy waters are all about me, but where shall +I find a path to Thee?" Something answered my cry, "Look in thy +heart!" and, obeying the voice, the seer in me looked forth no +more through the eyes of the shadowy form, but sank deep within +itself. I knew then the nature of these mystic streams; they +were life, joy, love, ardour, light. From these came the breath +of life which the heart drew in with every beat, and from thence +it was flashed up in illumination through the cloudy hollows of +the brain. They poured forth unceasingly; they were life in +everyone; they were joy in everyone; they stirred an incommunicable +love which was fulfilled only in yielding to and adoration of the +vast. But the Fountain I could not draw nigh unto; I was borne +backwards from its unimaginable centre, then an arm seized me, and +I was stayed. I could see no one, but I grew quiet, full of deep +quiet, out of which memory breathes only shadowiest symbols, images +of power and Holy Sages, their grand faces turned to the world, +as if in the benediction of universal love, pity, sympathy, and peace, +ordained by Buddha; the faces of the Fathers, ancient with eternal +youth, looking forth as in the imagination of the mystic Blake, +the Morning Stars looked forth and sang together. A sound as of +an "OM" unceasing welled up and made an auriole of peace around them. +I would have joined in the song, but could not attain to them. +I knew if I had a deeper love I could have entered with them into +unending labours amid peace; but I could only stand and gaze; +in my heart a longing that was worship, in my thought a wonder +that was praise. "Who are these?" I murmured? The Voice answered, +"They are the servants of the Nameless One. They do his bidding +among men. They awaken the old heroic fire of sacrifice in forgetful +hearts." Then the forms of elder life appeared in my vision. I +saw the old earth, a fairy shadow ere it yet had hardened, peopled +with ethereal races unknowing of themselves or their destinies and +lulled with inward dreams; above and far away I saw how many +glittering hosts, their struggle ended, moved onward to the Sabbath +of Eternity. Out of these hosts, one dropped as a star from their +heart, and overshadowed the olden earth with its love. Where ever +it rested I saw each man awakening from his dreams turned away with +the thought of sacrifice in his heart, a fire that might be forgotten, +but could never die. This was the continual secret whisper of the +Fathers in the inmost being of humanity. "Why do they not listen?" +I marveled. Then I heard another cry from the lower pole, the pit; +a voice of old despair and protest, the appeal of passion seeking +its own fulfilment. Alternate with the dawn of Light was the breath +of the expanding Dark where powers of evil were gathered together. +"It is the strife between light and darkness which are the world's +eternal ways," said the Voice, "but the light shall overcome and +the fire in the heart be rekindled; men shall regain their old +angelic being, and though the dark powers may war upon them, the +angels with their love shall slay them. Be thou ready for the battle, +and see thou use only love in the fight. Then I was hurried backward +with swift speed, and awoke. All I knew was but a symbol, but I +had the peace of the mystic Fathers in my heart, and the jeweled +glory of the Northern Lights all dazzling about my eyes. + +"Well, after a dream like that," said Willie, "the only thing one +can do is to try and dream another like it." + +--Oct. 15, 1894-Jan. 15, 1895 + + + + + +On the Spur of the Moment + + + + +I am minded to put down some intuitions about brotherhood and trust +in persons. A witty friend writes, "Now that I have made up my mind, +I intend looking at the evidence." A position like that is not so +absurd as at first it seems. It is folly only to those who regard +reason alone and deny the value of a deep-seated intuition. The +intuitive trust which so many members of the T.S. have in William +Q. Judge, to my mind shows that he is a real teacher. In their +deepest being they know him as such, and what is knowledge there +becomes the intuition of waking hours. When a clamour of many +voices arises making accusations, pointing to time, place and +circumstance; to things which we cannot personally investigate, +it is only the spirit within us can speak and decide. Others with +more knowledge may give answering circumstances of time, place +and act; but, with or without these, I back up my intuition with +the reason--where the light breaks through, there the soul is pure. +Says a brother truly: + +"The list of his works is endless, monumental; it shows us an +untiring soul, an immense and indomitable will, a total ignoring +of himself for the benefit of his fellow-members. This is not the +conduct of the charlatan, not of the self-seeker. 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 weaker." + +Others may have been more eloquent and learned, but who has been +so wise? Others may have written more beautifully, but who with +such intimations of the Secret Spirit breathing within? Others +have explained intellectually tattvas, principles and what not, +but who like him has touched the heart of a hidden nobility? Has +he not done it over and over again, as here? + +"Do what you find to do. Desire ardently to do it, and even when +you shall not have succeeded in carrying out anything but some +small duties, some words of warning, your strong desire will strike +like Vulcan upon some other hearts in the world, and suddenly you +will find that done which you had longed to be the doer of. Then +rejoice that another has been so fortunate as to make such a +meritorious Karma." + +Or he speaks as a hero: + +"To fail would be nothing, but to stop working for Humanity and +Brotherhood would be awful." + +Or as one who loves and justifies it to the end: + +"We are not Karma, we are not the law, and it is a species of that +hypocrisy so deeply condemned by it for us to condemn any man. +That the law lets a man live is proof that he is not yet judged +by that higher power." + +To know of these laws is to be them to some extent. "What a man +thinks, that he is, that is the old secret." The temple of Spirit +is inviolate. It is not grasped by speech or by action. "Whom +the Spirit chooses, by him it is gained. The Self chooses his body +as its own." When the personal tumult is silence, then arises the +meditation of the Wise within. Whoever speaks out of that life +has earned the right to be there. No cunning can stimulate its +accents. No hypocrisy can voice its wisdom. Whose mind gives out +light--it is the haunt of the Gods. Does this seem to slight a +guarantee for sincerity, for trust reposed? I know of none weightier. +Look back in memory; of the martyrdom of opposing passions, out of +the last anguish came forth the light. It was no cheap accomplishment. +If some one meets us and speaks knowing of that law, we say inwardly, +"I know you have suffered, brother!" But here is one with a larger +wisdom than ours. Here is one whose words today have the same clear +ring. "The world knows him not." His own disciples hardly know +him: he has fallen like Lucifer. But I would take such teaching +as he gives from Lucifer himself, and say, "His old divinity remains +with him still." + +"After all you may be mistaken," someone says. "The feet of no +one are set infallibly on the path." It may be so. Let us take +that alternative. Can we reject him or any other as comrades while +they offer? Never. Were we not taught to show to those on whom +came the reaction from fierce effort, not cold faces, but the face +of friendship, waiting for the wave of sure return? If this was +a right attitude for us in our lesser groups, it is then right +for the whole body to adopt. The Theosophical Society as a whole +should not have less than the generous spirit of its units. It +must exercise the same brotherly spirit alike to those of good +or evil fame. Alike on the just and the unjust shines the Light +of It, the Father-Spirit. Deep down in our hearts have we not +all longed, longed, for that divine love which rejects none? You +who think he has erred, it is yours to give it now. There is an +occult law that all things return to their source, their cycles +accomplished. The forces we expend in love and anger come back +again to us thrilled with the thought which accepted or rejected +them. I tell you, if worse things were true of him than what are +said, if we did our duty simply, giving back in gratitude and +fearlessness the help we had received from him, his own past would +overcome the darkness of the moment, would strengthen and bear him +on to the light. + +"But," some push it further; "it is not of ourselves, but of this +Society and its good name, we think. 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 fraud?" + +I wish, my brothers, we could get rid of these old fears. Show, +form, appearance and seeming, what force have they? A faulty face +matters nothing. The deep inner attitude alone has power. The +world's opinion implicates none of us with the Law. Our action +many precipitate Karma, may inconvenience us for an hour; but the +end of life is not comfort but celestial being; it is not in the +good voice of the world today we can have any hope: its evil voice +may seem to break us for a little; but love, faith and gratitude +shall write our history in flame on the shadowy aura of the world, +and the Watchers shall record it. We can lose nothing; the +Society can lose nothing. Our only right is in the action, and +half the sweetness of life consists in loving much. + +While I wrote, I thought I felt for a moment the true spirit of +this pioneer body we belong to. Like a diver too long under seas, +emerging I inhaled the purer air and saw the yellow sunlight. To +think of it! what freedom! what freshness! to sail away from old +report and fear and custom, the daring of the adventurer in our +hearts, having a reliance only upon the laws of life to justify +and sustain us. + +--February 1895 + + + + + +The Legends of Ancient Eire + + + + +A Reverend and learned professor in Trinity College, Dublin, a +cynic and a humorist, is reported once to have wondered "why the +old Irish, having a good religion of their own, did not stick to it?" +Living in the "Celtic twilight," and striving to pierce backward +into the dawn, reading romance, tradition and history, I have +endeavoured to solve something of the mystery of the vast "Celtic +phantasmagoria," I can but echoe the professor. In these legends, +prodical of enchantment, where Gods, heroes and bright supernatural +beings mingle, are at league or war together, I have found not misty +but clear traces of that old wisdom-religion once universal. There +are indeed no ancient Irish Scriptures I am aware of, but they were +not needed. To those who read in the Book of Life, philosophy and +scripture are but as blinds over the spiritual vision. But we today-- +lost children of the stars--but painfully and indirectly catch +glimpses of the bright spheres once our habitations, where we freely +came and went. So I will try to tell over again some of these old +stories in the light of philosophy spoken later. What was this +old wisdom-religion? It was the belief that life is one; that +nature is not dead but living; 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 original. All that they beheld +they once were, and it was again their heritage, for in essence +they were one with it--children of Deity. The One gave birth to +the many, imagining within itself the heaven of heavens, and the +heavens, and spheres more shadowy and dim, growing distant from +the light. Through these the Rays ran outward, falling down through +many a starry dynasty to dwell in clay. Yet--once God or Angel-- +that past remains, and the Ray, returning on itself, may reassume +its old vesture, remains, entering as a God into the Ancestral Self. +Every real scripture and every ancient myth, to be understood truly, +must be understood in this light. God, the angelic hierarchies, +the powers divine and infernal, are but names for the mightier Adam +in whose image man was made and who is the forgotten Self in humanity. +Mystic symbolism is the same the world over, and applying it to +the old Celtic romances, phantasy and faeryland are transformed +into history and we are reading about the ancient Irish Adepts. + +Ireland was known long ago as the Sacred Island. The Gods lived +there: for the Tuatha De Dannans who settled in Eire after conquering +the gigantic races of Firbolgs and Fomorians (Atlanteans) were called +Gods, differing in this respect from the Gods of ancient Greece and +India, that they were men who had made themselves Gods by magical +or Druidical power. They were preeminently magi become immortal +by strength of will and knowledge. Superhuman in power and beauty, +they raised themselves above nature; they played with the elements; +they moved with ease in the air. We read of one Angus Oge, the +master magician of all, sailing invisibly "on the wings of the cool +east wind"; the palace of that Angus remains to this day at New +Grange, wrought over with symbols of the Astral Fire and the great +Serpentine Power. The De Dannans lived in the heart of mountains +(crypts for initiation), and today the peasant sometimes sees the +enchanted glow from the green hills he believes they still inhabit. +Perhaps he believes not foolishly, for, once truly occult, a place +is preserved from pollution until the cycle returns, bringing back +with it the ancient Gods again. + +The cycles of the Gods is followed in Irish tradition by the cycle +of the heroes. The Gods still mingled with them and presumably +taught them, for many of these heroes are Druids. Fin, the hero +of a hundred legends, Cuchullin, Dairmud, Oisin and others are +wielders of magical powers. One of the most beautiful of these +stories tells of Oisin in Tir-na-noge. Oisin with his companions +journeys along by the water's edge. He is singled out by Niam, +daughter of Mannanan, king of Tir-na-noge, the land of the Gods. +She comes on a white horse across the seas, and mounting with her +Oisin travels across the ocean; after warring with a giant Fomor +he passes into Tir-na-noge, where for a hundred years he lives +with Niam and has all that heart could wish for. But desire for +Eire arises within him and returning, he falls off the magic steed, +and becomes an old man weary with years. It is purely occult. +Oisin, Niam, her white steed, Tir-na-noge, the waters they pass over, +are but names which define a little our forgotten being. Within +Oisin, the magician, kindles the Ray, the hidden Beauty. Let us +call it by what name we will, so that we spare the terms of academic +mysticism or psychology. It is the Golden Bird of the Upanishads; +the Light that lighteth every man; it is that which the old +Hermetists knew as the Fair or the Beautiful--for Niam means beauty; +it is the Presence, and when it is upon a man every other tie breaks; +he goes alone with It, he is a dying regret, an ever-increasing joy. +And so with Oisin, whose weeping companions behold him no more. +He mounts the white horse with Niam. It is the same as the white +horse of the Apocalypse, whereon one sits called Faithful and True. +It is the power on which the Spirit rides. Who is there, thinking, +has felt freed for a moment from his prison-house, and looking +forth has been blinded by the foam of great seas, or has felt his +imagination grow kingly in contemplation--he has known its impelling +power; the white horse is impatient of restraint. + +As they pass over the waters "they saw many wonderful things on +their journey--islands and cities, lime-white mansions, bright +greenans and lofty palaces." It is the mirror of heaven and earth, +the astral light, in whose glass a myriad illusions arise and fleet +before the mystic adventures. Haunt of a false beauty--or rather +a veil hung dazzling before the true beauty, only the odour or +incense of her breath is blown through these alluring forms. The +transition from this to a subtler sphere is indicated. A hornless +deer, chased by a white hound with red ears, and a maiden tossing +a golden lure, vanishes for ever before a phantom lover. The poet +whose imagination has renewed for us the legend has caught the true +significance of these hurrying forms: + +"The immortal desire of immortals we saw in their eyes and sighed." + +"Do not heed these forms!" cried Niam. Compare with this from +another source: "Flee from the Hall of Learning, it is dangerous +in its perfidious beauty. .... Beware, lest dazzled by illusive +radiance thy Soul should linger and be caught in its deceptive light. +.... It shines from the jewel of the Great Ensnarer." There are +centres in man corresponding to these appearances. They give vision +and entrance into a red and dreadful world, where unappeasable +desire smites the soul--a dangerous clairvoyence. But in the +sphere beyond their power has to be conquered, and here Oisin wars +with the giant Fomor. De Dannan and Romorian passed from Eire +wrestle still in the invisible world, say the legends. We, 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 days. These forms must be +conquered and so Oisin battles with Fomor and releases the power-- +a princess in the story. This fight with the demon must be fought +by everyone who would enter the land of the Gods, whether in +conscious occult adventure or half-consciously after death, when +the strange alchemist Nature separates the subtile from the gross +in the soul in this region which Oisin passes through. Tir-na-noge, +the land of Niam, is that region the soul lives in when its grosser +energies and desires have been subdued, dominated and brought under +the control of light; where the Ray of Beauty kindles and illuminates +every form which the imagination conceives, and where every form +tends to its archetype. It is a real region which has been approached +and described by the poets and sages who, at all times, have +endeavoured to express something of the higher realities. It is +not distant, but exists in earth as the soul within the body, and +may be perceived through and along with the surface forms. In a +sense it corresponds with the Tibetan Devachan, and in this region +Oisin lives for a hundred years, until desire to see Eire once more +arises and he parts from Niam. Nor the details of his return, the +drowsy land in which he slumbers; 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 legends. He will read +not alone of Oisin, but of many an old hero, who, hailed by the +faery (divine) voice, went away to live in the heart of green hills +(to be initiated) or to these strange worlds. + +Dear children of Eire, not alone to the past but to today belong +such destinies. For if we will we can enter the enchanted land. +The Golden Age is all about us, and heroic forms and imperishable +love. In that mystic light rolled round our hills and valleys hang +deed and memories which yet live and inspire. The Gods have not +deserted us. Hearing our call they will return. A new cycle is +dawning and the sweetness of the morning twilight is in the air. +We can breathe it if we will but awaken from our slumber. + + + + + +II. + + + + +In the recently published Story of Early Gaelic Literature, attention +is directed to the curious eastern and pantheistic character of some +archaic verse. Critics are for ever trying to show how some one +particular antique race was the first begetter of religion and mystic +symbolism. Perplexed by the identity between the myths and traditions +of different countries, they look now here, now there, for the original. +But it was not in any land but out of the Christ-Soul of the universe +that true wisdom at all times was begotten. Some ignorant peasant, +some Jacob Boehme, is pure and aspires, and lo! the God stirs within +him and he knows the things that were taught in elder days and by +unknown people. Our own land, long ago, had its Initiates in whom +the eye of the seer was open. This eye, concealed in the hollow +of the brain, is the straight gate and the narrow way through which +alone the mortal may pass and behold the immortal. It is now +closed in most men. Materialism, 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 Eden. But +the Tuatha De Dannans were more than seers or visionaries. They +were magicians--God and man in one. Not alone their thought went +out into the vast, but the Power went along with it. This mystic +Power is called the Serpentine Fire. It is spiritual, electric, +creative. It develops spirally in the ascetic, mounting from centre +to centre, from the navel to the heart;* [* "He that believeth +on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. This +spake he of the Spirit."--John, vii, 38] from thence it rises to +the head. He is then no more a man but a God; his vision embraces +infinitude. + +The action of this Power was symbolized in many ways, notably by +the passage of the sun through the zodiacal signs * (centres in +the psychic body) [* "The twelve signs of the Zodiac are hidden +in his body."---Secret Doctrine, II, 619] A stone serpent was +found a little while ago in Ireland marked with twelve divisions. +The archaic verses alluded to have the same meaning: + +"I am the point of the lance of battle. [The spinal cord, the + Sushumna nadi of Indian Psychology.] +I am the God who creates in the head of man the fire of the thought. +Who is it throws light into the meeting on the mountain? [The + meeting of the mortal and the immortal on Mount Meru, the + pineal gland.] +Who announces the ages of the moon? [The activity of the inner + astral man.] +Who teaches the place where courses the sun?" [Spirit.] + + +The Serpentine Power is the couch of the sun, the casket of spirit. +Hence the Druids or Magi who had mastered this power were called +Serpents. Though St. Patrick is said to have driven the serpents +out of Ireland, traces still remain of the serpent wisdom. Lest +the interpretation given should seem arbitrary I will trace further +explicit references to the third eye. Diarmuid, the hero and +darling of so many story-tellers, whose flight with Grania forms +one of the most mystic episodes in Celtic romance, is described +as having a spot in the centre of his forehead which fascinated +whoever gazed. He is called the "Son of the Monarch of Light." +He is the Initiate, the twice-born. This divine parentage has +the sense in which the words were spoken. "Marvel not that I said +unto thee, ye must be born again." In the same sense a Druid is +described as "full of his God." From the mystic Father descends +the Ray, the Child of Light. It is born in man as mind, not +reasoning: earthly not sensual, but as the heaven-aspiring, +thinking mind. In itself it is of the nature of fire. The man +who knows it becomes filled with light, aye, he moves about in +light within himself. + +The following description of a giant, taken from the story of +Diarmuid, refers to still another aspect of our occult nature. + +"He has, but one eye only in the fair middle of his black forehead. +.... He is, moreover, so skilled in magic that fire could not burn +him, water could not drown him, and weapons would not wound him. +...... He is fated not to die until there be struck upon him three +blows of the iron club he has. He sleeps in the top of that Quicken +tree by night, and he remains at its foot by day to watch it. .... +The berries of the tree have the virtues of the trees of faeryland." + +The Quicken tree is the network of nerves in the magnetic astral body. +Readers of the Upanishads will remember the description of the arteries, +thin as a hair split a thousand times, which proceed from the heart, +and in which the Ego rests during deep sleep. It has just the same +significance in the legend. The meaning will be still better +understood by a comparison of the youthful Finn in his encounter +with a similar one-eye Titan. There is a most interesting version +of this in Curtin's Irish Myths and Folk-Tales. Too long to quote +in its entirety, the story runs as follows. Finn meets a giant +who carries a salmon in his hand. This Titan has "but one eye as +large as the sun in the heavens." He gives the fish to Finn to +cook. The moment the giant closed his eye he began to breathe +heavily. "Every time he drew breath he dragged Finn, the spit, +the salmon, and all the goats to his mouth, and every time drove +a breath out of himself he threw them back to the places they were +in before." While Finn is cooking the salmon he burns it, and in +trying to hide the blister he burns his thumb. To ease the pain +he put his thumb between his teeth, and chewed it through to the +bone and marrow. He then received the knowledge of all things. +He was drawn up the next minute to the giant's eye, and plunged +the hot spit (a bar of red-hot iron, says another account) into +the eye of the giant. He passes the infuriate giant at the door +of the cave something after the fashion of Ulysses, by bringing +the flocks out and himself escaping under the fleece of the largest +goat or ram. + +The meaning of this story, with all its quaint imagery, is not +difficult. It is an allegory describing the loss of the third eye. +The cave is the body. The fish is a phallic symbol, and the cooking +of it refers to the fall of the early ethereal races into generation +and eventually into gross sensuality. The synthetic action of the +highest spiritual faculty, in which all the powers of man are present, +is shown by the manner in which everything in the cave is dragged +up to the giant's head. When Finn destroys the eye by plunging +into it a bar of red-hot iron, it simply means that the currents +started in the generative organs rose up through the spinal cord +to the brain, and, acting upon the pineal gland, atrophied or +petrified it. The principle of desire is literally the spirit of +the metal iron, 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 feelings. The escape of Finn under the fleece of the +ram means that, having destroyed the spiritual eye, he could only +use the organ of psychic clairvoyance, which is symbolized here, +as in the mysticism of other countries, by the ram. + +This symbolism, so grotesque and unmeaning today, was once perfectly +lucid and was justified in its application. A clairvoyant could +see in the aura of man around every centre the glow, colour and +form which gave rise to the antique symbol. One of the Gods is +described as "surrounded by a rainbow and fiery dews." Cuchullin, +whose hair, dark (blue?) close to the skin, red beyond, and ending +in brilliant gold, makes Professor Rhys elaborate him into a solar +myth, is an adept who has assimilated the substance of the three +worlds, the physical, the psychic and the heavenworld; therefore +his hair (aura) shows the three colours. He has the sevenfold +vision also, indicated by the seven pupils in his eyes. Volumes +of unutterably dreary research, full of a false learning, have +been written about these legends. Some try to show that much of +the imagery arose from observation of the heavenly bodies and the +procession of the seasons. But who of the old bards would have +described nature other than as she is? The morning notes of Celtic +song breathe the freshness of spring and are full of joy in nature. +They could communicate this much better than most of their critics +could do. It is only the world within which could not be rendered +otherwise than by myth and symbol. We do not need scholarship so +much as a little imagination to interpret them. We shall understand +the divine initiators of our race by believing in our own divinity. +As we nourish the mystic fire, we shall find many things of the +early world, which now seem grotesque and unlovely to our eyes, +growing full of shadowy and magnificent suggestion. Things that +were distant and strange, things abhorrent, the blazing dragons, +winged serpents and oceans of fire which affrighted us, are seen +as the portals through which the imagination enters a more beautiful, +radiant world. The powers we dared not raise our eyes to--heroes, +dread deities and awful kings--grow as brothers and gay children +around the spirit in its resurrection and ascension. For there +is no pathway in the universe which does not pass through man, +and no life which is not brother to our life. + +--March-April, 1895 + + + + + +Review: "Lyrics" by R.H. Fitzpatrick [London: W. Stewart and Co.] + + + + +While one race sinks into night another renews its dawn. The Celtic +Twilight is the morning-time and the singing of birds is prophetic +of the new day. We have had to welcome of late years one sweet +singer after another, and now comes a volume of lyrics which has +that transcendental note which is peculiar to our younger writers. +It is full of the mystery and commingling of the human and the +divine soul: + +"Hail, thou living spirit! + Whose deep organ blown +By lips that more inherit + Than all music known; +Art is but the echo of thy mysterious tone." + +These lyrics, I imagine, have been wrought in solitary wanderings, +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 ideals. And in this refining back +to an Over-Soul there is no suggestion of the student of academic +philosophy, no over-wrought intellectualism. Such references +arise naturally out of his thought and illuminate it. One can +imagine how such lyrics were engendered: + +"I stood and twirled a feathered stalk, +Or drank the clover's honey sap, + Happiest without talk. + +"The summer tidal waves of night +Slowly in silence rippled in: +They steeped the feet of blazing light, + And hushed day's harsher din." + +This aloofness from conflict, it if has hindered him from fully +accepting and justifying life, the highest wisdom of the poet, has +still its compensations. He has felt the manifold meaning of the +voices through whose unconsciousness Nature speaks, the songs of +birds, the aerial romance and intermingling of light and shadow, +and has vision of the true proportion of things in that conflict +he has turned his back on: + + "All things sip, +And sip at life; but Time for ever drains + The ever-filing cup in rivalship, + And wipes the generations from his lip, +While Art looks down from his serene domains." + +--June 15, 1895 + + + + + +--"YES, AND HOPE." + + + + +They bring none to his or to her terminus or to be content and full, +Whom they take they take into space to behold the birth of stars, +to learn one of the meanings. To launch off with absolute faith, +to sweep through the ceaseless rings and never be quiet again. +--Whitman + +Here is inspiration--the voice of the soul. And we, who professed +to bring such wisdom, what have we to say? Have we uttered with +equal confidence such hopes, or with such daring and amplitude of +illustration? Let us confess we have not. There are one or two +exceptions which will occur to everyone. Now, as we adventure afresh, +let us see what it is has brought despondency and failure in our work +upon us in the past. I think it is because we have been saying +things we have never realized; we have been repeating without +imagination the words of those few leaders. We have lowered their +heroic tone because we thought we were speaking to a fallen people +who could not respond to our highest. But it was not the way, it +was not the way. It is not with the dust we have brotherhood, but +with the ancient spirit it clouds over. To this spirit we must +speak heart to heart as we know how. I would not willingly recognize +aught in anyone but the divine. Often indeed the form or surface +far removed from beauty makes us falter, and we speak to that form +and so the soul is not stirred; it will not respond. But an equal +temper arouses it. To whoever hails in it the lover, the hero, +the magician, it will answer, but not to him who accosts it as Mr. +So-and-So. Every word which really inspires is spoken as if the +Golden Age had never passed. The great teachers ignore the personal +identity and speak to the eternal pilgrim. Do we not treasure +most their words which remind us of our divine origin? So we must +in our turn speak. How often do we not long to break through the +veils which divide us from some one, but custom, convention, or a +fear of being misunderstood prevent us, and so the moment departs +whose heat might have burned through every barrier. Out with it-- +out with it, the hidden heart, the love that is voiceless, the +secret tender germ of an infinite forgiveness. That speaks to +the heart. That pierces through many a vesture of the Soul. +Our companion struggles in some labyrinth of passion. We help him, +we think with ethics, with the moralities. Ah, very well they are; +well to know and to keep, but wherefore? For their own sake? No, +but that the King may arise in his beauty. We write that in letters, +in books, but to the face of the fallen who brings back remembrance? +Who calls him by his secret name? Let a man but feel for that is +his battle, for that his cyclic labor, and a warrior who is invincible +fights for him and he draws upon divine powers. Let us but get that +way of looking at things which we call imaginative, and how everything +alters. For our attitude to man and to nature, expressed or not, +has something of the effect of ritual, of evocation. As our +aspiration so is our inspiration. We believe in life universal, +in a brotherhood which links the elements to man, and makes the +glow-worm feel far off something of the rapture of the seraph hosts. +Then we go out into the living world, and what influences pour +through us! We are "at league with the stones of the field." The +winds of the world blow radiantly upon us as in the early time. +We feel wrapt about with love, with an infinite tenderness that +caresses us. Alone in our rooms as we ponder, what sudden abysses +of light open within us! The Gods are so much nearer than we dreamed. +We rise up intoxicated with the thought, and reel out seeking an +equal companionship under the great night and the stars. + +Let us get near to realities. We read too much. We think of that +which is "the goal, the Comforter, the Lord, the Witness, the resting- +place, the asylum and the Friend." Is it by any of these dear and +familiar names? Alas, our souls are becoming mere bundles of theories. +We follow the trail of the Monad, but often it is only in the pages +of The Secret Doctrine. And we talk much of Atma, Buddhi, and Manas. +Could we not speak of them in our own tongue and the language of +today will be as sacred as any of the past. No wonder that the +Manasa do not incarnate. We cannot say we do pay reverence to +these awful powers. We repulse the living truth by our doubts and +reasonings. We would compel the Gods to fall in with our philosophy +rather than trust in the heavenly guidance. We make diagrams of them. +Ah, to think of it, those dread deities, the divine Fires, to be +so enslaved! We have not comprehended the meaning of the voice +which cried, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," or this, "Lift up +your heads O y gates. Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and +the King of Glory shall come in." Nothing that we read is useful +unless it calls up living things in the soul. To read a mystic +book truly is to invoke the powers. If they do not rise up plumed +and radiant, the apparitions of spiritual things, then is our labor +barren. We only encumber the mind with useless symbols. They +knew better ways long ago. "Master of the Green-waving Planisphere, +..... Lord of the Azure Expanse, .... it is thus we invoke," cried +the magicians of old. + +And us, let us invoke them with joy, let us call upon them with love, +the Light we hail, or the Divine Darkness we worship with silent +breath, hymning it in our hearts with quietude and more enraptured +awe. That silence cries aloud to the Gods. Then they will approach +us. Then we may learn that speech of many colors, for they will +not speak in our mortal tongue; they will not answer to the names +of men. Their names are rainbow glories. Yet these are mysteries +and they cannot be reasoned out or argued over. We cannot speak +truly of them from report, or description, or from what another +has written. A relation to the thing in itself alone is our warrant, +and this means we must set aside our intellectual self-sufficiency +and await guidance. It will surely come to those who wait in trust, +a glow, a heat in the heart announcing the awakening of the Fire. +And, as it blows with its mystic breath into the brain, there is +a hurtling of visions, a brilliance of lights, a sound as of great +waters vibrant and musical in their flowing, and murmurs from a +single yet multitudinous being. In such a mood, when the far +becomes near, the strange familiar, and the infinite possible, he +wrote from whose words we get the inspiration: + +"To launch off with absolute faith, to sweep through the ceaseless +rings and never be quiet again." + +Such a faith and such an unrest be ours: faith which is mistrust +of the visible; unrest which is full of a hidden surety and radiance. +We, when we fall into pleasant places, rest and dream our strength +away. Before every enterprise and adventure of the soul we calculate +in fear our power to do. But remember, "Oh, disciple, in thy work +for thy brother thou has many allies; in the winds, in the air, +in all the voices of the silent shore." These are the far-wandered +powers of our own nature and they turn again home at our need. +We came out of the Great Mother-Life for the purposes of soul. +Are her darlings forgotten where they darkly wander and strive? +Never. Are not the lives of all her heroes proof? Though they +seem to stand alone the eternal Mother keeps watch on them, and +voices far away and unknown to them before arise in passionate +defence, and hearts beat warm to help them. Aye, if we could look +within we would see vast nature stirred on their behalf, and +institutions shaken, until the truth they fight for triumphs, and +they pass, and a wake of glory ever widening behind them trails +down the ocean of the years. + +Thus the warrior within us works, or, if we choose to phrase it so, +it is the action of the spiritual will. Shall we not, then, trust +in it and face the unknown defiant and fearless of its dangers. +Though we seem to go alone to the high, the lonely, the pure, we +need not despair. Let no one bring to this task the mood of the +martyr or of one who thinks he sacrifices something. Yet let all +who will come. Let them enter the path, "Yes, and hope," facing +all things in life and death with a mood at once gay and reverent, +as beseems those who are immortal--who are children today, but +whose hands tomorrow may grasp the sceptre, sitting down with the +Gods as equal and companions. + +--August 1895 + + + + + +Content + + + + +Who are exiles? as for me + Where beneath the diamond dome +Lies the light on hill or tree + There my palace is and home. + +We are outcasts from Deity; therefore we defame the place of our +exile. But who is there may set apart his destiny from the earth +which bore him? I am one of those who would bring back the old +reverence for the Mother, the magic, the love. I think, metaphysician, +you have gone astray. You would seek within yourself for the fountain +of life. Yes, there is the true, the only light. But do not dream +it will lead you further away from the earth, but rather deeper into +its heart. By it you are nourished with those living waters you +would drink. You are yet in the womb and unborn, and the Mother +breathes for thee the diviner airs. Dart out thy furthest ray of +thought to the original, and yet thou has not found a new path of +thine own. Thy ray is still enclosed in the parent ray, and only +on the sidereal streams are you borne to the freedom of the deep, +to the sacred stars whose distance maddens, and to the lonely Light +of Lights. + +Let us, therefore, accept the conditions and address ourselves with +wonder, with awe, with love, as we well may, to that being in whom +we move. I abate no jot of those vaster hopes, yet I would pursue +that ardent aspiration, content as to here and today. I do not +believe in a nature red with tooth and claw. If indeed she appears +so terrible to any it is because they themselves have armed her. +Again, behind the anger of the Gods there is a love. Are the rocks +barren? Lay thy brow against them and learn what memories they keep. +Is the brown earth unbeautiful? Yet lie on the breast of the Mother +and thou shalt be aureoled with the dews of faery. The earth is +the entrance to the Halls of Twilight. What emanations are those +that make radiant the dark woods of pine! 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 soul. +But we think of these things no longer. Like the prodigal we have +wandered far from our home, but no more return. We idly pass or +wait as strangers in the halls our spirit built. + +Sad or fain no more to live? + I have pressed the lips of pain: +With the kisses lovers give + Ransomed ancient powers again. + +I would raise this shrinking soul to a more universal acceptance. +What! does it aspire to the All, and yet deny by its revolt and +inner protest the justice of Law. From sorrow we shall take no +less and no more than from our joys. For if the one reveals to +the soul the mode by which the power overflows and fills it here, +the other indicates to it the unalterable will which checks excess +and leads it on to true proportion and its own ancestral ideal. +Yet men seem for ever to fly from their destiny of inevitable beauty; +because of delay the power invites and lures no longer but goes out +into the highways with a hand of iron. We look back cheerfully +enough upon those old trials out of which we have passed; 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 Immortal, even though it comes rolled round with terror +and suffering and strikes at the heart of clay. + +Through all these things, in doubt, despair, poverty, sick feeble +or baffled, we have yet to learn reliance. "I will not leave thee +or forsake thee," are the words of the most ancient spirit to the +spark wandering in the immensity of its own being. This high +courage brings with it a vision. It sees the true intent in all +circumstance out of which its own emerges to meet it. Before it +the blackness melts into forms of beauty, and back of all illusions +is seen the old enchanter tenderly smiling, the dark, hidden Father +enveloping his children. + +All things have their compensations. For what is absent here there +is always, if we seek, a nobler presence about us. + +Captive, see what stars give light + In the hidden heart of clay: +At their radiance dark and bright + Fades the dreamy King of Day. + +We complain of conditions, but this very imperfection it is which +urges us to arise and seek for the Isles of the Immortals. What +we lack recalls the fulness. The soul has seen a brighter day +than this and a sun which never sets. Hence the retrospect: "Thou +has been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy +covering, the sardius, topaz and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, +the jasper, the sapphire, emerald .... Thou was upon the holy +mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the +stones of fire." We would point out these radiant avenues of return; +but sometimes we feel in our hearts that we sound but cockney +choices, as guides amid the ancient temples, the cyclopean crypts +sanctified by the mysteries. To be intelligible we replace the +opalescent shining by the terms of the anatomist, and we speak of +the pineal gland and the pituitary body in the same breath with +the Most High. Yet when the soul has the vision divine it knows +not it has a body. Let it remember, and the breath of glory kindles +it no more; it is once again a captive. After all, it does not +make the mysteries clearer to speak in physical terms and do violence +to our intuitions. If we ever use these centres, as fires we shall +see them, or they shall well up within us as fountains of potent +sound. We may satisfy people's minds with a sense correspondence, +and their souls may yet hold aloof. We shall only inspire by the +magic of a superior beauty. Yet this too has its dangers. "Thou +has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of they brightness," continues +the seer. If we follow too much the elusive beauty of form we +will miss the spirit. The last secrets are for those who translate +vision into being. Does the glory fade away before thee? Say +truly in they heart, "I care not. I will wear the robes I am +endowed with today." Thou are already become beautiful, being +beyond desire and free. + +Night and day no more eclipse + Friendly eyes that on us shine, +Speech from old familiar lips, + Playmates of a youth divine. + +To childhood once again. We must regain the lost state. But it +is to the giant and spiritual childhood of the young immortals we +must return, when into their clear and translucent souls first fell +the rays of the father-beings. The men of old were intimates of +wind and wave and playmates of many a brightness long since forgotten. +The rapture of the fire was their rest; their outgoing was still +consciously through universal being. By darkened images we may +figure something vaguely akin, as when in rare moments under the +stars the big dreamy heart of childhood is pervaded with quiet and +brimmed full with love. Dear children of the world so tired today-- +so weary seeking after the light. Would you recover strength and +immortal vigor? Not one star alone, your star, shall shed its happy +light upon you, but the All you must adore. Something intimate, +secret, unspeakable, akin to thee will emerge silently, insensibly, +and ally itself with thee as thou gatherest thyself from the four +quarters of the earth. We shall go back to the world of the dawn, +but to a brighter light than that which opened up this wondrous +story of the cycles. The forms of elder years will reappear in +our vision, the father-beings once again. So we shall grow at +home amid these grandeurs, and with that All-Presence about us +may cry in our hearts, "At last is our meeting, Immortal. Oh, +starry one, now is our rest!" + +Brothers weary, come away; + We will quench the heart's desire +Past the gateways of the day + In the rapture of the fire. + +--October 15, 1895 + + + + + +The Enchantment of Cuchullain +--By AE and Aretas (G.W. Russell and James M. Pryse) + + + + +While our vision, backward cast, +Ranged the everliving past, +Through a haze of misty things-- +Luminous with quiverings +Musical as starry chimes-- +Rose a hero of old times, +In whose breast the magic powers +Slumbering from primeval hours, +Woke at the enchantment wild +Of Aed Abrait's lovely child; +Still for all her Druid learning +With the wild-bird heart, whose yearning +Blinded at his strength and beauty, +Clung to love and laughed at duty. +Warrior chief, and mystic maid, +Through your stumbling footsteps strayed, +This at least in part atones-- +Jewels were your stumbling-stones! + + + + + +I. The Birds of Angus + + + + +The birds were a winging rapture in the twilight. White wings, +grey wings, brown wings, fluttered around and over the pine trees +that crowned the grassy dun. The highest wings flashed with a +golden light. At the sound of voices they vanished. + +"How then shall we go to the plains of Murthemney? We ought not +to be known. Shall we go invisibly, or in other forms? We must +also fly as swiftly as the birds go." + +"Fly! yes, yes, we shall--fly as the birds. But we shall choose +fairer forms than these. I know where the Birds of Angus flock. +Come, Liban, come!" + + +The crypt beneath the dun was flooded with light, silvery and golden, +a light which came not from the sun nor from the moon; a light not +born from any parent luminary, and which knew nothing opaque. More +free than the birds of the air were the shadowy forms of the two +daughters of Aed Abrait, as they gazed out from that rock-built +dun upon a place their mortal feet had never trod. Yet timidly +Liban looked at her more adventurous sister. Fand floated to the +centre of the cavern, erect and radiant. Her eyes followed the +wavy tremulous motion of the light as it rolled by. They seemed +to pierce through earth and rock, and search out the secret hollows +of the star, to know the vastness, and to dominate and compel the +motion of the light. Her sister watched her half curiously and +half in admiration and wonder. As the floating form grew more +intense the arms swayed about and the lips murmured. A sheen as +of many jewels played beneath the pearly mist which enrobed her; +over her head rose the crest of the Dragon; she seemed to become +one with the shining, to draw it backwards into herself. Then +from far away came a wondrous melody, a sound as of the ancient +chiming of the stars. The sidereal rivers flowed by with more +dazzling light, and the Birds of Angus were about them. + +"Look, Liban, look!" cried the Enchantress. "These of old were +the chariots of the children of men. On these the baby offspring +of the Gods raced through the nights of diamond and sapphire. We +are not less than they though a hundred ages set us apart. We +will go forth royally as they did. Let us choose forms from among +these. If the Hound should see us he will know we have power." + +With arms around each other they watched the starry flocks hurtling +about them. The birds wheeled around, fled away, and again returned. +There were winged serpents; might which would put to flight the +degenerate eagle; plumage before which the birds of paradise would +show dull as clay. These wings dipt in the dawn flashed ceaselessly. +Ah, what plumage of white fire rayed out with pinions of opalescent +glory! What feathered sprays of burning amethyst! What crests of +scarlet and gold, of citron and wavy green! They floated by in +countless multitudes; they swayed in starry clusters dripping with +light, singing a melody caught from the spheres of the Gods, the +song which of old called forth the earth from its slumber. The +sound was entrancing. Oh, fiery birds who float in the purple +rivers of the Twilight, ye who rest in the great caverns of the world, +whoever listens to your song shall grow faint with longing, for he +shall hear the great, deep call in his heart and his spirit shall +yearn to go afar; whatever eyes see you shall grow suddenly blinded +with tears for a glory that has passed away from the world, for an +empire we no longer range. + +"They bring back the air of the ancient days. Ah! now I have the +heart of the child once again. Time has not known me. Let us away +with them. We will sweep over Eri and lead the starry flocks as +the queen birds." + +"If we only dared. But think, Fand, we shall have every wizard +eye spying upon us, and every body who can use his freedom will +follow and thwart us. Not these forms, but others let us take. +Ah, look at those who come in grey and white and brown! Send home +the radiant ones. We will adventure with these." + +"Be it so. Back to your fountains, O purple rivers! King-Bird, +Queen-Bird, to your home in the hollows lead your flock!" So she +spoke, but her words were shining and her waving arms compelled +the feathered monarchs with radiations of outstretched flame. To +the others: "Rest here awhile, sweet singers. We shall not detain +you captive for long." So she spoke, but her hands that caressed +laid to sleep the restless pulsations of the wings and lulled the +ecstatic song. + + +Night, which to the eye of the magian shows more clearly all that +the bright day conceals, overspread with a wizard twilight the vast +hollow of the heavens. Numberless airy rivulets, each with its +own peculiar shining, ran hither and thither like the iridescent +currents streaming over a bubble. Out of still duskier, more +darkly glowing and phantasmal depths stared the great eyes of space, +rimmed about with rainbow-dyes. As night moved on to dawn two +birds shot forth from the dun, linked together by a cord of golden +fire. They fled southwards and eastwards. As they went they sang +a song which tingled the pulses of the air. In the dark fields +the aureoles around the flowers grew momentarily brighter. Over +the mountain homes of the Tuatha de Danaans rose up shadowy forms +who watched, listened, and pondered awhile. The strayed wanderers +amid the woods heard the enraptured notes and forgot their sorrows +and life itself in a hurricane of divine remembrance. Where the +late feast was breaking up the melody suddenly floated in and +enwreathed the pillared halls, and revellers became silent where +they stood, the mighty warriors in their hands bowed low their faces. +Still on and on swept the strange birds flying southwards and eastwards. + + +Still in many a peasant cot +Lives the story unforgot, +While the faded parchments old +Still their rhyming tale unfold. +There is yet another book +Where thine eager eyes may look. +There within its shining pages +Lives the long romance of ages, +Liban, Fand, their glowing dreams, +Angus's birds, the magic streams +Flooding all the twilight crypt, +Runes and spells in starry script; +Secrets never whispered here +In the light are chanted clear. +Read in the tales of Eri +If the written word be weary. + + +Never is there day so gleaming + But the dusk o'ertakes it; +Never night so dark and dreaming + But the dawn awakes it: +And the soul has nights and days +In its own eternal ways. + + + + + +II. Cuchullain's Dream + + + + +The air was cool with the coming of winter; but with the outer +cold came the inner warmth of the sun, full of subtile vitality +and strength. And the Ultonians had assembled to light the yearly +fire in honor of the Sun-God, at the seven-days' feast of Samhain. +There the warriors of Ulster rested by the sacred fire, gazing +with closed eyes upon the changing colors of the sun-breath, +catching glimpses of visions, or anon performing feats of magic +when they felt the power stirring within their breasts. They sang +the songs of old times, of the lands of the West, where their +forefathers live ere the earth-fires slew those lands, and the +sea-waves buried them, leaving only the Eri, the isle where dwelt +men so holy that the earth-fires dared not to assail it, and the +ocean stood at bay. Lightly the warriors juggled with their great +weapons of glittering bronze; and each told of his deeds in battle +and in the chase; but woe to him who boasted or spoke falsely, +magnifying his prowess, for then would his sword angrily turn of +itself in its scabbard, convicting him of untruth. + +Cuchullain, youngest but mightiest of all the warriors, sat moodily +apart, his beardless chin resting in the palms of his hands, his +eyes staring fixedly at the mirror-like surface of the lake upon +whose sloping bank he rested. Laeg, his charioteer, lying at full +length upon the greensward near by, watched him intently, a gloomy +shadow darkening his unusually cheerful face. + +"It's a woman's trick, that," he muttered to himself, "staring into +the water when trying to see the country of the Sidhe, and unworthy +of a warrior. And to think of him doing it, who used to have the +clearest sight, and had more power for wonder-working than anyone +else in the lands of the West! Besides, he isn't seeing anything +now, for all the help of the water. 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 now, even +in his sleep. Its true enough, but to hear it said even by women!" + +And the discontented charioteer glanced back contemptuously at a +group of women a short distance away, who were following with their +eyes a flock of wild birds circling over the plain. + +"I suppose they want those birds," he continued, conversing familiarly +with himself. "Its the way of women to want everything they see, +especially if its something hard to catch, like those wild birds." + +But Laeg's cynicism was not so deep as to keep his glance from +lingering upon the bevy of graceful maidens and stately matrons. +Their soft laughter reached his ear through the still evening air; +and watching their animated gestures he idly speculated upon the +plane he felt sure they were arranging. + +"Yes; they want the birds. They wish to fasten the wings to their +shoulders, to make themselves look like the women of the Sidhe. +They know Cuchullain is the only man who can get the birds for them, +but even Emer, his wife, is afraid to ask him. Of course they will +coax that patient Ethne to do it. If she succeeds, she'll get no +thanks; and if she fails, she'll have all the blame, and go off +by herself to cry over the harsh words spoken by Cuchullain in his +bad temper. That's the way of Ethne, poor girl." + +He was right in his conjecture, for presently Ethne left the group +and hesitatingly approached the giant warrior, who was still gazing +vacantly at the glassy surface of the water. She touched him timidly +on the shoulder. Slowly he raised his head, and still half dazed +by his long staring, listened while she made her request. He rose +to his feet sleepily, throwing out his brawny arms and expanding +his chest as he cast a keen glance at the birds slowly circling +near the ground. + +"Those birds are not fit to eat," he said, turning to her with a +good-natured smile. + +"But we want the wings to put on our shoulders. It would be so +good of you to get them for us," said Ethne in persuasive tones. + +"If it's flying you wish to try," he said, with a laugh, "you'll +need better wings than those. However, you shall have them if I +can get within throwing distance of them." + +He glanced around for Laeg. That far-seeing individual was already +yoking the horses to the chariot. A moment later, Cuchullain and +the charioteer were dashing across the plain behind the galloping +steeds. As they neared the birds, Cuchullain sent missiles at +them from his sling with such incredible rapidity and certainty +of aim that not one of the flock escaped. Each of the women was +given two of the birds; but when Ethne, who had modestly held +back when the others hurried forward to meet the returning chariot, +came to receive her share, not one remained. + +"As usual," said Laeg stolidly, "if anyone fails to get her portion +of anything, its sure to be Ethne." + +"Too sure," said Cuchullain, a look of compassion softening his +stern features. He strode over to Ethne, and placing his hand +gently on her head said: "Don't take your disappointment to heart, +little woman; when any more birds come to the plains of Murthemney, +I promise to get for you the most beautiful of them all." + +"There's a fine brace of them now, flying towards us," exclaimed +Laeg, pointing across the lake. "And I think I hear them singing. +Queer birds, those; for I see a cord as of red gold between them." + +Nearer and nearer swept the strange beings of the air, and as their +weird melody reached the many Ultonians at the Samhain fire, the +stalwart warriors, slender maidens, the youthful and the time-worn, +all felt the spell and became as statues, silent, motionless, +entranced. Alone the three at the chariot felt not the binding +influences of the spell. Cuchullain quietly fitted a smooth pebble +into his sling. Ethne looked appealingly at Laeg, in whose sagacity +she greatly trusted. 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 unconcern. She hastened after +Cuchullain, who had taken his stand behind a great rock on the +lake shore which concealed him from the approaching birds. + +"Do not try to take them," she entreated; "there is some strange +power about them which your eyes do not see; I feel it, and my +heart is filled with dread." + +The young warrior made no reply, but whirling his sling above his +head sent the missile with terrific force at the two swan-like +voyagers of the air. It went far astray, and splashed harmlessly +into the lake, throwing up a fountain of spray. Cuchullain's face +grew dark. Never before in war or the chase had he missed so easy +a mark. Angrily he caught a javelin from his belt and hurled it +at the birds, which had swerved from their course and were now +flying swiftly away. It was a mighty cast, even for the strong +arm of the mightiest warrior of Eri; and the javelin, glittering +in the sun, was well on the downward curve of its long flight, its +force spent, when its point touched the wing of the nearest bird. +A sphere of golden flame seemed to glitter about them as they turned +downward and disappeared beneath the deep waters of the lake. + +Cuchullain threw himself upon the ground, leaning his broad shoulders +against the rock. + +"Leave me," he said in sullen tones to Ethne; "my senses are dull +with sleep from long watching at the Samhain fire. For the first +time since I slew the hound of Culain my right arm has failed me. +My eyes are clouded, and strange music murmurs in my heart." + +His eyes closed, his heavy breathing was broken by sighs, and +anguish distorted his features. Ethne watched him awhile, and +then stole quietly back to where the warriors were and said to them: + +"Cuchullain lies slumbering by yonder rock, and he moans in his +sleep as if the people of the Sidhe were reproaching his soul for +some misdeed. I fear those birds that had the power behind them. +Should we not waken him?" + +But while they held council, and some were about to go and awaken him. +Fergus mac Roy, foster-father of Cuchullain, arose, and all drew back +in awe, for they saw the light of the Sun-God shining from his eyes, +and his voice had the Druid ring as he said in stern tones of command: + +"Touch him not, for he sees a vision; the people of the Sidhe are +with him; and from the far distant past, even from the days of the +sunken lands of the West, I see the hand of Fate reach out and +grasp the warrior of Eri, to place him on a throne where he shall +rule the souls of men." + + +To Cuchullain it did not seem that he slept; for though his eyelids +fell, his sight still rested on the calm surface of the lake, the +shining sand on the shore, and the great brown rock against which +he reclined. But whence came the two maidens who were walking +toward him along the glistening sand? He gazed at them in speechless +wonder; surely only in dreamland could so fair a vision be seen. +In dreamland, yes; for a dim memory awoke in his breast that he +had seen them before in the world of slumber. One wore a mantle +of soft green, and her flaxen hair, strangely white but with a +glint of gold, fell about her shoulders so thickly it seemed like +a silken hood out of which looked a white face with gleaming violet +eyes. The other maiden had dark brown eyes, very large, very luminous; +her cheeks were rosy, with just a hint of bronzing by the sunshine, +a dimple in her chin added to the effect of her pouting red lips; +her dark brown hair was unbound and falling loosely over her deep +crimson mantle, which reached from her waist in five heavy folds. +The recumbent warrior felt a weird spell upon him. Powerless to +move or speak, he saw the two maidens advance and stand beside him, +the sunlight gleaming upon their bare arms and bosoms. They smiled +upon him and uplifted their arms, and then from their fingers there +rained down upon him blinding lightnings, filaments of flame that +stung like whipcords, a hail of rainbow sparks that benumbed him, +darting flames that pierced him like javelins; and as he gazed +upward through that storm of fire, writhing in his agony, he saw +still their white arms waving to and from, weaving a network of +lightnings about him, their faces smiling upon him, serene and kindly; +and in the eyes of her with the crimson mantle he read a tenderness +all too human. Eyes that shone with tenderness; white arms that +wove a rainbow-mesh of torturing fires about him; his anguish +ever increasing, until he saw the arms stop waving, held for an +instant aloft, and then swept downward with a torrent of flame +and a mighty crash of sound like the spears of ten thousand warriors +meeting in battle, and then--he was alone, staring with wide-open +eyes at the blue, cloud-mirroring surface of the lakes and the +white sand gleaming on the shore. + + +"Trouble me not with questions," said Cuchullain to the warriors +gathered about him. "My limbs are benumbed and refuse to obey me. +Bear me to my sick-bed at Tete Brece." + +"Shall we not take you to Dun Imrish, or to Dun Delca, where you +may be with Emer?" said they. + +"No," he replied, a shudder convulsing his strong frame; "bear me +to Tete Brece. + +And when they had done so, he dwelt there for a year, and on his +face was always the look of a slumberer who is dreaming; not once +did he smile, nor did he speak one word during that year. + + +When the soul has many lives + Fettered by Forgetfulness, +Hands that burst its long-worn gyves + Cruel seem and pitiless. +Yet they come all tenderly, + Loved companions of the past; +And the sword that sets us free + Turns our pain to peace at last. + + + + + +III. + + + + +What shadows turn his eyes away + Who fain would scale the heavenly heights; +There shines the beauty of a day, + And there the ancient Light of Lights. + +And while he broods on visions dim + And grows forgetful of his fate, +The chariot of the Sun for him + And all the tribal stars await. + + +The Slumber of Cuchullain, and the Message of Angus + +Within the door at Tete Brece, under the shadow of the thatch, the +couch of Cuchullain was placed, so that if he willed he could gaze +over the rich green fields to the distant rim of blue hills. Yet +rarely opened he his eyes or gazed with outward understanding during +that weary year. Often the watchers round his bed, looking on the +white rigid face, wondered if he were indeed living. But they +dared not awaken him, for the seers had found that his slumber was +filled with mystic life, and that it was not lawful to call him forth. +Was the gloom of the great warrior because he was but the shadow +of his former self, or was that pale form indeed empty? So pondered +Fergus, Conail, Lugard and Ethne, faithful companions. But he in +himself was wrapped in a mist of visions appearing fast and vanishing +faster. The fiery hands that smote him had done their work well, +and his darkness had become bright with remembrance. The majesty +of elder years swept by him with reproachful glance, and the hero +cowered before the greatness of his own past. Born out of the womb +of the earth long ago in the fulness of power--what shadow had dimmed +his beauty? He tracked and retraced countless steps. Once more he +held sceptred sway over races long since in oblivion. He passed +beyond the common way until the powers of the vast knew and obeyed +him. As he looked back there was one always with him. Lu, the +Sun-God, who in the bright days of childhood had appeared to him +as his little feet ran from home in search for adventures. Remote +and dim, nigh and radiant, he was always there. In solemn initiations +in crypts beneath the giant hills he rose up, gemmed and starred +with living fires, and grew one with the God, and away, away with +him he passed into the lands of the immortals, or waged wars more +than human, 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 isle. In dream Cuchullain saw the earth- +scorning warriors rise up and wage their battle in the bright aether, +and the great Sun-Chieftain, shining like gold, lead his glittering +hosts. In mountainous multitudes the giantesque phantoms reeled to +and from, their mighty forms wreathed in streams of flame, while +the stars paled and shuddered as they fought. + +There was yet another face, another form, often beside him; +whispering, luring, calling him away to he knew not what wild +freedom. It was the phantom form of the child of Aed Abrait, with +dark flowing tresses, mystic eyes, her face breathing the sweetness +of the sun, with all the old nobility of earth, but elate and apart, +as one who had been in the crystal spheres of the unseen and bathed +in its immortalizing rivers and drunk the starry dews. + +Come, Cu. Come, O hero," she whispered. "There are fiery fountains +of life which will renew thee. We will go where the Sidhe dwell, +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 stars. Glad is everything that lives in that place. +Come, Cu, come away." And she passed from beside him with face +half turned, calling, beckoning, till in his madness he forgot the +bright Sun-God and the warriors of Eri awaiting his guidance. + + +It was again the feast of Samhain. About twilight in the evening +a shadow darkened the door. A man in blue mantle stood outside; +he did not enter but looked around him a little while and then sat +down, laughing softly to himself. Fergus, Conail and Lugard rose +simultaneously, glad of the pretence of warning off the intruder +as a relief from their monotonous watch. + +"Do you not know," said Conail sternly, "that one lies ill here +who must not be disturbed?" + +The stranger arose. + +"I will tell you a tale," he said. "As I was strolling through +the trees I saw a radiance shining around the dun, and I saw one +floating in that light like a mighty pillar of fire, or bronze +ruddy and golden: a child of the Sun he seemed; the living fires +curled about him and rayed from his head. He looked to the north +and to the west, to the south and to the east, and over all Eri he +shot his fiery breaths rainbow-colored, and the dark grew light +before him where he gazed. Indeed if he who lies here were well +he would be mightiest among your warriors. But I think that now +he clasps hands with the heroes of the Sidhe as well, and with +Druid power protects the Ultonians. I feel happy to be beside him." + +"It is Lu Lamfada guarding the hero. Now his destiny will draw +nigh to him again," thought Cu's companions, and they welcomed +the stranger. + +"I see why he lies here so still," he continued, his voice strange +like one who is inspired while he speaks. "The Sidhe looked out +from their mountains. They saw a hero asleep. They saw a God +forgetful. They stirred him to shame by the hands of women. They +showed him the past. They said to Fand and Libau, 'Awake him. +Bring him to us. Let him come on the night of Samhain.' They +showed the chosen one from afar, in a vision while hid in their +mountains. The Tuatha de Danaans, the immortals, wish for Cuchullain +to aid them. The daughters of Aed Abrait are their messengers. +If Fand and Liban were here they would restore the hero." + +"Who are you?" asked Laeg, who had joined them. + +"I am Angus, son of Aed Abrait." While he spoke his form quivered +like a smoke, twinkling in misty indistinctness in the blue twilight, +and then vanished before their eyes. + +"I wonder now," muttered Laeg to himself, "if he was sent by the +Sidhe, or by Liban and Fand only. When one has to deal with women +everything is uncertain. Fand trusts more in her beauty to arouse +him than in her message. I have seen her shadow twenty times cooing +about him. It is all an excuse for love-making with her. It is +just like a woman. Anything, however, would be better for him than +to lie in bed." He went off to join the others. Cuchullain was +sitting up and was telling the story of what happened last Samhain. + +"What should I do?" he asked. + +"Go to the wise King," said Laeg, and so they all advised, for ever +since the day when he was crowned, and the Druids had touched him +with fire, a light of wisdom shone about Concobar the King. + +"I think you should go to the rock where the women of the Sidhe +appeared to you," said Concobar when appealed to. + +So Laeg made ready the chariot and drove to the tarn. Night came +ere they reached it, but the moon showed full and brilliant. Laeg +waited a little way apart, while Cuchullain sat himself in the +black shadow of the rock. As the warrior gazed into the dark, +star-speckled surface of the waters, a brightness and a mist +gathered over them, and there, standing with her robe of green +down--dropping to her feet and trailing on the wave, her pale +flaxen hair blown around her head, was Liban. She smiled strangely +as before, looking through him with her subtle eyes. + +"I am one of the Sidhe," she said, and her voice sounded like a +murmur of the water. "You also, O warrior, though forgetful, are +one of us. We did not indeed come to injure you, but to awaken +remembrance. For now the wild clouds of demons gathered from the +neighboring isles and we wish your aid. Your strength will come +back to you exultant as of old. Come with me, warrior. You will +have great companions. Labraid, who wields the rapid fires as you +the sword, and Fand, who has laid aside her Druid wisdom longing +for you." + +"Whither must I go with you, strange woman?" asked Cuchullain. + +"To Mag-Mell." + +"I will send Laeg with you," said Cuchullain. I do not care to go +to an unknown place while I have my duties here." He then went to +Laeg, asking him to go with Liban. + +"He is longing to go," thought Laeg, "but he mistrusts his power +to get away. He has forgotten all he knew and did not wish to +appear nothing before a woman. However, it can do no harm if I +go and see what they do." + + +Oh, marvel not if in our tale + The gleaming figures come and go, +More mystic splendors shine and pale + Than in an age outworn we know. + +Their ignorance to us were wise: + Their sins our virtue would outshine: +A glory passed before their eyes: + We hardly dream of the divine. + +In world may come romance, + With all the lures of love and glamour; +And woesome tragedy will chance + To him whom fairy forms enamour. + +There slain illusions live anew + To stay the soul with coy caresses; +But he who only loves the True + Slays them again, and onward presses. + +For golden chains are yet but chains, + Enchanted dreams are yet but dreaming; +And ere the soul its freedom gains + It bursts all bonds, destroys all seeming. + + + + + +IV. The Maidens of the Sidhe + + + + +"Yes, I'll go with the maid in the green mantle," muttered Laeg to +himself; "but I'll don the crimson mantle of five folds which it +is my right to wear in the land of the Sidhe, even though my earthly +occupation is only the driving of a war-chariot." + +He began chanting softly; a golden gleam as of sunshine swept +circling about him; then as the chant ceased a look of wild +exultation came to his face, and he threw up his arms, so that +for an instant he had the aspect he wore when guiding the great +war-chariot of Cuchullain into the thick of battle. His swaying +form fell softly upon the greensward, and above it floated a +luminous figure clad in a crimson mantle, but whose face and bare +arms were of the color of burnished bronze. So impassive and +commanding was his face that even Liban faltered a little as she +stole to his side. Cuchullain watched the two figures as they +floated slowly over the dark expanse of the lake, till they suddenly +disappeared, seemingly into its quiet surface. Then with his face +buried in his hands he sat motionless, absorbed in deep thought, +while he waited until the return of Laeg. + +The recumbent form of Liban rose from the crouch where it had lain +entranced. Before her stood the phantom figure of Laeg. All in +the house save herself were asleep, but with the conscious sleep +of the Sidhe, and their shades spoke welcome to Laeg, each saying +to him in liquid tones such as come never from lips of clay: + +"Welcome to you, Laeg; welcome because of her who brings you, of +him who sent you, and of yourself." + +He saw about him only women of the Sidhe, 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 learning; +maidens who should know no earthly love but fix their eyes ever +on the light of the Sun-god. But not seeing Fand among them, he +turned with an impatient gesture to Liban. She read his gesture +aright, and said: + +"My sister dwells apart; she has more knowledge, and presides over +all of us." + +Leaving the room, she walked down a corridor, noiselessly save for +the rustle of her long robe of green, which she drew closely about +her, for the night was chill. An unaccustomed awe rested upon her, +and to Laeg she whispered: + +"The evil enchanters have power tonight, so that your life would +be in danger if you had not the protection of a maiden of the Sun." + +But a smile wreathed for an instant the bronze-hue face of the +shadowy charioteer, as he murmured in tones of kindness near to pity, +softening his rude words: + +"Till now nor Cuchullain nor I have ever felt the need of a woman's +protection, and I would much rather he were here now than I." + +Drawing aside a heavy curtain, Liban entered her sister's room. +They saw Fand seated at a little table. A scroll lay on it open +before her, but her eyes were not fixed on it. With hands clasped +under her chin she gazed into the vacancies with eyes of far-away +reflection and longing. There was something pathetic in the +intensity and wistfulness of the lonely figures. She turned and +rose to meet them, a smile of rare tenderness lighting up her face +as she saw Liban. The dim glow of a single lamp but half revealed +the youthful figure, the pale, beautiful face, out of which the +sun-colours had faded. Her hair of raven hue was gathered in massy +coils over her head and fastened there by a spiral torque of gleaming +gold. Her mantle, entirely black, which fell to her feet, made her +features seem more strangely young, more startlingly in contrast +with the monastic severity of the room. It was draped round with +some dark unfigured hangings. A couch with a coverlet of furs, +single chair of carved oak, the little table, and a bronze censer +from which a faint aromatic odor escaping filled the air and stole +on the sense, completed the furniture of the room, which might +rather have been the cell of some aged Druid than the chamber of +one of the young maidens of Eri, who were not overgiven to ascetic +habits. She welcomed Laeg with the same terms of triple welcome +as did the mystic children of the sun who had first gathered round him. +Her brilliant eyes seemed to read deep the soul of the charioteer. + +Then Liban came softly up to her, saying: + +"Oh, Fand, my soul is sad this night. The dark powers are gathering +their strength to assail us, and we shall need to be pure and strong. +Yet you have said that you feel no longer the Presence with you; +that Mannanan, the Self of the Sun, shines not in your heart!" + +Fan placed her hand upon her sister's flaxen head, saying with a +voice mingled joy and pathos: + +"Peace, child; you, of us all, have least to fear, for though I, +alas! am forsaken, yet He who is your Father and Yourself is even +now here with you." + +Liban fell on her knees, with her hands clasped and her eyes uplifted +in a rapture of adoration, for above her floated one whom she well +knew. Yet unheeding her and stern of glance, with his right arm +outstretched, from which leaped long tongues of flame, swordlike, +into space, Labraid towered above gazing upon foes unseen by them. +Slowly the arm fell and the stern look departed from the face. +Ancient with the youth of the Gods, it was such a face and form +the toilers in the shadowy world, mindful of their starry dynasties, +sought to carve in images of upright and immovable calm amid the +sphinxes of the Nile or the sculptured Gods of Chaldaea. So upright +and immovable in such sculptured repose appeared Labraid, his body +like a bright ruby flame, sunlit from its golden heart. Beneath +his brows his eyes looked full of secrecy. The air pulsing and +heaving about him drove Laeg backward from the centre of the room. +He appeared but a child before this potent spirit. Liban broke +out into a wild chant of welcome: + +"Oh see now how burning, + How radiant in might, +From battle returning + The Dragon of Light! +Where wert thou, unsleeping + Exile from the throne, +In watch o'er the weeping, + The sad and the lone. +The sun-fires of Eri + Burned low on the steep; +The watchers were weary + Or sunken in sleep; +And dread were the legions + Of demons who rose +From the uttermost regions + Of ice and of snows; +And on the red wind borne, + Unspeakable things +From wizard's dark mind borne + On shadowy wings. +The darkness was lighted + With whirlwinds of flame; +The demons affrighted + Fled back whence they came. +For thou wert unto them + The vision that slays: +Thy fires quivered through them + In arrowy rays. +Oh, light amethystine, + Thy shadow inspire, +And fill with the pristine + Vigor of fire. +Though thought like a fountain + Pours dream upon dream, +Unscaled is the mountain + Where thou still dost gleam, +And shinest afar like + The dawning of day, +Immortal and starlike + In rainbow array." + +But he, the shining one, answered, and his voice had that melody +which only those know whom the Sun-breath has wafted into worlds divine: + +"Vaunt not, poor mortal one, nor claim knowledge when the Gods know +not. 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 light. What may be the issue of the combat +cannot be foreseen by us. Yet mortals, unwise, ever claim to know +when even the Gods confess ignorance; for pride blinds all mortals, +and arrogance is born of their feebleness." + +Unabashed she cried out: + +"Then rejoice, for we have awakened Cu, the warrior-magician of +old times, and his messenger is her." + +Then he answered gently, pityingly: + +"We need the help of each strong soul, and you have done well to +arouse that slumbering giant. If through his added strength we +conquer, then will he be the saviour of Eri; beloved by the Gods, +he will cease to be a wild warrior on earth, and become a leader +of mortals, aiding them on the way to the immortals. Wisely have +you awakened him, and yet--" + +He smiled, and such was the pity in his smiling glance that Liban +bowed her head in humiliation. When she raised it he was gone, +and Laeg also had vanished. She arose, and with a half-sob threw +herself into the arms of her sister. So they stood, silent, with +tearless eyes; for they were too divine for tears, although, +alas! too human. + + +Slowly the chariot rolled on its homeward way, for Laeg, seeing +the weakness and weariness of Cuchullain, held the great steeds +in check; their arched necks and snorting breath resenting the +restraint, while the impatient stamping of their hoofs struck fire +from the pebbly road. + +"Well," said Cuchullain moodily, "tell me what happened after you +went away with that woman of the Sidhe." + +Briefly and without comment of his own Laeg stated what he had seen. +Then long Cuchullain pondered; neither spoke, and the silence was +broken only by the stamping of the steeds and the rumble of the +chariot wheels. Dark clouds drifted athwart the moon, and the +darkness gave more freedom of speech, for Cuchullain said in measured, +expressionless tones: + +"And what do you think of all this?" + +"What do I think?" burst forth Laeg with sudden fire; "I think +you had better be leaving those women of the Sidhe alone, and they +you. That Fand would lose her soul for love, and the spell they've +cast over you is evil, or it wouldn't make a warrior like you as +helpless as a toddling babe." + +In letting loose his pent-up wrath Laeg had unconsciously loosened +as well the reined-in steeds, who sprang forward impetuously, and +the jolting of the car was all that Cuchullain could bear in his +enfeebled state. Recovering himself, the charioteer drew them in +check again, inwardly upbraiding himself for carelessness. + +Sorrowful and broken was the voice of the warrior as he said: + +"On the morrow, Laeg, you shall bear a message to Emer. 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 +enchanters. Ask Emer to come to me, for her presence may help to +rouse me from this spell that benumbs my body and clouds my mind." + +Then Laeg sought to console him, saying: + +"No, no; the Sidhe wrong no one. Their message to you was true; +but their messengers were women, and you were a warrior. That is +why the mischance came, for it is ever the way with a woman to +become foolish over a warrior, and then there is always a muddle. +And when Emer comes--," he checked his indiscreet utterance by +pretending to have a difficulty in restraining the horses, and +then added confusedly: "Besides, I'd rather be in your plight +than in Fand's." + + +"Has Emer come?" asked Cuchullain, drawing himself up on his couch +and resting on his elbow. + +"Yes," said Laeg dejectedly; "I have brought her. She has been +talking to me most of the journey. Now she'll be after talking +to you, but you needn't mind; it isn't her ususal way, and she +isn't as unreasonable as might be expected. She puts most of the +blame of your illness on me, though perhaps that is because it was +me she was talking to. 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 +you. She has expressed that idea to me many times, with a fluency +and wealth of illustration that would make a bard envious. Here +she comes now. I'll just slip out and see if the horses are being +properly cared for." + +He had not overstated the case, for the sweet face of Emer was +clouded with wrath as she approached the sick-bed of her husband. +Bitterly she reproached him for what she claimed was only a feigned +illness, and expressed her conviction that no theory would account +for his conduct save that, faithless to her his wife, he had fallen +in love. But Cuchullain made no answer, for not only was he +invincible in battle, but also wise in the matter of holding his +tongue when a woman warred against him with words. + +"You are looking stronger," said Laeg, when next he saw him alone. + +"Yes," he returned, "the speech of Emer has roused me a little +from my torpor. I have been thinking that possibly we were wrong +in disregarding the message brought by the women of the Sidhe. +They surely have power to break this spell, and doubtless would +have done so had you not fled from them so inconsiderately." + +"I was thinking the same when Emer was coming here with me," observed +Laeg. "Her speech roused me a little too." + +Cuchullain was silent awhile and then said reflectively: + +"Do you think we could find Liban again?" + +"There would be no difficulty about that," Laeg replied drily. + +"Then," said Cuchullain with sudden energy, "let us go once more +to the rock of the visions." + + +Our souls give battle when the host + Of lurid lives that lurk in Air, +And Ocean's regions nethermost, + Come forth from every loathsome lair: +For then are cloudland battles fought + With spears of lightning, swords of flame, +No quarter given, none besought, + Till to the darkness whence they came +The Sons of Night are hurled again. + Yet while the reddened skies resound +The wizard souls of evil men + Within the demon ranks are found, +While pure and strong the heroes go + To join the strife, and reck no odds, +For they who face the wizard foe + Clasp hands heroic with the gods. + + +What is the love of shadowy lips + That know not what they seek or press, +From whom the lure for ever slips + And fails their phantom tenderness? + +The mystery and light of eyes + That near to mine grow dim and cold; +They move afar in ancient skies + Mid flame and mystic darkness rolled. + +Oh, hero, as thy heart o'erflows + In tender yielding unto me, +A vast desire awakes and grows + Unto forgetfulness of thee. + + + + + +V. The Mantle of Mannanan + + + + +Again Liban stood before them, and her eyes were full of reproach. + +"You doubt the truth of my message," she said. "Come, then, to the +Plain of Fire, and you shall see the one who sent me." + +"I doubt you not," said Cuchullain quietly; "but it is not fitting +that I should go when the message is brought by a woman, for such +is the warning I have had in vision from Lu Lamfada. Laeg shall +go with you, and if he brings back the same message, then I shall +do the bidding of the Sidhe, and wage war against the evil enchanters, +even as when a lad I vanquished the brook of wizards at Dun-mic-Nectan." + + +"Where did Liban take you this time, Laeg? Have you brought back +a message from the Sidhe?" + +"I have seen the Chief," said Laeg, whose doubts had vanished and +whose whole manner had changed. "Cuchullain, you must go. You +remember how we went together to Brusna by the Boyne, and what +wonders they showed us in the sacred crypt. Yet this is a place +more marvelous--thrice. Well indeed did Liban call it the Plain +of Fire, for a breath of fire is in the air for leagues and leagues +around. On the lake where the Sidhe dwell the fishers row by and +see nothing, or, mayhap, a flicker of phantasmal trees around the dun. +These trees are rooted in a buried star beneath the earth; when its +heart pulsates they shine like gold, aye, and are fruited with ruby +lights. Indeed this Labraid is one of the Gods. I saw him come +through the flaming rivers of the underworld. He was filled with +the radiance. I am not given to dread the Sidhe, but there was +that in him which compelled awe: for oh, he came from the homes +that were anciently ours--ours who are fallen, and whose garments +once bright are stained by the lees of time. He greeted me kindly. +He knew me by my crimson mantle with five folds. He asked for you; +indeed they all wish to have you there." + +"Did he say aught further?" + +"No, he spoke but little; but as I returned by Mag Luada I had a +vision. I saw you standing under the sacred Tree of Victory. +There were two mighty ones, one on each side of you, but they seemed +no greater than you." + +"Was Fand there?" asked Cuchullain. + +"Yes," said Laeg reluctantly; "I saw her and spoke to her, although +I did not wish to. I feared for myself. Ethne and Emer are beautiful +women, but this woman is not like them. She is half divine. The +holiest Druids might lose his reason over her." + +"Let us go thither," said Cuchullain. + + +The night was clear, breathless, pure as diamond. The giant lights +far above floated quietly in the streams of space. Below slept +the lake mirroring the shadowy blue of the mountains. The great +mounds, the homes of the Sidhe, were empty; but over them floated +a watchful company, grave, majestic, silent, waiting. In stately +procession their rich, gleaming figures moved to and fro in groups +of twos and threes, emblazoning the dusky air with warm colors. +A little apart, beyond the headland at the island's edge, two more +commanding than the rest communed together. The wavering water +reflected head-long their shining figures in its dark depths; +above them the ancient blue of the night rose as a crown. These +two were Labraid and the warrior of Murthemney restored to all his +Druid power. Terrible indeed in its beauty, its power, its calm, +was this fiery phantasmal form beside the king of the Sidhe. + +"We came to Eri many, many ages ago," said Labraid; "from a land +the people of today hold no memory of. Mighty for good and for +evil were the dwellers in that land, but its hour struck and the +waters of the ocean entomb it. In this island, which the mighty +Gods of Fire kept apart and sacred, we made our home. But after +long years a day came when the wise ones must needs depart from +this also. They went eastward. A few only remained to keep alive +the tradition of what was, the hope of what will be again. For in +this island, it is foretold, in future ages will arise a light +which will renew the children of time. But now the world's great +darkness has come. See what exhalations arise! What demons would +make Eri their home!" + +Away at the eastern verge a thick darkness was gathering; a pitchy +blackness out of which a blood--red aerial river rolled and shot +its tides through the arteries of the night. It came nigher. It +was dense with living creatures, larvae, horrible shapes with waving +tendrils, white withered things restless and famished, hoglike faces, +monstrosities. As it rolled along there was a shadowy dropping +over hamlet and village and field. + +"Can they not be stayed? Can they not be stayed?" rang the cry of Fand. + +The stern look on Cuchullain's face deepened. + +"Is it these pitiful spectres we must wage war against? Labraid, +it is enough. I will go--alone. Nay, my brother, one is enough +for victory." + +Already he was oblivious of the Sidhe, the voices of Fand and Laeg +calling him. A light like a wonder-mist broke dazzling about him. +Through a mist of fire, an excess of light, they saw a transcendent +form of intensest gold treading the air. Over the head of the god +a lightning thread like a serpent undulated and darted. It shed +a thousand dazzling rays; it chanted in a myriad tones as it went +forward. Wider grew the radiant sphere and more triumphant the +chant as he sped onward and encountered the overflow of hell. Afar +off the watchers saw and heard the tumult, cries of a horrible +conflict, agonies of writhing and burning demons scorched and +annihilated, reeling away before the onset of light. On and still +on he sped, now darkened and again blazing like the sun. + +"Look! look!" cried Laeg, breathless with exultation as the dazzling +phantom towered and waved its arms on the horizon. + +"They lied who said he was powerless," said Fand, no less exultant. + +"Cu, my darling," murmured the charioteer; "I know now why I loved +you, what burned within you." + +"Shall we not go and welcome him when he returns?" said Liban. + +"I should not advise it," Laeg answered. "Is it to meet that fury +of fire when he sinks back blind and oblivious? He would slay his +dearest friend. I am going away from here as fast as I can." + +Through the dark forests at dawn the smoke began to curl up from +dun and hamlet, and, all unconscious of the war waged over their +destinies, children awoke to laugh and men and women went forth +to breathe the sweet air of morning. + + +Cuchullain started from a dream of more ancient battles, of wars +in heaven. Through the darkness of the room he saw the shadowy +forms of the two daughters of Aed Abrait; not as before, the +mystic maidens armed with Druid power, but women, melting, tender, +caressing. Violet eyes shining with gratitude; darker eyes burning +with love, looked into his. Misty tresses fell over him. + +"I know not how the battle went," he sighed. "I remember the fire +awoke. .... Lu was with me. .... I fell back in a blinding mist +of flame and forgot everything." + +"Doubt it not. Victory went with thee, warrior," said Liban. "We +saw thee: it was wonderful. How the seven splendors flashed and +the fiery stars roved around you and scattered the demons!" + +"Oh, do not let your powers sink in sleep again," broke forth Fand. +"What are the triumphs of earthly battles to victories like these? +What is rule over a thousand warriors to kingship over the skyey +hosts? Of what power are spear and arrow beside the radiant sling +of Lu? Do the war-songs of the Ultonians inspire thee ever like +the terrible chant of fire? After freedom can you dwell in these +gloomy duns? What are the princeliest of them beside the fiery +halls of Tir-na-noge and the flame-built cities of the Gods? As +for me, I would dwell where the great ones of ancient days have +gone, and worship at the shrine of the silent and unutterable Awe." + +"I would go indeed," said Cuchullain; "but still--but still--: +it is hard to leave the green plains of Murthemney, and the Ultonians +who have fought by my side, and Laeg, and--" + +"Laeg can come with us. Nor need Conchobar, or Fergus or Conail +be forgotten. Far better can you aid them with Druid power than +with the right arm a blow may make powerless in battle. Go with +Laeg to Iban-Cind-Trachta. Beside the yew-tree there is a dun. +There you can live hidden from all. It is a place kept sacred by +the might of the Sidhe. I will join you there." + +A month passed. In a chamber of the Dun the Yew-tree, Fand, +Cuchullain and Laeg were at night. The two latter sat by an oaken +table and tried by divination to peer into the future. Fand, +withdrawn in the dark shadow of a recess, lay on a couch and looked on. +Many thoughts went passing through her mind. Now the old passion of +love would rise in her heart to be quenched by a weary feeling of +futility, and then a half-contempt would curl her lips as she saw +the eagerness of her associates. Other memories surged up. "Oh, +Mannanan, Father-Self, if thou hadst not left me and my heart had +not turned away! It was not a dream when I met thee and we entered +the Ocean of Fire together. Our beauty encompassed the world. +Radiant as Lu thy brother of the Sun we were. Far away as the dawn +seems the time. How beautiful, too, was that other whose image in +the hero enslaves my heart. Oh, that he would but know himself, +and learn that on this path the greatest is the only risk worth +taking! And now he holds back the charioteer also and does him +wrong." Just then something caused her to look up. She cried out, +"Laeg, Laeg, do you see anything?" + +"What is it?" said Laeg. Then he also looked and started. "Gods!" he +murmured. "Emer! I would rather face a tempest of Formorian enchanters." + +"Do you not see?" repeated Fand scornfully. "It is Emer the +daughter of Forgall. Has she also become one of the Sidhe that +she journeys thus?" + +"She comes in dream," said Laeg. + +"Why do you intrude upon our seclusion here? You know my anger is +no slight thing," broke out Cuchullain, in ready wrath hiding his +confusion. The shadow of Emer turned, throwing back the long, fair +hair from her face the better to see him. There was no dread on it, +but only outraged womanly dignity. She spake and her voice seemed to +flow from a passionate heart far away brooding in sorrowful loneliness. + +"Why do I come? Has thou not degraded me before all the maidens +of Eri by forsaking me for a woman of the Sidhe without a cause? +You ask why I come when every one of the Ultonians looks at me in +questioning doubt and wonder! But I see you have found a more +beautiful partner." + +"We came hither, Laeg and I, to learn the lore of the Sidhe. Why +should you not leave me here for a time, Emer? This maiden is of +wondrous magical power: she is a princess in her own land, and is +as pure and chaste to this hour as you." + +"I see indeed she is more beautiful than I am. That is why you +are drawn away. Her face has not grown familiar. Everything that +is new or strange you follow. The passing cheeks are ruddier than +the pale face which has shared your troubles. What you know is +weariness, and you leave it to learn what you do not know. The +Ultonians falter while you are absent from duty in battle and +council, and I, whom you brought with sweet words when half a +child from my home, am left alone. Oh, Cuchullain, beloved, I +was once dear to thee, and if today or tomorrow were our first +meeting I should be so again." + +A torrent of self-reproach and returning love overwhelmed him. +"I swear to you," he said brokenly, through fast-flowing tears, +"you are immortally dear to me, Emer." + +"Then you leave me," burst forth Fand, rising to her full height, +her dark, bright eyes filled with a sudden fire, an image of mystic +indignation and shame. + +"If indeed," said Emer softly, "joy and love and beauty are more +among the Sidhe than where we dwell in Eri, then it were better +for thee to remain." + +"No, he shall not now," said Fand passionately. "It is I whom he +shall leave. I long foresaw this moment, but ran against fate like +a child. Go, warrior, Cu; tear this love out of thy heart as I +out of mine. Go, Laeg, I will not forget thee. Thou alone hast +thought about these things truly. But now--I cannot speak." She +flung herself upon the couch in the dark shadow and hid her face +away from them. + +The pale phantom wavered and faded away, going to one who awoke +from sleep with a happiness she could not understand. Cuchullain +and Laeg passed out silently into the night. At the door of the +dun a voice they knew not spake: + +"So, warrior, you return. It is well. Not yet for thee is the +brotherhood of the Sidhe, and thy destiny and Fand's lie far apart. +Thine is not so great but it will be greater, in ages yet to come, +in other lands, among other peoples, when the battle fury in thee +shall have turned to wisdom and anger to compassion. Nations that +lie hidden in the womb of time shall hail thee as friend, deliverer +and saviour. Go and forget what has passed. This also thou shalt +forget. It will not linger in thy mind; but in thy heart shall +remain the memory and it will urge thee to nobler deeds. Farewell, +warrior, saviour that is to be!" + +As the two went along the moon lit shore mighty forms followed, +and there was a waving of awful hands over them to blot out memory. + + +In the room where Fand lay with mad beating heart tearing itself +in remorse, there was one watching with divine pity. Mannanan, +the Golden Glory, the Self of the Sun. "Weep not, O shadow; thy +days of passion and pain are over." breathed the Pity in her breast. +"Rise up, O Ray, from thy sepulchre of forgetfulness. Spirit come +forth to they ancient and immemorial home." She rose up and stood +erect. As the Mantle of Mannanan enfolded her, no human words +could tell the love, the exultation, the pathos, the wild passion +of surrender, the music of divine and human life interblending. +Faintly we echo--like this spake the Shadow and like this the Glory. + + +The Shadow + +Who art thou, O Glory, + In flame from the deep, +Where stars chant their story, + Why trouble my sleep? + +I hardly had rested, + My dreams wither now: +Why comest thou crested + And gemmed on they brow? + + +The Glory + +Up, Shadow, and follow + The way I will show; +The blue gleaming hollow + To-night we will know, + +And rise mid the vast to + The fountain of days; +From whence we had pass to + The parting of ways. + + +The Shadow + +I know thee, O Glory: + Thine eyes and thy brow +With white fire all hoary + Come back to me now. + +Together we wandered + In ages agone; +Our thoughts as we pondered + Were stars at the dawn. + +The glory has dwindled, + My azure and gold: +Yet you keep enkindled + The Sun-fire of old. + +My footsteps are tied to + The heath and the stone; +My thoughts earth-allied-to-- + Ah! leave me alone. + +Go back, thou of gladness, + Nor wound me with pain, +Nor spite me with madness, + Nor come nigh again. + + +The Glory + +Why tremble and weep now, + Whom stars once obeyed? +Come forth to the deep now + And be not afraid. + +The Dark One is calling, + I know, for his dreams +Around me are falling + In musical streams. + +A diamond is burning + In depths of the Lone +Thy spirit returning + May claim for its throne. + +In flame-fringed islands + Its sorrows shall cease, +Absorbed in the silence + And quenched in the peace. + +Come lay thy poor head on + My breast where it glows +With love ruby-red on + Thy heart for its woes. + +My power I surrender: + To thee it is due: +Come forth, for the splendor + Is waiting for you. + + +--The End + + +--November 15, 1895-March 15, 1896 + + + + + +Shadow and Substance + + + + +Many are the voices that entreat and warn those who would live the +life of the Magi. It is well they should speak. They are voices +of the wise. But after having listened and pondered, oh, that +someone would arise and shout into our souls how much more fatal +it is to refrain. For we miss to hear the fairy tale of time, +the aeonian chant radiant with light and color which the spirit +prolongs. The warnings are not for those who stay at home, but +for those who adventure abroad. They constitute an invitation to +enter the mysteries. We study and think these things were well +in the happy prime and will be again the years to come. But not +yesterday only or tomorrow--today, today burns in the heart the +fire which made mighty the heroes of old. And in what future will +be born the powers which are not quick in the present? It will +never be a matter of greater ease to enter the path, though we may +well have the stimulus of greater despair. For this and that there +are times and seasons, but for the highest it is always the hour. +The eternal beauty does not pale because its shadow trails over +slime and corruption. It is always present beneath the faded mould +whereon our lives are spent. Still the old mysterious glimmer +from mountain and cave allures, and the golden gleams divide and +descend on us from the haunts of the Gods. + +The dark age is our darkness and not the darkness of life. It is +not well for us who in the beginning came forth with the wonder-light +about us, that it should have turned in us to darkness, the song of +life be dumb. We close our eyes from the many-coloured mirage of +day, and are alone soundless and sightless in the unillumined cell +of the brain. But there are thoughts that shine, impulses born of +fire. Still there are moments when the prison world reels away a +distant shadow, and the inner chamber of clay fills full with fiery +visions. We choose from the traditions of the past some symbol of +our greatness, and seem again the Titans or Morning Stars of the prime. +In this self-conception lies the secret of life, the way of escape +and return. We have imagined ourselves into forgetfulness, into +darkness, into feebleness. From this strange and pitiful dream of +life, oh, that we may awaken and know ourselves once again. + +But the student too often turns to books, to the words sent back +to him, forgetful that the best of scriptures do no more than stand +as symbols. We hear too much of study, as if the wisdom of life +and ethics could be learned like ritual, and of their application +to this and that ephemeral pursuit. But from the Golden One, the +child of the divine, comes a voice to its shadow. It is stranger +to our world, aloof from our ambitions, with a destiny not here to +be fulfilled. It says: "You are of dust while I am robed in +opalescent airs. You dwell in houses of clay, I in a temple not +made by hands. I will not go with thee, but thou must come with me." +And not alone is the form of the divine aloof but the spirit behind +the form. It is called the Goal truly, but it has no ending. It +is the Comforter, but it waves away our joys and hopes like the +angel with the flaming sword. Though it is the Resting-place, it +stirs to all heroic strife, to outgoing, to conquest. It is the +Friend indeed, but it will not yield to our desires. Is it this +strange, unfathomable self we think to know, and awaken to, by +what is written, or by study of it as so many planes of consciousness. +But in vain we store the upper chambers of the mind with such quaint +furniture of thought. No archangel makes his abode therein. They +abide only in the shining. How different from academic psychology +of the past, with its dry enumeration of faculties, reason, +cognition and so forth, is the burning thing we know. We revolted +from that, but we must take care lest we teach in another way a +catalogue of things equally unliving to us. The plain truth is, +that after having learned what is taught about the hierarchies and +various spheres, many of us are still in this world exactly where +we were before. If we speak our laboriously-acquired information we +are listened to in amazement. It sounds so learned, so intellectual, +there must need be applause. But by-and-by someone comes with quiet +voice, who without pretence speaks of the "soul" and uses familiar +words, and the listeners drink deep, and pay the applause of silence +and long remembrance and sustained after-endeavor. Our failure +lies in this, we would use the powers of soul and we have not yet +become the soul. None but the wise one himself could bend the bow +of Ulysses. We cannot communicate more of the true than we ourselves +know. It is better to have a little knowledge and know that little +than to have only hearsay of myriads of Gods. So I say, lay down +your books for a while and try the magic of thought. "What a man +thinks, that he is; that is the old secret." I utter, I know, +but a partial voice of the soul with many needs. But I say, forget +for a while that you are student, forget your name and time. Think +of yourself within as the titan, the Demi-god, the flaming hero +with the form of beauty, the heart of love. And of those divine +spheres forget the nomenclature; think rather of them as the +places of a great childhood you now return to, these homes no +longer ours. In some moment of more complete imagination the +thought-born may go forth and look on the olden Beauty. So it +was in the mysteries long ago and may well be today. The poor +dead shadow was laid to sleep in forgotten darkness, as the fiery +power, mounting from heart to head, went forth in radiance. Not +then did it rest, nor ought we. The dim worlds dropped behind it, +the lights of earth disappeared as it neared the heights of the +Immortals. There was One seated on a throne, One dark and bright +with ethereal glory. I arose in greeting. The radiant figure +laid its head against the breast which grew suddenly golden, and +father and son vanished in that which has no place nor name. + +--January 15, 1896 + + + + + +On W. Q. Judge's Passing + + + + +It is with no feeling of sadness that I think of this withdrawal. +He would not have wished for that. But with a faltering hand I try +to express one of many incommunicable thoughts about the hero who +has departed. Long before I met him, before even written words of +his had been read, his name like an incantation stirred and summoned +forth some secret spiritual impulse in my heart. It was no surface +tie which bound us to him. No one ever tried less than he to gain +from men that adherence which comes from impressive manner. I hardly +thought what he was while he spoke; but on departing I found my +heart, wiser than my brain, had given itself away to him; an inner +exaltation lasting for months witnessed his power. It was in that +memorable convention in London two years ago that I first glimpsed +his real greatness. As he sat there quietly, one among many, not +speaking a word, I was overcome by a sense of spiritual dilation, +of unconquerable will about him, and that one figure with the grey +head became all the room to me. Shall I not say the truth I think? +Here was a hero out of the remote, antique, giant ages come among us, +wearing but on the surface the vesture of our little day. We, too, +came out of that past, but in forgetfulness; he with memory and +power soon regained. To him and to one other we owe an unspeakable +gratitude for faith and hope and knowledge born again. We may say +now, using words of his early years: "Even in hell I lift up my +eyes to those who are beyond me and do not deny them." Ah, hero, +we know you would have stayed with us if it were possible; but +fires have been kindled that shall not soon fade, fires that shall +be bright when you again return. I feel no sadness, knowing there +are no farewells in the True: to whosoever has touched on that +real being there is comradeship with all the great and wise of time. +That he will again return we need not doubt. His ideals were those +which are attained only by the Saviours and Deliverers of nations. +When or where he may appear I know not, but I foresee the coming +when our need invokes him. Light of the future aeons, I hail, I +hail to thee! + +--April 15, 1896 + + + + + +Self-Reliance + + + + +Perhaps it is now while we are in a state of transition, when old +leaders have gone out of sight and the new ones have not yet taken +their place in the van, that we ought to consider what we are in +ourselves. Some questions we ought to ask ourselves about this +movement: where its foundations were laid? what the links are? +where is the fountain of force? what are the doors? You answer +the first and you say "America," or you say "India." But if that +old doctrine of emanations be true it was not on earth but in the +heavenworld where our minds immortal are linked together. There +it was born and well born, and grew downwards into earth, and all +our hopes and efforts and achievements here but vaguely reflect +what was true and perfect in intent above, a compact of many hearts +to save the generations wandering to their doom. Wiser, stronger, +mightier than we were those who shielded us in the first years; +who went about among us renewing memory, whispering in our hearts +the message of the meaning of life, recalling the immemorial endeavor +of the spirit for freedom, knowledge, mastery. But it is our +movement and not the movement of the Masters only. It is our own +work we are carrying on; our own primal will we are trying to give +effect to. Well may the kingly sages depart from bodies which were +torment and pain to them. They took them on for our sakes, and we +may wave them a grateful farewell below and think of the spheres +invisible as so much richer by their presence, more to be longed for, +more to be attained. I think indeed they are nearer heart and mind +there than here. What is real in us can lose no brotherhood with +such as they through death. Still flash the lights from soul to +soul in ceaseless radiance, in endless begetting of energy, thought +and will, in endless return of joy and love and hope. I would +rather hear one word of theirs in my heart than a thousand in my ears. +I would rather think of my guide and captain as embodied in the flame +than in the clay. Although we may gaze on the grave, kindly face +living no more, there can be no cessation of the magic influence, +the breath of fire, which flowed aforetime from the soul to us. +We feel in our profoundest hearts that he whom they call dead is +living, is alive for evermore. + +He has earned his rest, a deep rest, if indeed such as he cease +from labor. As for us, we may go our ways assured that the links +are unbroken. What did you think the links were? That you knew +some one who knew the Masters? Such a presence and such a Companion +would indeed be an aid, a link. But I think where ever there is +belief in our transcendent being, in justice, our spiritual unity +and destiny, wherever there is brotherhood, there are unseen ties, +links, shining cords, influx from and unbroken communication with +the divine. So much we have in our own natures, not enough to +perfect us in the mysteries, but always enough to light our path, +to show us our next step, to give us strength for duty. We should +not always look outside for aid, remembering that some time we must +be able to stand alone. Let us not deny our own deeper being, our +obscured glory. That we accepted these truths, even as intuitions +which we were unable intellectually to justify, is proof that there +is that within us which has been initiate in the past, which lives +in and knows well what in the shadowy world is but a hope. There +is part of ourselves whose progress we do not comprehend. There +are deeds done in unremembered dream, and a deeper meditation in +the further unrecorded silences of slumber. Downward from sphere +to sphere the Immortal works its way into the flesh, and the soul +has adventures in dream whose resultant wisdom is not lost because +memory is lacking here. Yet enough has been said to give us the hint, +the clue to trace backwards the streams of force to their fount. +We wake in some dawn and there is morning also in our hearts, a love, +a fiery vigor, a magnetic sweetness in the blood. Could we track +to its source this invigorating power, we might perhaps find that +as we fell asleep some olden memory had awakened in the soul, or +the Master had called it forth, or it was transformed by the wizard +power of Self and went forth to seek the Holy Place. Whether we +have here a guide, or whether we have not, one thing is certain, +that behind and within the "Father worketh hitherto." A warrior +fights for us. Our thoughts tip the arrows of his quiver. He wings +them with flame and impels them with the Holy Breath. They will +not fail if we think clear. What matters it if in the mist we do +not see where they strike. Still they are of avail. After a time +the mists will arise and show a clear field; the shining powers +will salute us as victors. + +I have no doubt about our future; no doubt but that we will have +a guide and an unbroken succession of guides. But I think their +task would be easier, our way be less clouded with dejection and +doubt, if we placed our trust in no hierarchy of beings, however +august, but in the Law of which they are ministers. Their power, +though mighty, ebbs and flows with contracting and expanding nature. +They, like us, are but children in the dense infinitudes. Something +like this, I think, the Wise Ones would wish each one of us to speak: +"O Brotherhood of Light, though I long to be with you, though it +sustains me to think you are behind me, though your aid made sure +my path, still, if the Law does not permit you to act for me today, +I trust in the One whose love a fiery breath never ceases; I fall +back on it with exultation: I rely upon it joyfully." Was it not +to point to that greater life that the elder brothers sent forth +their messengers, to tell us that it is on this we ought to rely, +to point us to grander thrones than they are seated on? It is +well to be prepared to face any chance with equal mind; to meet +the darkness with gay and defiant thought as to salute the Light +with reverence and love and joy. But I have it in my heart that +we are not deserted. As the cycles went their upward way the +heroic figures of the dawn reappear. Some have passed before us; +others in the same spirit and power will follow: for the new day +a rearisen sun and morning stars to herald it. When it comes let +it find us, not drowsy after our night in time, but awake, prepared +and ready to go forth from the house of sleep, to stretch hands +to the light, to live and labor in joy, having the Gods for our +guides and friends. + +--May 15, 1896 + + + + + +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 to. But we never really feel at home there, +though childhood may have wreathed round with tender memories old +rooms and the quaint garden-places of happy unthinking hours. +There is a house, a temple not built with hands; perhaps we thought +it a mere cabin when we first formed it, and laid aside humbly many +of our royal possessions as we entered, for the heavens and the +heaven of heavens could not contain all of our glory. But now it +seems vast enough, and we feel more at home there, and we find +places which seem nearer of access to our first life. Such are +the mountains. As I lie here on the monstrous mould of the hillside +covered with such delicate fringes of tiny green leaves, I understand +something of his longing who said: "I lift up mine eyes to the hills, +from whence cometh my aid." Oh, but the air is sweet, is sweet. +Earth-breath, what is it you whisper? As I listen, listen, I know +it is no whisper but a chant from profoundest deeps, a voice hailing +its great companions in the aether spaces, but whose innumerable +tones in their infinite modulations speak clear to us also in our +littleness. Our lips are stilled with awe; we dare not repeat +what here we think. These mountains are sacred in our Celtic +traditions. Haunt of the mysteries, here the Tuatha de Danaans +once had their home. We sigh, thinking of the vanished glory, but +look with hope for the fulfilment of the prophecy which the seer +of another line left on record, that once more the Druid fires +should blaze on these mountains. As the purple amplitude of night +enfold them, already the dark mounds seem to throw up their sheeny +illuminations; great shadowy forms, the shepherds of our race, +to throng and gather; the many-coloured winds to roll their aerial +tides hither and thither. Eri, hearth and home of so many mystic +races, Isle of Destiny, there shall yet return to thee the spiritual +magic that thrilled thee long ago. As we descend and go back to +a life, not the life we would will, not the life we will have, we +think with sorrow of the pain, the passion, the partings, through +which our race will once more return to nature, spirit and freedom. + +We turned back mad from the mystic mountains + All foamed with red and with faery gold; +Up from the heart of the twilight's fountains + The fires enchanted were starward rolled. + +We turned back mad--we thought of the morrow, + The iron clang of the far-away town: +We could not weep in our bitter sorrow + But joy as an arctic sun went down. + +--May 15, 1896 + + + + + +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 favor, a +holiday or early release. There was wisdom in that. As we grow +up we act more or less consciously upon intuitions as to time and +place. My companion, I shall not invite you to a merrymaking when +a bitter moment befalls you and the flame of life sinks into ashes +in your heart; nor yet, however true and trusted, will I confide +to you what inward revelations of the mysteries I may have while +I sense in you a momentary outwardness. The gifts of the heart +are too sacred to be laid before a closed door. Your mood, I know, +will pass, and tomorrow we shall have this bond between us. I wait, +for it can be said but once: I cannot commune magically twice on +the same theme with you. I do not propose we should be opportunists, +nor lay down a formula; but to be skillful in action we must work +with and comprehend the ebb and flow of power. Mystery and gloom, +dark blue and starshine, doubt and feebleness alternate with the +clear and shining, opal skies and sunglow, heroic ardor and the +exultation of power. Ever varying, prismatic and fleeting, the +days go by and the secret of change eludes us here. I bend the +bow of thought at a mark and it is already gone. I lay the shaft +aside and while unprepared the quarry again fleets by. We have +to seek elsewhere for the source of that power which momentarily +overflows into our world and transforms it with its enchantment. + +On the motions of an inner sphere, we are told, all things here depend; +on spheres of the less evanescent which, in their turn, are enclosed +in spheres of the real, whose solemn chariot movements again are +guided by the inflexible will of Fire. In all of these we have part. +This dim consciousness which burns in my brain is not all of myself. +Behind me it widens out and upward into God. I feel in some other +world it shines with purer light: in some sphere more divine than +this it has a larger day and a deeper rest. That day of the inner +self illuminates many of our mortal days; its night leaves many +of them dark. And so the One Ray expanding lives in many vestures. +It is last of all the King-Self who wakes at the dawn of ages, +whose day is the day of Brahma, whose rest is his rest. Here is +the clue to cyclic change, to the individual feebleness and power, +the gloom of one epoch and the glory of another. The Bright Fortnight, +the Northern Sun, Light and Flame name the days of other spheres, +and wandering on from day to day man may at last reach the end of +his journey. You would pass from rapidly revolving day and night +to where the mystical sunlight streams. The way lies through +yourself and the portals open as the inner day expands. Who is +there who has not felt in some way or other the rhythmic recurrence +of light within? We were weary of life, baffled, ready to forswear +endeavor, when half insensibly a change comes over us; we doubt +no more but do joyfully our work; we renew the sweet magical +affinities with nature: out of a heart more laden with love we +think and act; our meditations prolong themselves into the shining +wonderful life of soul; we tremble on the verge of the vast halls +of the gods where their mighty speech may be heard, their message +of radiant will be seen. They speak a universal language not for +themselves only but for all. What is poetry but a mingling of +some tone of theirs with the sounds that below we utter? What is +love but a breath of their very being? Their every mood has colors +beyond the rainbow; every thought rings in far-heard melody. So +the gods speak to each other across the expanses of ethereal light, +breaking the divine silences with words which are deeds. So, too, +they speak to the soul. Mystics of all time have tried to express +it, likening it to peals of faery bells, the singing of enchanted +birds, the clanging of silver cymbals, the organ voices of wind +and water bent together--but in vain, in vain. Perhaps in this +there is a danger, for the true is realized in being and not in +perception. The gods are ourselves beyond the changes of time +which harass and vex us here. They do not demand adoration but an +equal will to bind us consciously in unity with themselves. The +heresy of separateness cuts us asunder in these enraptured moments; +but when thrilled by the deepest breath, when the silent, unseen, +uncomprehended takes possession of thee, think "Thou art That," +and something of thee will abide for ever in It. All thought not +based on this is a weaving of new bonds, of illusions more difficult +to break; it begets only more passionate longing and pain. + +Still we must learn to know the hidden ways, to use the luminous +rivers for the commerce of thought. Our Druid forefathers began +their magical operations on the sixth day of the new moon, taking +the Bright Fortnight at its flood-time. In these hours of expansion +what we think has more force, more freedom, more electric and +penetrating power. We find too, if we have co-workers, that we +draw from a common fountain, the same impulse visits us and them. +What one possess all become possessed of; and something of the +same unity and harmony arises between us here as exists for all +time between us in the worlds above. While the currents circulate +we are to see to it that they part from us no less pure than they came. +To this dawn of an inner day may in some measure be traced the sudden +inspirations of movements, such as we lately feel, not all due to +the abrupt descent into our midst of a new messenger, for the elder +Brothers work with law and foresee when nature, time, and the +awakening souls of men will aid them. Much may now be done. On +whosoever accepts, acknowledges and does the will of the Light in +these awakenings the die and image of divinity is more firmly set, +his thought grows more consciously into the being of the presiding +god. Yet not while seeking for ourselves can we lay hold of final +truths, for then what we perceive we retain but in thought and memory. +The Highest is a motion, a breath. We become it only in the imparting. +It is in all, for all and goes out to all. It will not be restrained +in a narrow basin, but through the free-giver it freely flows. +There are throngs innumerable who await this gift. Can we let this +most ancient light which again returns to us be felt by them only +as a vague emotion, a little peace of uncertain duration, a passing +sweetness of the heart? Can we not do something to allay the sorrow +of the world? My brothers, the time of opportunity has come. One +day in the long-marshaled line of endless days has dawned for our +race, and the buried treasure-houses in the bosom of the deep have +been opened to endow it with more light, to fill it with more power. +The divine ascetics stand with torches lit before the temple of wisdom. +Those who are nigh them have caught the fire and offer to us in turn +to light the torch, the blazing torch of soul. Let us accept the +gift and pass it on, pointing out the prime givers. We shall see +in time the eager races of men starting on their pilgrimage of +return and facing the light. So in the mystical past the call of +light was seen on the sacred hills; the rays were spread and gathered; +and returning with them the initiate-children were buried in the +Father-Flame. + +--June 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Childhood of Apollo + + + + + +It was long ago, so long that only the spirit of earth remembers +truly. The old shepherd Tithonius sat before the door of his hut +waiting for his grandson to return. He watched with drowsy eyes +the eve gather, and the woods and mountains grow dark over the isles-- +the isles of ancient Greece. It was Greece before its day of beauty, +and day was never lovelier. The cloudy blossoms of smoke curling +upward from the valley sparkled a while high up in the sunlit air, +a vague memorial of the world of men below. From that too the +colour vanished, and those other lights began to shine which to +some are the only lights of day. The skies dropped close upon the +mountains and the silver seas, like a vast face brooding with +intentness; there was enchantment, mystery, and a living motion +in its depths, the presence of all-pervading Zeus enfolding his +starry children with the dark radiance of aether. + +"Ah!" murmured the old man, looking upward, "once it was living; +once it spoke to me. It speaks not now, but it speaks to others +I know--to the child who looks and longs and trembles in the dewy +night. Why does he linger now? He is beyond his hour. Ah, there +now are his footsteps!" + +A boy came up the valley driving the grey flocks which tumbled +before him in the darkness. He lifted his young face for the +shepherd to kiss. It was alight with ecstasy. Tithonius looked +at him with wonder. 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 footsteps. + +"How bright your eyes!" the old man said, faltering with sudden awe. +"Why do your white limbs shine with moonfire light?" + +"Oh, father," said the boy Apollo, "I am glad, for everything is +living tonight. The evening is all a voice and many voices. While +the flocks were browsing night gathered about me: I saw within it +and it was living everywhere; and all together, the wind with dim- +blown tresses, odour, incense and secret-falling dew, mingled in +one warm breath. They whispered to me and called me 'Child of the +Stars,' 'Dew Heart,' and 'Soul of Fire.' Oh, father, as I came up +the valley the voices followed me with song; everything murmured +love; even the daffodils, nodding in the olive gloom, grew golden +at my feet, and a flower within my heart knew of the still sweet +secret of the flowers. Listen, listen!" + +There were voices in the night, voices as of star-rays descending. + +"Now the roof-tree of the midnight spreading +Buds in citron, green, and blue: +From afar its mystic odors shedding, + Child, on you." + +Then other sweet speakers from beneath the earth, and from the +distant waters and air followed in benediction, and a last voice +like a murmur from universal Nature: + +"Now the buried stars beneath the mountains +And the vales their life renew, +Jetting rainbow blooms from tiny fountains, + Child, for you. + +"As within our quiet waters passing +Sun and moon and stars we view, +So the loveliness of life is glassing, + Child, in you. + +"In the diamond air the sun-star glowing +Up its feathered radiance threw; +All the jewel glory there was flowing, + Child, for you. + +"And the fire divine in all things burning +Yearns for home and rest anew, +From its wanderings far again returning, + Child, to you." + +"Oh, voices, voices," cried the child, "what you say I know not, +but I ray back love for love. Father, what is it they tell me? +They embosom me in light and I am far away even though I hold +your hand." + +"The gods are about us. Heaven mingles with the earth," said +Tithonius trembling. "Let us go to Diotima. She has grown wise +brooding for many a year where the great caves lead to the underworld. +She sees the bright ones as they pass by where she sits with shut +eyes, her drowsy lips murmuring as nature's self." + +That night the island seemed no more earth set in sea, but a music +encircled by the silence. The trees long rooted in antique slumber +were throbbing with rich life; through glimmering bark and drooping +leaf a light fell on the old man and boy as they passed, and vague +figures nodded at them. These were the hamadryad souls of the wood. +They were bathed in tender colours and shimmering lights draping +them from root to leaf. A murmur came from the heart of every one, +a low enchantment breathing joy and peace. 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 song. + +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 waters. Tithonius paused, for he dreaded this mystic prophetess; +but a voice from within called them: "Come in, child of light; +come in, old shepherd, I know why you seek me!" They entered, +Tithonius trembling with more fear than before. A fire was blazing +in a recess of the cavern and by it sat a majestic figure robed +in purple. She was bent forward, her hand supporting her face, +her burning eyes turned on the intruders. + +"Come hither, child," she said, taking the boy by the hands and +gazing into his face. "So this frail form is to be the home of +the god. The gods choose wisely. They take no warrior wild, no +mighty hero to be their messenger to men, but crown this gentle +head. Tell me--you dream--have you ever seen a light from the sun +falling upon you in your slumber? No, but look now; look upward." +As she spoke she waved her hands over him, and the cavern with its +dusky roof seemed to melt away, and beyond the heavens the heaven +of heavens lay dark in pure tranquillity, a quiet which was the +very hush of being. In an instant it vanished and over the zenith +broke a wonderful light. "See now," cried Diotima, "the Ancient +Beauty! Look how its petals expand and what comes forth from its +heart!" A vast and glowing breath, mutable and opalescent, spread +itself between heaven and earth, and out of it slowly descended a +radiant form like a god's. It drew nigh radiating lights, pure, +beautiful, and starlike. It stood for a moment by the child and +placed its hand on his head, and then it was gone. The old shepherd +fell upon his face in awe, while the boy stood breathless and entranced. + +"Go now," said the Sybil, "I can teach thee naught. Nature herself +will adore you and sing through you her loveliest song. But, ah, +the light you hail in joy you shall impart in tears. So from age +to age the eternal Beauty bows itself down amid sorrows that the +children of men may not forget it, that their anguish may be +transformed smitten through by its fire." + +--November 15, 1896 + + + + + +The Awakening of the Fires + + + + +When twilight flutters the mountains over +The faery lights from the earth unfold, +And over the hills enchanted hover +The giant heroes and gods of old: +The bird of aether its flaming pinions +Waves over earth the whole night long: +The stars drop down in their blue dominions +To hymn together their choral song: +The child of earth in his heart grows burning +Mad for the night and the deep unknown; +His alien flame in a dream returning +Seats itself on the ancient throne. +When twilight over the mountains fluttered +And night with its starry millions came, +I too had dreams; the thoughts I have uttered. +Come from my heart that was touched by the flame + +I thought over the attempts made time after time to gain our freedom; +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 old, "They went forth to the battle but they always +fell;" and it seemed to me that these efforts resulted in failure +because the ideals put forward were not in the plan of nature for us; +that it was not in our destiny that we should attempt a civilization +like that of other lands. Though the cry of nationality rings for +ever in our ears, the word here has embodied to most no other hope +than this, that we should when free be able to enter with more +energy upon pursuits already adopted by the people of other countries. +Our leaders have erected no nobler standard than theirs, and we who, +as a race, are the forlorn hope of idealism in Europe, 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 it. Though so old in +tradition this Ireland of today is a child among the nations of +the world; and what a child, and with what a strain of genius in +it! There is all the superstition, the timidity and lack of judgment, +the unthought recklessness of childhood, but combined with what +generosity and devotion, and what an unfathomable love for its heroes. +Who can forget that memorable day when its last great chief was +laid to rest? He was not the prophet of our spiritual future; +he was not the hero of our highest ideals; but he was the only +hero we knew. The very air was penetrated with the sobbing and +passion of unutterable regret. Ah, Eri, in other lands there is +strength and mind and the massive culmination of ordered power, +but in thee alone is there such love as the big heart of childhood +can feel. It is this which maketh all thy exiles turn with longing +thoughts to thee. + +Before trying her to indicate a direction for the future, guessed +from brooding on the far past and by touching on the secret springs +in the heart of the present, 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 which, though but half recognized, is +yet our most precious heritage. We are not yet involved in a social +knot which only red revolution can sever: our humanity, the ancient +gift of nature to us, is still fresh in our veins: our force is +not merely the reverberation of a past, an inevitable momentum +started in the long ago, but is free for newer life to do what we +will with in the coming time. + +I know there are some who regret this, who associate national +greatness with the whirr and buzz of many wheels, the smoke of +factories and with large dividends; and others, again, who wish +that our simple minds were illuminated by the culture and wisdom +of our neighbours. But I raise the standard of idealism, to try +everything by it, every custom, every thought before we make it +our own, and every sentiment before it finds a place in our hearts. +Are these conditions, social and mental, which some would have us +strive for really so admirable as we are assured they are? Are +they worth having at all? What of the heroic best of man; how +does that show? His spirituality, beauty and tenderness, are +these fostered in the civilizations of today? I say if questions +like these bearing upon that inner life wherein is the real greatness +of nations cannot be answered satisfactorily, that it is our duty +to maintain our struggle, to remain aloof, lest by accepting a +delusive prosperity we shut ourselves from our primitive sources +of power. For this spirit of the modern, with which we are so +little in touch, is one which tends to lead man further and further +from nature. She is no more to him the Great Mother so reverently +named long ago, but merely an adjunct to his life, the distant +supplier of his needs. What to the average dweller in cities are +stars and skies and mountains? They pay no dividends to him, no +wages. Why should he care about them indeed. And no longer +concerning himself about nature what wonder is it that nature +ebbs out of him. She has her revenge, for from whatever standpoint +of idealism considered the average man shows but of pigmy stature. +For him there is no before or after. In his material life he has +forgotten or never heard of the heroic traditions of his race, +their aspirations to godlike state. One wonders what will happen +to him when death ushers him out from the great visible life to +the loneliness amid the stars. To what hearth or home shall he +flee who never raised the veil of nature while living, nor saw it +waver tremulous with the hidden glory before his eyes? The Holy +Breath from the past communes no more with him, and if he is +oblivious of these things, though a thousand workman call him +master, within he is bankrupt, his effects sequestered, a poor +shadow, an outcast from the Kingdom of Light. + +We see too, that as age after age passes and teems only with the +commonplace, that those who are the poets and teachers falter and +lose faith: they utter no more of man the divine things the poets +said of old. Perhaps the sheer respectability of the people they +address deters them from making statements which in some respects +might be considered libelous. But from whatever cause, from lack +of heart or lack of faith, they have no real inspiration. The +literature of Europe has had but little influence on the Celt in +this isle. Its philosophies and revolutionary ideas have stayed +their waves at his coast: they had no message of interpretation +for him, no potent electric thought to light up the mystery of his +nature. For the mystery of the Celt is the mystery of Amergin the +Druid. All nature speaks through him. He is her darling, the +confidant of her secrets. Her mountains have been more to him +than a feeling. She has revealed them to him as the home of her +brighter children, her heroes become immortal. For him her streams +ripple with magical life and the light of day was once filled with +more aerial rainbow wonder. Though thousands of years have passed +since this mysterious Druid land was at its noonday, and long +centuries have rolled by since the weeping seers saw the lights +vanish from mountain and valley, still this alliance of the soul +of man and the soul of nature more or less manifestly characterizes +the people of this isle. The thought produced in and for complex +civilizations is not pregnant enough with the vast for them, is +not enough thrilled through by that impalpable breathing from +another nature. We have had but little native literature here +worth the name until of late years, and that not yet popularized, +but during all these centuries the Celt has kept in his heart some +affinity with the mighty beings ruling in the unseen, once so +evident to the heroic races who preceded him. His legends and +faery tales have connected his soul with the inner lives of air +and water and earth, and they in turn have kept his heart sweet +with hidden influence. It would make one feel sad to think that +all that beautiful folklore is fading slowly from the memory that +held it so long, 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 passing: +the day is coming with the beautiful real, with heroes and heroic deeds. + + +It may not be well to prophecy, but it is always permissible to +speak of our hopes. If day but copies day may we not hope for +Ireland, after its long cycle of night, such another glory as +lightened it of old, which tradition paints in such mystic colours? +What was the mysterious glamour of the Druid age? What meant the +fires on the mountains, the rainbow glow of air, the magic life in +water and earth, but that the Radiance of Deity was shining through +our shadowy world, that it mingled with and was perceived along +with the forms we know. There it threw up its fountains of life- +giving fire, the faery fountains of story, and the children of +earth breathing that rich life felt the flush of an immortal vigour +within them; and so nourished sprang into being the Danaan races, +men who made themselves gods by will and that magical breath. +Rulers of earth and air and fire, their memory looms titanic in +the cloud stories of our dawn, 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 it. + +This idea of man's expansion into divinity, which is in the highest +teaching of every race, is one which shone like a star at the dawn +of our Celtic history also. Hero after hero is called away by a +voice ringing out of the land of eternal youth, which is but a +name for the soul of earth, the enchantress and mother of all. +There as guardians of the race they shed their influence on the isle; +from them sprang all that was best and noblest in our past, and +let no one think but that it was noble. Leaving aside that mystic +sense of union with another world and looking only at the tales of +battle, when we read of heroes whose knightly vows forbade the use +of stratagem in war, and all but the equal strife with equals in +opportunity; when we hear of the reverence for truth among the +Fianna, "We the Fianna of Erin never lied, 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 imputation, we might do worse than turn back to that +ideal Paganism of the past, and learn some lessons of noble trust, +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 God. + +In hoping for such another day I do not of course mean the renewal +of the ancient order, but rather look for the return of the same +light which was manifest in the past. For so the eternal Beauty +brings itself to the memory of man from time to time brooding over +nations, as in the early Aryan heart, suffusing life and thought +with the sun-sense of pervading Deity, or as in Greece where its +myriad rays, each an intuition of loveliness, descended and dwelt +not only in poet, sage and sculptor, but in the general being of +the people. What has been called the Celtic renaissance in +literature is one of the least of the signs. Of far more +significance is the number of strange, dreamy children one meets, +whose hearts are in the elsewhere, and young people who love to +brood on the past, I speak of which is all the world to them. +The present has no voice to interpret their dreams and visions, +the enraptured solitude by mountain or shore, or what they feel +when they lie close pressed to the bosom of the earth, mad with +the longing for old joys, the fiery communion of spirit with spirit, +which was once the privilege of man. These some voice, not +proclaiming an arid political propaganda, may recall into the +actual: some ideal of heroic life may bring them to the service +of their kind, and none can serve the world better than those who +from mighty dreams turn exultant to their realisation: who bring +to labour the love, the courage, the unfailing hope, which they +only possess who have gone into the hidden nature and found it +sweet at heart. + +So this Isle, once called the Sacred Isle and also the Isle of +Destiny, may find a destiny worthy of fulfilment: not to be a +petty peasant republic, nor a miniature duplicate in life and aims +of great material empires, but that its children out of their faith, +which has never failed may realise this imemorial truth of man's +inmost divinity, and in expressing it may ray the light over every +land. Now, although a great literature and great thought may be +part of our future, it ought not to be the essential part of our +ideal. As in our past the bards gave way before the heroes, so +in any national ideal worthy the name, all must give way in its +hopes, wealth, literature, art, everything before manhood itself. +If our humanity fails us or become degraded, of what value are +the rest? What use would it be to you or to me if our ships +sailed on every sea and our wealth rivaled the antique Ind, if +we ourselves were unchanged, had no more kingly consciousness of +life, nor that overtopping grandeur of soul indifferent whether +it dwells in a palace or a cottage? + +If this be not clear to the intuition, there is the experience of +the world and the example of many nations. Let us take the highest, +and consider what have a thousand years of empire brought to England. +Wealth without parallel, but at what expense! The lover of his +kind must feel as if a knife were entering his heart when he looks +at those black centres of boasted prosperity, at factory, smoke +and mine, the arid life and spiritual death. Do you call those +miserable myriads a humanity? We look at those people in despair +and pity. Where is the ancient image of divinity in man's face: +where in man's heart the prompting of the divine? There is nothing +but a ceaseless energy without; a night terrible as hell within. +Is this the only way for us as a people? Is nature to be lost; +beauty to be swallowed up? The crown and sceptre were taken from +us in the past, our path has been strewn with sorrows, but the +spirit shall not be taken until it becomes as clay, and man forgets +that he was born in the divine, and hears no more the call of the +great deep in his heart as he bows himself to the dust in his bitter +labours. It maddens to think it should be for ever thus, with us +and with them, and that man the immortal, man the divine, should +sink deeper and deeper into night and ignorance, and know no more +of himself than glimmers upon him in the wearied intervals of +long routine. + +Here we have this hope that nature appeals with her old glamour +to many, and there is still the ancient love for the hero. In a +land where so many well nigh hopeless causes have found faithful +adherents, where there has been so much devotion and sacrifice, +where poverty has made itself poorer still for the sake of leader +and cause, may we not hope that when an appeal is made to the +people to follow still higher ideals, that they will set aside +the lower for the higher, that they will not relegate idealism +to the poets only, 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 life? 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 heroes. These titan figures, Cuculain, +Finn, Oscar, Oisin, Caolte, all a mixed gentleness and fire, have +commanded for generations that spontaneous love which is the only +true worship paid by men. It is because of this profound and long- +enduring love for the heroes, which must be considered as forecasting +the future, 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 nature, +who shall renew for the world the hope, the beauty, the magic, +the wonder which will draw the buried stars which are the souls of +men to their native firmament of spiritual light and elemental power. + +For the hero with us there is ample scope and need. There are the +spectres of ignoble hopes, the lethal influences of a huge material +civilisation wafted to us from over seas, which must be laid. Oh, +that a protest might be made ere it becomes more difficult, ere +this wild, beautiful land of ours be viewed only as a lure to draw +money from the cockney tourist, and the immemorial traditions around +our sacred hills be of value only to advertise the last hotel. Yet +to avert the perils arising from external causes is but a slight +task compared with the overcoming of obstacles already existent within. +There is one which must be removed at whatever cost, though the hero +may well become the martyr in the attempt. It is a difficulty which +has its strength from one of the very virtues of the people, their +reverence for religion. This in itself is altogether well. 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 terrors. I say that where this takes place to any +great extent, as it has with us, it is not a land a freeman can +think of with pride. It is not a place where the lover of freedom +can rest, but he must spend sleepless nights, must brood, must scheme, +must wait to strike a blow. To the thought of freedom it must be +said to our shame none of the nobler meaning attaches here. Freedom +to speak what hopes and ideals we may have; to act openly for what +cause we will; to allow that freedom to others--that liberty is +denied. There are but too many places where to differ openly from +the priest in politics is to provoke a brawl, where to speak as +here with the fearlessness of print would be to endanger life. +With what scorn one hears the aspiration from public freedom from +lips that are closed with the dread by their own hearthside! Let +freedom arise where first it is possible in the hearts of men, in +their thoughts, in speech between one and another, and then the +gods may not deem us unworthy of the further sway of our national +life. I would that some of the defiant spirit of the old warrior +brood were here, not indeed to provoke strife between man and man, +or race and race, but rather that we might be fearless in the +spirit of one who said "I do not war against flesh and blood, but +against principalities and powers"--and against influences which +fetter progress, against an iron materialism where the beauty of +life perishes, let us revolt, let us war for ever. + +But with all this I, like others who have narrowly watched the signs +of awakening life, do not doubt but that these things will pass as +greater potencies throng in and impel to action. Already the rush +of the earth-breath begins to fill with elation our island race and +uplift them with the sense of power; and through the power sometimes +flashes the glory, the spiritual radiance which will be ours hereafter, +if old prophecy can be trusted and our hearts prompt us true. Here +and there some rapt dreamer more inward than the rest sees that +Tir-na-noge was no fable, but is still around him with all its mystic +beauty for ever. The green hills grow alive with the star-children +fleeting, flashing on their twilight errands from gods to men. +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 awaken, +our isle will be the Sacred Island once again and our great ones +the light-givers to humanity, not voicing new things, but only of +the old, old truths one more affirmation; for what is all wisdom, +wherever uttered, whether in time past or today, but the One Life, +the One Breath, chanting its innumerable tones of thought and joy +and love in the heart of man, one voice throughout myriad years +whose message eterne is this--you are by your nature immortal, +and you may be, if you will it, divine. + +--Jan. 15, Feb. 15, 1897 + + + + + +Our Secret Ties + + + + +Our deepest life is when we are alone. We think most truly, love +best, when isolated from the outer world in that mystic abyss we +call soul. Nothing external can equal the fulness of these moments. +We may sit in the blue twilight with a friend, or bend together by +the hearth, half whispering, or in a silence populous with loving +thoughts mutually understood; then we may feel happy and at peace, +but it is only because we are lulled by a semblance to deeper +intimacies. When we think of a friend, and the loved one draws nigh, +we sometimes feel half-pained, for we touched something in our +solitude which the living presence shut out; we seem more apart, +and would fain cry out--"Only in my deep heart I love you, sweetest +heart; call me not forth from this; I am no more a spirit if I +leave my throne." But these moods, though lit up by intuitions +of the true, are too partial, they belong too much to the twilight +of the heart, they have too dreamy a temper to serve us well in life. +We should wish rather for our thoughts a directness such as belongs +to the messengers of the gods, swift, beautiful, flashing presences +bent on purposes well understood. + +What we need is that this interior tenderness shall be elevated +into seership, that what in most is only yearning or blind love +shall see clearly its way and hope and aim. To this end we have +to observe more intently the nature of the interior life. We find, +indeed, that it is not a solitude at all, but dense with multitudinous +being: instead of being alone we are in the thronged highways of +existence. For our guidance when entering here many words of warning +have been uttered, laws have been outlined, and beings full of wonder, +terror, and beauty described. Yet there is a spirit in us deeper +than our intellectual being which I think of as the Hero in man, +who feels the nobility of its place in the midst of all this, and +who would fain equal the greatness of perception with deeds as great. +The weariness and sense of futility which often falls upon the mystic +after much thought is due, I think, to this, 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 behind. + +Now, 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 +being. What shall be done to quiet the heart-cry of the world: +how answer the dumb appeal for help we so often divine below eyes +that laugh? It is sadder than sorrow to think that pity with no +hands to heal, that love without a voice to speak, should helplessly +heap their pain upon pain while earth shall endure. But there is +a truth about sorrow which I think may make it seem not so hopeless. +There are fewer barriers than we think: there is, in fact, an inner +alliance between the soul who would fain give and the soul who is +in need. Nature has well provided that not one golden ray of all +our thoughts is sped ineffective through the dark; not one drop +of the magical elixirs love distills is wasted. Let us consider +how this may be. There is a habit we nearly all have indulged in: +we often weave little stories in our minds expending love and pity +upon the imaginary beings we have created. But I have been led to +think that many of these are not imaginary, that somewhere in the +world beings are thinking, loving, suffering just in that way, and +we merely reform and live over again in our life the story of +another life. Sometimes these faraway intimates assume so vivid +a shape, they come so near with their appeal for sympathy that the +pictures are unforgettable, 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 vast, perhaps to +meet with an answer, perhaps to hear only silence. I will supply +an instance. I see a child, a curious, delicate little thing, +seated on the doorstep of a house. It is an alley in some great +city; there is a gloom of evening and vapour over the sky; I see +the child is bending over the path; he is picking cinders and +arranging them, and, growing closer, as I ponder, I become aware +that he is laying down in gritty lines the walls of a house, the +mansion of his dream. Here spread along the pavement are large +rooms, these for his friends, and a tiny room in the centre, that +is his own. So his thought plays. Just then I catch a glimpse +of the corduroy trousers of a passing workman, and a heavy boot +crushes through the cinders. I feel the pain in the child's heart +as he shrinks back, his little love-lit house of dreams all rudely +shattered. Ah, poor child, building the City Beautiful out of a +few cinders, yet nigher, truer in intent than many a stately, gold- +rich palace reared by princes, thou wert not forgotten by that +mighty spirit who lives through the falling of empires, whose home +has been in many a ruined heart. Surely it was to bring comfort +to hearts like thine that that most noble of all meditations was +ordained by the Buddha. "He lets his mind pervade one quarter of +the world with thoughts of Love, and so the second, and so the +third, and so the fourth. And thus the whole wide world, above, +below, around, and everywhere, does he continue to pervade with +heart of Love far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure." + +The love, though the very fairy breath of life, should by itself +and so imparted have a sustaining power some may question, not those +who have felt the sunlight fall from distant fiends who think of them; +but, to make clearer how it seems to me to act, I say that love, +Eros, is a being. It is more than a power of the soul, though it +is that also; it has a universal life of its own, and just as the +dark heaving waters do not know what jewel lights they reflect with +blinding radiance, so the soul, partially absorbing and feeling the +ray of Eros within it, 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 own. Many people move unconscious of their won charm, +unknowing of the beauty and power they seem to others to impart. +It is some past attainment of the soul, a jewel won in some old +battle which it may have forgotten, but none the less this gleams +on its tiara and the star-flame inspires others to hope and victory. + +If is true here than many exert a spiritual influence they are +unconscious of, it is still truer of the spheres within. Once the +soul has attained to any possession like love, or persistent will, +or faith, or a power of thought, it comes into psychic contact with +others who are struggling for these very powers. The attainment +of any of these means that the soul is able to absorb and radiate +some of the diviner elements of being. The soul may or may not be +aware of the position it is placed in and its new duties, but yet +that Living Light, having found a way into the being of any one +person, does not rest there, but sends its rays and extends its +influence on and on to illumine the darkness of another nature. +So it comes that there are ties which bind us to people other than +those whom we meet in our everyday life. I think they are more +real ties, more important to understand, for if we let our lamp go +out some far away who had reached out in the dark and felt a steady +will, a persistent hope, a compassionate love, may reach out once +again in an hour of need, and finding no support may give way and +fold the hands in despair. Often indeed we allow gloom to overcome +us and so hinder the bright rays in their passage; but would we +do it so often if we thought that perhaps a sadness which besets us, +we do not know why, was caused by some heart drawing nigh to ours +for comfort, that our lethargy might make it feel still more its +helplessness, while our courage, our faith, might cause "our light +to shine in some other heart which as yet has no light of its own." + +--March 15, 1897 + + + + + +Priest or Hero? + + + + +"I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and + self-contained +I stand and look at them long and long. +They do not sweat and whine about their condition, +They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, +No one kneels to another, nor to one of his kind that lived thousands +of years ago." ---Walt Whitman + + +I have prefixed some ideas about spiritual freedom addressed to +the people of Ireland with these lines from the poet of another +land, because national sentiment seems out of date here, the old +heroism slumbers, alien thought and an exotic religion have +supplanted our true ideals and our natural spirituality. 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 dignity, who have still some intuitions as to how far +and how wisely a man may abase himself before another, whether +that other claim divine authority or not. For this is the true +problem which confronts us as a nation, and all else is insignificant +beside. We have found out who are the real rulers here, who dictate +politics and public action with no less authority than they speak +upon religion and morals, It was only the other day that a priest, +one of our rulers, 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 him. And this has not been the only +occasion when this power has been exerted: we all know how many +national movements have been interfered with or thwarted; we know +the shameful revelations connected with the elections a few years +back; we know how a great leader fell; and those who are idealists, +God's warriors battling for freedom of thought, 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 authority, +cannot but feel that their opinions, so much more dangerous to +that authority than any political ideal, must, if advocated, bring +them at last to clash with the priestly power. It is not a war +with religion we would fain enter upon; but when those who claim +that heaven and hell shut and open at their bidding for the spirit +of man, use the influence which belief in that claim confers, as +it has been here, to fetter free-will in action, it is time that +the manhood of the nation awoke to sternly question that authority, +to assert its immemorial right to freedom. + +There live of old in Eri a heroic race whom the bards sang as +fearless. There was then no craven dread of the hereafter, for +the land of the immortals glimmered about them in dream and vision, +and already before the decaying of the form the spirit of the hero +had crossed the threshold and clasped hands with the gods. No demon +nature affrighted them: from them wielding the flaming sword of +will the demons fled away as before Cuculain vanished in terror +shadowy embattled hosts. What, I wonder, would these antique +heroes say coming back to a land which preserves indeed their +memory but emulates their spirit no more? We know what the bards +thought when heroic Ireland became only a tradition; when to +darkened eyes the elf-lights ceased to gleam, luring no more to +the rich radiant world within, the Druidic mysteries, and the +secret of the ages. In the bardic tales their comrade Ossian +voices to Patrick their scorn of the new. Ah, from the light and +joy of the faery region, from that great companionship with a race +half divine, come back to find that but one divine man had walked +the earth, and as for the rest it was at prayer and fasting they +ought to be! And why? Because, as Patrick explained to Ossian, +if they did not they would go to hell. And this is the very thing +the Patricks ever since have been persuading the Irish people to +believe, adding an alien grief unto their many sorrows, foisting +upon them a vulgar interpretation of the noble idea of divine justice +to cow them to submission with the threat of flame. Ossian, chafing +and fuming under the priestly restriction, declared his preference +for hell with the Finians to paradise with Patrick. His simple +heroic mind found it impossible to believe that the pure, gentle +but indomitable spirits of his comrades could be anywhere quenched +or quelled, but they must at last arise exultant even from torment. +When Ossian rejects the bribe of paradise to share the darker world +and the fate of his companions, there spake the true spirit of man; +spark of illimitable deity; shrouded in form, yet radiating +ceaselessly heroic thoughts, aspirations, deathless love; not to +be daunted, rising again and again from sorrow with indestructible +hope; emerging ever from defeat, its glooms smitten through and +through with the light of visions vast and splendid as the heavens. +Old bard, old bard, from Tir-na-noge where thou, perchance wrapt +by that beauty which called thee from earth, singest immortal songs, +would that one lightning of they spirit could pierce the hearts +now thronged with dread, might issue from lips which dare not speak. + +I do not question but that the heroic age had its imperfections, +or that it was not well that its too warlike ardour was tempered +by the beautiful, pathetic and ennobling teaching of Christ. The +seed of new doctrines bore indeed many lovely but exotic blossoms +in the saintly times, and also many a noxious weed. For religion +must always be an exotic which makes a far-off land sacred rather +than the earth underfoot: where the Great Spirit whose home is +the vast seems no more a moving glamour in the heavens, a dropping +tenderness at twilight, a visionary light on the hills, a voice in +man's heart; when the way of life is sought in scrolls or is heard +from another's lips. The noxious weed, 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 taught: the power +to inflict a deadly wrong upon the soul, to coerce the will by +terror from the course conscience had marked out as true and good. +That power has been used unsparingly and at times with unspeakable +cruelty whenever those who had it thought their influence was being +assailed, for power is sweet and its use is not lightly laid aside. + +As we read our island history there seems a ruddy emblazonry on +every page, a hue shed from behind the visible, the soul dropping +its red tears of fire over hopes for ever dissolving, noble ambitions +for ever foiled. Always on the eve of success starts up some fatal +figure weaponed with the keys of the hereafter, brandishing more +especially the key of the place of torment, warning most particularly +those who regard that that key shall not get rusty from want of +turning if they disobey. It has been so from the beginning, from +the time of the cursing of Tara, where the growing unity of the +nations was split into fractions, down to the present time. I +often doubt if the barbarities in eastern lands which we shudder +at are in reality half so cruel, if they mean so much anguish as +this threat of after-torture does to those who believe in the power +of another to inflict it. It wounds the spirit to the heart: its +consciousness of its own immortality becomes entwined with the +terror of as long enduring pain. It is a lie which the all- +compassionate Father-Spirit never breathed into the ears of his +children, a lie which has been told here century after century with +such insistence that half the nation has the manhood cowed out of it. +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 ago. The scenes which took place there, +testified and sworn to by witness in the after trials, were only +a copy of what generally took place. They will take place again +if the necessity arises. That is a bitter fact. + +A dim consciousness that their servitude is not to God's law but +to man's ambition is creeping over the people here. That is a very +hopeful sign. When a man first feels he is a slave he begins to +grow grey inside, to get moody and irritable. The sore spot becomes +more sensitive the more he broods. At last to touch it becomes +dangerous. For, from such pent-up musing and wrath have sprung +rebellions, revolutions, the overthrow of dynasties and the fall +of religions, aye, thrice as mighty as this. That Thought of freedom +lets loose the flood-gates of an illimitable fire into the soul; +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 enchantment; it lays hand on the powers of storm and +commotion like a god. It would be politic not to press the +despotism more; but it would be a pity perhaps if some further +act did not take place, just to see a nation flinging aside the +shackles of superstition; disdainful of threats, determined to +seek its own good, resolutely to put aside all external tradition +and rule; adhering to its own judgment, though priests falsely +say the hosts of the everlasting are arrayed in battle against it, +though they threaten the spirit with obscure torment for ever and +ever: still to persist, still to defy, still to obey the orders +of another captain, that Unknown Deity within whose trumpet-call +sounds louder than all the cries of men. There is great comfort, +my fellows, in flinging fear aside; an exultation and delight +spring up welling from inexhaustible deeps, and a tranquil sweetness +also ensues which shows that the powers ever watchful of human +progress approve and applaud the act. + +In all this I do not aim at individuals. It is not with them I +would war but with tyranny. They who enslave are as much or more +to be pitied than those whom they enslave. They too are wronged +by being placed and accepted in a position of false authority. +They too enshrine a ray of the divine spirit, which to liberate +and express is the purpose of life. Whatever movement ignores the +needs of a single unity, or breeds hate against it rather than +compassion, is so far imperfect. But if we give these men, as we +must, the credit of sincerity, still opposition is none the less +a duty. The spirit of man must work out its own destiny, learning +truth out of error and pain. It cannot be moral by proxy. A +virtuous course into which it is whipt by fear will avail it nothing, +and in that dread hour when it comes before the Mighty who sent it +forth, neither will the plea avail it that its conscience was in +another's keeping. + + +The choice here lies between Priest and Hero as ideal, and I say +that whatever is not heroic is not Irish, has not been nourished +at the true fountain wherefrom our race and isle derive their mystic +fame. There is a life behind the veil, another Eri which the bards +knew, singing it as the Land of Immortal Youth. It is not hidden +from us, though we have hidden ourselves from it, so that it has +become only a fading memory in our hearts and a faery fable upon +our lips. Yet there are still places in this isle, remote from +the crowded cities where men and women eat and drink and wear out +their lives and are lost in the lust for gold, where the shy peasant +sees the enchanted lights in mountain and woody dell, and hears +the faery bells pealing away, away, into that wondrous underland +whither, as legends relate, the Danann gods withdrew. These things +are not to be heard for the asking; but some, more reverent than +the rest, more intuitive, who understand that the pure eyes of a +peasant may see the things kings and princes, aye, and priests, +have desired to see and have not seen; 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 that, if ever the mystic truths +of life could be spoken here, there would be enough of the old +Celtic fire remaining to bring back the magic into the isle. That +direct relation, that vision, comes fully with spiritual freedom, +when men no longer peer through another's eyes into the mysteries, +when they will not endure that the light shall be darkened by +transmission, but spirit speaks with spirit, drawing light from +the boundless Light alone. + +Leaving aside the question of interference with national movements, +another charge, one of the weightiest which can be brought against +the priestly influence in this island, is that it has hampered the +expression of native genius in literature and thought. Now the +country is alive with genius, flashing out everywhere, in the +conversation even of the lowest; but we cannot point to imaginative +work of any importance produced in Ireland which has owed its +inspiration to the priestly teaching. The genius of the Gael could +not find itself in their doctrines; 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 +blessed. It knew of the Eri behind the veil which I spoke of, the +Tir-na-noge which as a lamp lights up our grassy plains, our haunted +hills and valleys. The faery tales have ever lain nearer to the +hearts of the people, and whatever there is of worth in song or +story has woven into it the imagery handed down from the dim druidic +ages. This is more especially true today, when our literature is +beginning to manifest preeminent qualities of imagination, not the +grey pieties of the cloister, but natural magic, beauty, and heroism. +Our poets sing Ossian wandering the land of the immortals; or we +read in vivid romance of the giant chivalry of the Ultonians, their +untamable manhood, the exploits of Cuculain and the children of Rury, +more admirable as types, more noble and inspiring than the hierarchy +of little saints who came later on and cursed their memories. + +The genius of the Gael is awakening after a night of troubled dreams. +I returns instinctively to the beliefs of its former day and finds +again the old inspiration. It seeks the gods on the mountains, +still enfolded by their mantle of multitudinous traditions, or +sees them flash by in the sunlit diamond airs. How strange, but +how natural is all this! It seems as if Ossian's was a premature +return. Today he might find comrades come back from Tir-na-noge +for the uplifting of their race. Perhaps to many a young spirit +starting up among us Caolte might speak as to Mongan, saying: "I +was with thee, with Finn." Hence, it may be, the delight with +which we hear Standish O'Grady declaring that the bardic divinities +will remain: "Nor, after centuries of obscuration, is their power +to quicken, purify, and exalt, yet dead. Still they live and reign, +and shall reign." After long centuries--the voice of a spirit ever +youthful, yet older than all the gods, who with its breath of sunrise- +coloured flame jewels with richest lights the visions of earth's +dreamy-hearted children. Once more out of the Heart of the Mystery +is heard the call of "Come away," and after that no other voice +has power to lure: there remain only the long heroic labours which +end in companionship with the gods. + +These voices do not stand for themselves alone. They are heralds +before a host. No man has ever spoken with potent utterance who +did not feel the secret urging of dumb, longing multitudes, whose +aspirations and wishes converge on and pour themselves into fearless +heart. The thunder of the waves is deeper because the tide is rising. +Those who are behind do not come only with song and tale, but with +stern hearts bent on great issues, among which, not least, is the +intellectual liberation of Ireland. That is an aim at which some +of our rulers may well grow uneasy. Soon shall young men, fiery- +hearted, children of Eri, a new race, roll our their thoughts on +the hillsides, before your very doors, O priests, calling your +flocks from your dark chapels and twilight sanctuaries to a temple +not built with hands, sunlit, starlit, sweet with the odour and +incense of earth, from your altars call them to the altars of the +hills, soon to be lit up as of old, soon to be the blazing torches +of God over the land. These heroes I see emerging. Have they not +come forth in every land and race when there was need? Here, too, +they will arise. Ah, may darlings, you will have to fight and suffer: +you must endure loneliness, the coldness of friends, the alienation +of love; warmed only by the bright interior hope of a future you +must toil for but may never see, letting the deed be its own reward; +laying in dark places the foundations of that high and holy Eri +of prophecy, the isle of enchantment, burning with druidic splendours, +bright with immortal presences, with the face of the everlasting +Beauty looking in upon all its ways, divine with terrestrial mingling +till God and the world are one. + +There waits brooding in this isle a great destiny, and to accomplish +it we must have freedom of thought. That is the greatest of our +needs, for thought is the lightning-conductor between the heaven- +world and earth. We want fearless advocates who will not be turned +aside from their course by laughter or by threats. Why is it that +the spirit of daring, imaginative enquiry is so dead here? An +incubus of spiritual fear seems to beset men women so that they +think, if they turn from the beaten track seeking the true, they +shall meet, not the divine with outstretched hands, but a demon; +that the reward for their search will not be joy or power but +enduring pain. How the old bard swept away such fears! "If thy +God were good," said Ossian, "he would call Finn into his dun." +Yes, the heroic heart is dear to the heroic heart. I would back +the intuition of an honest soul for truth against piled-up centuries +of theology. But this high spirit is stifled everywhere by a dull +infallibility which is yet unsuccessful, on its own part, in awakening +inspiration; and, in the absence of original though, we pick over +the bones of dead movements, we discuss the personalities of the +past, but no one asks the secrets of life or of death. There are +despotic hands in politics, in religion, in education, strangling +any attempt at freedom. Of the one institution which might naturally +be supposed to be the home of great ideas we can only say, reversing +the famous eulogy on Oxford, it has never given itself to any +national hero or cause, but always to the Philistine. + +With the young men who throng the literary societies the intellectual +future of Ireland rests. In them are our future leaders. Out of +these as from a fountain will spring--what? Will we have another +generation of Irishmen at the same level as today, with everything +in a state of childhood, boyish patriotism, boyish ideals, boyish +humour? Or will they assimilate the aged thought of the world and +apply it to the needs of their own land? I remember reading somewhere +a description by Turgenieff of his contemporaries as a young man; +how they sat in garrets, drinking execrably bad coffee or tea. But +what thoughts! They talked of God, of humanity, of Holy Russia; +and out of such groups of young men, out of their discussions, +emanated that vast unrest which has troubled Europe and will trouble +it still more. Here no questions are asked and no answers are +received. There is a pitiful, blind struggle for a nationality +whose ideas are not definitely conceived. What is the ideal of +Ireland as a nation? It drifts from mind to mind, a phantom thought +lacking a spirit, but a spirit which will surely incarnate. Perhaps +some of our old heroes may return. Already it seems as if one had +been here; a sombre Titan earlier awakened than the rest who passed +before us, and sounded the rallying note of our race before he +staggered to his tragic close. Others of brighter thought will +follow to awaken the fires which Brigid in her vision saw gleaming +beyond dark centuries of night, and confessed between hope and +tears to Patrick. Meanwhile we must fight for intellectual freedom; +we must strive to formulate to ourselves what it is we really wish +for here, until at last the ideal becomes no more phantasmal but +living; until our voices in aspiration are heard in every land, +and the nations become aware of a new presence amid their councils, +a last and most beautiful figure, as one after the cross of pain, +after the shadowy terrors, with thorn-marks on the brow from a +crown flung aside, but now radiant, ennobled after suffering, Eri, +the love of so many dreamers, priestess of the mysteries, with the +chant of beauty on her lips and the heart of nature beating in +her heart. + +--April 15-May 15, 1897 + + + + + +The Age of the Spirit + + + + +I am a part of all that I have met: +Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' +Gleams that untraveled world ..... +....... Come, my friends, +'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. +--Ulysses + +We are no longer children as we were in the beginning. The spirit +which, prompted by some divine intent, flung itself long ago into +a vague, nebulous, drifting nature, though it has endured through +many periods of youth, maturity, and age, has yet had its own +transformations. Its gay, wonderful childhood gave way, as cycle +after cycle coiled itself into slumber, to more definite purposes, +and now it is old and burdened with experiences. It is not an age +that quenches its fire, but it will not renew again the activities +which gave it wisdom. 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 race. 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 dust. But their fathers +had this weariness also and concealed it from each other in fear, +for it meant the laying aside of the sceptre, the toppling over +empires, the chilling of the household warmth, and all for a voice +whose inner significance revealed itself but to one or two +among myriads. + +The spirit has hardly emerged from the childhood with which nature +clothes it afresh at every new birth, when the disparity between +the garment and the wearer becomes manifest: the little tissue +of joys and dreams woven about it found inadequate for shelter: +it trembles exposed to the winds blowing out of the unknown. We +linger at twilight with some companion, still glad, contented, and +in tune with the nature which fills the orchards with blossom and +sprays the hedges with dewy blooms. The laughing lips give utterance +to wishes--ours until that moment. Then the spirit, without warning, +suddenly falls into immeasurable age: a sphynx-like regard is upon +us: our lips answer, but far from the region of elemental being we +inhabit, they syllable in shadowy sound, out of old usage, the +response, speaking of a love and a hope which we know have vanished +from us for evermore. So hour by hour the scourge of the infinite +drives us out of every nook and corner of life we find pleasant. +And this always takes place when all is fashioned to our liking: +then into our dream strides the wielder of the lightning: we get +glimpse of the great beyond thronged with mighty, exultant, radiant +beings: our own deeds become infinitesimal to us: the colours +of our imagination, once so shining, grow pale as the living lights +of God glow upon them. We find a little honey in the heart which +we make sweeter for some one, and then another lover, whose forms +are legion, sighs to us out of its multitudinous being: we know +that the old love is gone. There is a sweetness in song or in the +cunning reimaging of the beauty we see; but the Magician of the +Beautiful whispers to us of his art, how we were with him when he +laid the foundations of the world, and the song is unfinished, +the fingers grow listless. As we receive these intimations of +age our very sins become negative: we are still pleased if a voice +praises us, but we grow lethargic in enterprises where the spur +to activity is fame or the acclamation of men. At some point in +the past we struggled mightily for the sweet incense which men +offer to a towering personality: but the infinite is for ever +within man: we sighed for other worlds and found that to be saluted +as victor by men did not mean acceptance by the gods. + +But the placing of an invisible finger upon our lips when we would +speak, the heart-throb of warning where we would love, that we +grow contemptuous of the prizes of life, does not mean that the +spirit has ceased from its labours, that the high-built beauty of +the spheres is to topple mistily into chaos, as a mighty temple +in the desert sinks into the sand, watched only by a few barbarians +too feeble to renew its ancient pomp and the ritual of its once +shining congregations. Before we, who were the bright children +of the dawn, may return as the twilight race into the silence, +our purpose must be achieved, we have to assume mastery over that +nature which now overwhelms us, driving into the Fire-fold the +flocks of stars and wandering fires. Does it seem very vast and +far away? Do you sigh at the long, long time? Or does it appear +hopeless to you who perhaps return with trembling feet evening +after evening from a little labour? But it is back of all these +things that the renewal takes place, when love and grief are dead; +when they loosen their hold on the spirit and its sinks back into +itself, looking out on the pitiful plight of those who, like it, +are the weary inheritors of so great destinies: then a tenderness +which is the most profound quality of its being springs up like +the outraying of the dawn, and if in that mood it would plan or +execute it knows no weariness, for it is nourished from the First +Fountain. As for these feeble children of the once glorious spirits +of the dawn, only a vast hope can arouse them from so vast a despair, +for the fire will not invigorate them for the repetition of petty +deeds but only for the eternal enterprise, the purpose of the +immemorial battle waged through all the ages, the wars in heaven, +the conflict between Titan and Divinity, which were part of the +never-ending struggle of the human spirit to assert its supremacy +over nature. Brotherhood, the declaration of ideals and philosophies, +are but calls to the hosts, who lie crushed by this mountain nature +piled above them, to arise again, to unite, to storm the heavens +and sit on the seats of the mighty. + +As the titan in man ponders on this old, old purpose wherefor all +its experience was garnered, the lightnings will once more begin +to play through him and animate his will. So like the archangel +ruined let us arise from despair and weariness with inflexible +resolution, pealing once more the old heroic shout to our fallen +comrades, until those great powers who enfold us feel the stirring +and the renewal, and the murmur runs along the spheres, "The buried +Titan moves once again to tear the throne from Him." + +--June 1897 + + + + + +A Thought Along the Road + +They torture me also.--Krishna + + + + +The night was wet: and, as I was moving down the streets, my mind +was also journeying on a way of its own, and the things which were +bodily present before me were no less with me in my unseen traveling. +Every now and then a transfer would take place, and some of the +moving shadows in the street would begin walking about in the clear +interior light. The children of the city, crouched in the doorways, +or racing through the hurrying multitude and flashing lights, began +their elfin play again in my heart; and that was because I had +heard these tiny outcasts shouting with glee. 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 life. In imagination I narrowed myself to their ignorance, +littleness, and youth, and seemed for a moment to flit amid great +uncomprehended beings and a dim wonderful city of palaces. + +Then another transfer took place and I was pondering anew, for a +face I had seen flickering through the warm wet mist haunted me; +it entered into the realm of the interpreter, and I was made aware +by the pale cheeks, and by the close-shut lips of pain, and by +some inward knowledge, that there the Tree of Life was beginning +to grow, and I wondered why it is that it always springs up through +a heart in ashes: I wondered also if that which springs up, which +in itself is an immortal joy, has knowledge that its shoots are +piercing through such anguish; or again, if it was the piercing +of the shoots which caused the pain, 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 shadow. + +Seeing to how so many thoughts spring up from such a simple thing, +I questioned whether that which started the impulse had any share +in the outcome, and if these musing of mine in any way affected +their subject. I then began thinking about those secret ties on +which I have speculated before, and in the darkness my heart grew +suddenly warm and glowing, for I had chanced upon one of those +shining imaginations which are the wealth of those who travel upon +the hidden ways. In describing that which comes to us all at once, +there is a difficulty in choosing between what is first and what +is last to say: but, interpreting as best I can, I seemed to +behold the onward movement of a Light, one among many Lights, all +living, throbbing, now dim with perturbations, and now again clear, +and all subtly woven together, outwardly in some more shadowy shining, +and inwardly in a greater fire, which, though it was invisible, +I knew to be the Lamp of the World. This Light which I beheld I +felt to be a human soul, and these perturbations which dimmed it +were its struggles and passionate longings for something, and that +was for a more brilliant shining of the light within itself: it +was in love with its own beauty, enraptured by its own lucidity; +and I saw that as these things were more beloved they grew paler, +for this light is the love which the Mighty Mother has in her heart +for her children, and she means that it shall go through each one +unto all, and whoever restrains it in himself is himself shut out; +not that the great heart has ceased in its love for that soul, but +that the soul has shut itself off from influx, for ever imagination +of man is the opening or the closing of a door to the divine world: +now he is solitary, cut off, and, seemingly to himself, on the +desert and distant verge of things: and then his thought throws +open the swift portals; he hears the chant of the seraphs in his +heart, and he is made luminous by the lighting of a sudden aureole. +This soul which I watched seemed to have learned at last the secret +love: for, in the anguish begotten by its loss, it followed the +departing glory in penitence to the inmost shrine where it ceased +altogether; and because it seemed utterly lost and hopeless of +attainment and capriciously denied to the seeker, a profound pit +arose in the soul for those who, like it were seeking, but still +in hope, for they had not come to the vain end of their endeavors. +I understood that such pity is the last of the precious essences +which make up the elixir of immortality, and when it is poured +into the cup it is ready for drinking. And so it was with this +soul which drew brilliant with the passage of eternal light through +its new purity of self-oblivion, and joyful in the comprehension +of the mystery of the secret love, which, though it has been declared +many times by the greatest of teachers among men, is yet never known +truly unless the Mighty Mother has herself breathed it in the heart. + +And now that the soul had divined this secret, the shadowy shining +which was woven in bonds of union between it and its fellow-lights +grew clearer; and a multitude of these strands were, so it seemed, +strengthened and placed in its keeping: along these it was to send +the message of the wisdom and the love which were the secret sweetness +of its own being. Then a spiritual tragedy began, infinitely more +pathetic than the old desolation, because it was brought about by +the very nobility of the spirit. This soul, shedding its love like +rays of glory, seemed itself the centre of a ring of wounding spears: +it sent forth love and the arrowy response came hate-impelled: it +whispered peace and was answered by the clash of rebellion: 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 rest. I knew this was what a teacher, who wrote long ago, +meant when he said: "Put on the whole armour of god," which is +love and endurance, for the truly divine children of the Flame are +not armed otherwise: and of those protests, sent up in ignorance +or rebellion against the whisper of the wisdom, I saw that some +melted in the fierce and tender heat of the heart, and there came +in their stead a golden response which made closer the ties, and +drew these souls upward to an understanding and to share in the +overshadowing nature: and this is part of the plan of the Great +Alchemist, whereby the red ruby of the heart is transmuted into +the tenderer light of the opal; for the beholding of love made +bare acts like the flame of the furnace, and the dissolving passions, +through an anguish of remorse, the lightnings of pain, and through +an adoring pity, are changed into the image they contemplate and +melt in the ecstasy of self-forgetful love, the spirit which lit +the thorn-crowned brows, which perceived only in its last agony +the retribution due to its tormentors, and cried out, "Father, +forgive them, for they know not what they do." + +Now although the love of the few may alleviate the hurt due to the +ignorance of the mass, it is not in the power of anyone to withstand +for ever this warfare; 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 without: and at length +comes the call which means, for a while, release, and a deep rest +in regions beyond the paradise of lesser souls. So, withdrawn +into the Divine Darkness, vanished the Light of my dream. And +now it seemed as if this wonderful weft of souls intertwining as +one being must come to naught; and all those who through the gloom +had nourished a longing for the light would stretch out hands in +vain for guidance: but that I did not understand the love of the +Mother, and that although few, there is no decaying of her heroic +brood; for, as the seer of old caught at the mantle of him who +went up in the fiery chariot, so another took up the burden and +gathered the shining strands together: and to this sequence of +spiritual guides there is no ending. + +Here I may say that the love of the Mother, which, acting through +the burnished will of the hero, is wrought to highest uses, is in +reality everywhere, and pervades with profoundest tenderness the +homeliest circumstance of daily life; and there is not lacking, +even among the humblest, an understanding of the spiritual tragedy +which follows upon every effort of the divine nature bowing itself +down in pity to our shadowy sphere; an understanding in which the +nature of the love is gauged through the extent of the sacrifice +and pain which is overcome. I recall the instance of an old Irish +peasant, who, as he lay in hospital wakeful from a grinding pain +in his leg, forgot himself in making drawings, rude yet reverently +done, of incidents in the life of the Galilean teacher. One of +these which he showed me was a crucifixion, where, amidst much +grotesque symbolism, were some tracings which indicated a purely +beautiful intuition; the heart of this crucified figure, no less +than the brow, was wreathed about with thorns and radiant with light: +"For that," said he, was where he really suffered." When I think +of this old man, bringing forgetfulness of his own bodily pain +through contemplation of the spiritual suffering of his own, nobly +undergone, had given him understanding, and he had laid his heart +in love against the Heart of Many Sorrows, seeing it wounded by +unnumbered spears yet burning with undying love. + +Though much may be learned by observance of the superficial life +and actions of a spiritual teacher, it is only in the deeper life +of meditation and imagination that it can be truly realized; for +the soul is a midnight blossom which opens its leaves in dream, +and its perfect bloom is unfolded only where another sun shines +in another heaven: there it feels what celestial dews descend on it, +and what influences draw it up to its divine archetype: here in +the shadow of earth root intercoils with root and the finer +distinctions of the blossom are not perceived. If we knew also +who they really are, who sometimes in silence, and sometimes with +the eyes of the world at gaze, take upon them the mantle of teacher, +an unutterable awe would prevail; for underneath a bodily presence +not in any sense beautiful may burn the glory of some ancient +divinity, some hero who laid aside his sceptre in the enchanted +land to rescue old-time comrades fallen into oblivion: or again, +if we had the insight of the simple old peasant into the nature +of this enduring love, 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 shield, though but for +a little, the kingly hearts who may not shield themselves. + +But I too, who write, have launched the rebellious spear, or in +lethargy have ofttimes gone down the great drift numbering myself +among those who not being with must needs be against: therefor I +make no appeal; they only may call who stand upon the lofty +mountains; but I reveal the thought which arose like a star in +my soul with such bright and pathetic meaning, leaving it to you +who read to approve and apply it. + +--July 15, 1897 + + + + + +The Fountains of Youth + + + + +I heard that a strange woman, dwelling on the western coast, who +had the repute of healing by faery power, said a little before she +died, "There's a cure for all things in the well at Ballykeele": +and I know not why at first, but her words lingered with me and +repeated themselves again and again, and by degrees to keep +fellowship with the thought they enshrined came more antique +memories, all I had heard or dreamed of the Fountains of Youth; +for I could not doubt, having heard these fountains spoken of by +people like herself, that her idea had a druid ancestry. 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 joy; or she had heard, as many still +hear, the wild call to "Come away," from entreating lips and flame- +encircled faces, or was touched by the star-tipped fingers, 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 sunlight. +These things are not fable only, for Ireland is still a land of +the gods, and in out of the way places we often happen on wonderlands +of romance and mystic beauty. 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-nog, and many who are outwardly obeisant +to another religion are altogether pagan in their hearts, and Meave +the Queen of the Western Host is more to them than Mary Queen of +Heaven. I was told of this Meave that lately she was seen in +vision by a peasant, who made a poem on her, calling her "The +Beauty of all Beauty": 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 sky, and he too had heard of the Fountains +of Youth. + +The natural longing in every heart that its youth shall not perish +makes one ponder and sigh over this magical past when youth, ecstasy, +and beauty welled from a bountiful nature at the sung appeal of her +druid children holding hand in hand around the sacred cairn. Our +hearts remember: + +A wind blows by us fleeting + Along the reedy strand: +And sudden our hearts are beating + Again in the druid-land. + +All silver-pale, enchanted, + The air-world lies on the hills, +And the fields of light are planted + With the dawn-frail daffodils. + +The yellow leaves are blowing + The hour when the wind-god weaves, +And hides the stars and their glowing + In a mist of daffodil leaves. + +We stand in glimmering whiteness, + Each face like the day-star fair, +And rayed about in its brightness + With a dawn of daffodil air. + +And through each white robe gleaming, + And under each snow-white breast, +Is a golden dream-light streaming + Like eve through an opal west. + +One hand to the heart, another + We raise to the dawn on high; +For the sun in the heart is brother + To the sun-heart of the sky. + +A light comes rising and falling, + As ringed in the druid choir +We sing to the sun-god, calling + By his name of yellow fire. + +The touch of the dew-wet grasses, + The breath of the dawn-cool wind, +With the dawn of the god-light passes + And the world is left behind. + +We drink of a fountain giving + The joy of the gods, and then-- +The Land of the Ever-living + Has passed from us again. + +Passed far beyond all saying, + For memory only weaves +On a silver dawn outraying + A cloud of daffodil leaves. + +And not indirectly through remembrance only, but when touched +from within by the living beauty, the soul, the ancient druid in +man, renews its league with the elements; and sometimes as the +twilight vanishes and night lays on the earth her tender brow, the +woods, the mountains, the clouds that tinted like seraphim float +in the vast, and the murmur of water, wind and trees, melt from +the gaze and depart from the outward ear and become internal +reveries and contemplations of the spirit, and are no more separate +but are part of us. Yet these vanishings from us and movements in +worlds not realized, leave us only more thirsty to drink of a +deeper nature where all things are dissolved in ecstasy, and heaven +and earth are lost in God. So we turn seeking for the traces of +that earlier wisdom which guided man into the Land of Immortal Youth, +and assuaged his thirst at a more brimming flood of the Feast of Age, +the banquet which Manannan the Danann king instituted in the haunt +of the Fire-god, and whoever partook knew thereafter neither +weariness, decay, not death. + +These mysteries, all that they led to, all that they promised for +the spirit of man, are opening today for us in clear light, their +fabulous distance lessens, and we hail these kingly ideals with +as intense a trust and with more joy, perhaps, than they did who +were born in those purple hours, because we are emerging from +centuries indescribably meagre and squalid in their thought, and +every new revelation has for us the sweetness of sunlight to one +after the tears and sorrow of a prison-house. The well at Ballykeele +is, perhaps, a humble starting-point for the contemplation of such +mighty mysteries; 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 Argatnel, the silver Cloudland of Manannan, +where + +"Feet of white bronze +Glitter through beautiful ages." + +The Danann king with a quaint particularity tells Bran in the poem +from which these lines are quoted, that + +"There is a wood of beautiful fruit +Under the prow of thy little skiff." + +What to Bran was a space of pale light was to the eye of the god +a land of pure glory, Ildathach the Many-coloured Land, rolling +with rivers of golden light and dropping with dews of silver flame. +In another poem the Brugh by the Boyne, outwardly a little hillock, +is thus described: + +"Look, and you will see it is the palace of a god." + +Perhaps the mystic warriors of the Red Branch saw supernatural +pillars blazoned like the sunset, and entered through great doors +and walked in lofty halls with sunset-tinted beings speaking a +more beautiful wisdom than earth's. And they there may have seen +those famous gods who had withdrawn generations before from visible +Eire: Manannan the dark blue king, Lu Lamfada with the sunrise on +his brow and his sling, a wreath of rainbow flame, coiled around him, +the Goddess Dana in ruby brilliance, Nuada silver-handed, the Dagda +with floating locks of light shaking from him radiance and song, +Angus Oge, around whose head the ever-winging birds made music, +and others in whose company these antique heroes must have felt +the deep joy of old companionship renewed, for were not the Danann +hosts men of more primeval cycles become divine and movers in a +divine world. In the Brugh too was a fountain, to what uses +applied the mystical imagination working on other legends may +make clearer. + +The Well of Connla, the parent fountain of many streams visible and +invisible, was the most sacred well known in ancient Ireland. It +lay itself below deep waters at the source of the Shannon, and +these waters which hid it were also mystical, for they lay between +earth and the Land of the Gods. Here, when stricken suddenly by +an internal fire, the sacred hazels of wisdom and inspiration +unfolded at once their leaves and blossoms and their scarlet fruit, +which falling upon the waters dyed them of a royal purple; the +nuts were then devoured by Fintann the Salmon of Knowledge, and +the wisest of the druids partook also. This was perhaps the greatest +of the mysteries known to the ancient Gael, and in the bright +phantasmagoria conjured up there is a wild beauty which belongs to +all their tales. The suddenly arising dreams of a remote divinity, +the scarlet nuts tossing on the purple flood, the bright immortals +glancing hither and thither, are pictures left of some mystery we +may not now uncover, thought tomorrow may reveal it, for the dawn- +lights are glittering everywhere in Ireland. Perhaps the strange +woman who spoke of the well at Ballykeele, and the others like her, +may know more about these fountains than the legend-seekers who so +learnedly annoted their tales. They may have drunken in dreams of +the waters at Connla's well, for many go to the Tir-na-nog in sleep, +and some are said to have remained there, and only a vacant form +is left behind without the light in the eyes which marks the presence +of a soul. I make no pretence of knowledge concerning the things +which underlie their simple speech, but to me there seems to be +for ever escaping from legend and folk-tale, from word and custom, +some breath of a world of beauty I sigh for but am not nigh to as +these are. 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 done: + +There's a cure for all things in the well at Ballykeele, +Where the scarlet cressets o'erhang from the rowan trees; +There's a joy-breath blowing from the Land of Youth I feel, + And earth with its heart at ease. + +Many and many a sun-bright maiden saw the enchanted land +With star-faces glimmer up from the druid wave: +Many and many a pain of love was soothed by a faery hand + Or lost in the love it gave. + +When the quiet with a ring of pearl shall wed the earth +And the scarlet berries burn dark by the stars in the pool, +Oh, its lost and deep I'll be in the joy-breath and the mirth, + My heart in the star-heart cool. + +--September 15, 1897 + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AE IN THE IRISH THEOSOPHIST *** + +This file should be named 5772.txt or 5772.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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