"Break, break, break
At the foot of thy stones, O Sea!
And I would that I could utter
The thoughts that arise in me!"
52
{Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Nu-Beta}
THE BULL-BAITING
Fourscore and eleven books wrote I; in each did I
expound THE GREAT WORK fully, from The
beginning even unto The End thereof.
Then at last came certain men unto me, saying:
O Master! Expound thou THE GREAT WORK
unto us, O Master!
And I held my peace.
O generation of gossipers! who shall deliver you
from the Wrath that is fallen upon you?
O Babblers, Prattlers, Talkers, Loquacious Ones,
Tatlers, Chewers of the Red Rag that inflameth
Apis the Redeemer to fury, learn first what is
Work! and THE GREAT WORK is not so far
beyond!
[114]
COMMENTARY ({Nu-Beta})
52 is BN, the number of the Son, Osiris-Apis, the
Redeemer, with whom the Master (Fra. P.) identifies
himself. he permits himself for a moment the pleasure
of feeling his wounds; and, turning upon his generation,
gores it with his horns.
The fourscore-and-eleven books do not, we think,
refer to the ninety-one chapters of this little master-
piece, or even to the numerous volumes he has penned,
but rather to the fact that 91 is the number of Amen,
implying the completeness of his work.
In the last paragraph is a paranomasia. "To chew
the red rag" is a phrase for to talk aimlessly and per-
sistently, while it is notorious that a red cloth will excite
the rage of a bull.
As Leon’s interrogation continues, Holden poses to him a scenario, “You’re in a desert. You’re walking along in the sand when all of a sudden you look down and see a tortoise…” Leon interrupts with questions like, “Which desert?” and “How come I be there?” To his first question, Holden answers, “It doesn’t matter”, pointing to the truth that there is only one desert, the vast expanse that separates Tiphareth from Keter, along which the 13th path of wisdom runs. To Leon’s second question, the blade runner replies, “Maybe you’re fed up. Maybe you want to be by yourself”, alluding to the environmental prompting that drives consciousness across that expanse to Keter. This “wanting to be by your Self” is the chief motivator for all actions.
The phrase, “Early in the 21st Century” provides us with a clue. Tarot Key 21 is The World in most tarot decks. Aleister Crowley names it The Aeon. It symbolizes the cosmic mind forever dancing at the heart of creation, but it also signifies the entirety of our age, our eon. Identification with this cosmic mind is often referred to as enlightenment, though this rude generalization hardly addresses the nuance of identification with the Cosmos itself. So it is that our story is one of ancient origins. It occurs early in the life of the Universal Mind.
21 Days
Through a glass grade darkly…
51
{Kappa-Epsilon-Phi-Alpha-Lambda-Eta Nu-Alpha}
TERRIER-WORK
Doubt.
Doubt thyself.
Doubt even if thou doubtest thyself.
Doubt all.
Doubt even if thou doubtest all.
It seems sometimes as if beneath all conscious doubt
there lay some deepest certainty. O kill it! Slay the
snake!
The horn of the Doubt-Goat be exalted
Dive deeper, ever deeper, into the Abyss of Mind,
until thou unearth the fox THAT. On, hounds!
Yoicks! Tally-ho! Bring THAT to bay!
Then, wind the Mort!
[112]
COMMENTARY ({Nu-Alpha})
The number 51 means failure and pain, and its
subject is appropriately doubt.
The title of the chapter is borrowed from the health-
giving and fascinating sport of fox-hunting, which
Frater Perdurabo followed in his youth.
This chapter should be read in connection with "The
Soldier and the Hunchback" of which it is in some sort
an epitome.
Its meaning is sufficiently clear, but in paragraphs
6 and 7 it will be noticed that the identification of the
Soldier with the Hunchback has reached such a pitch
that the symbols are interchanged, enthusiasm being
represented as the sinuous snake, scepticism as the
Goat of the Sabbath. In other words, a state is reached
in which destruction is as much joy as creation.
(Compare Chapter 46.)
Beyond that is a still deeper state of mind, which is
THAT.
I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stir the hearts of men with drunkenness. To worship me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie. Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for his.
 |
| LoG Lit 🔥 |
If I abuse fast food, cigarettes, and Coca-Cola, eating, smoking, and drinking them several times a day, it is pretty much guaranteed that my physical and mental health would go to shit too. But there's a huge difference between smoking blue meth and eating fast food, right?
