Aleister Crowley

“ They spear the wicked. I will spear Thee, O Thou little grey god, unless Thou beware! From the grey to the gold; from the gold to that which is beyond the gold of Ophir. My God! but I love Thee! Why hast Thou whispered so ambiguous things? Wast Thou afraid, O goat-hoofed One, O horned One, O pillar of lightning? From the lightning fall pearls; from the pearls black specks of nothing. I based all on one, one on naught. Afloat in the aether, O my God, my God! O Thou great hooded sun of glory, cut off these eyelids! Nature shall die out ”

“ We attained to be starry grains of gold dust in the sands of a slow river. Yea, and that river was the river of space and time also. We parted thence; ever to the smaller, ever to the greater, until now, O sweet God, we are ourselves, the same. O God of mine, Thou art like a little white goat with lightning in his horns! I love Thee, I love Thee. Every breath, every word, every thought, every deed is an act of love with Thee. The beat of my heart is the pendulum of love. ”

“ We shall be full of cup-bearers, and the wine is not stinted. O dear my God! what a feast Thou hast provided. Behold the lights and the flowers and the maidens! Taste of the wines and the cakes and the splendid meats! Breathe in the perfumes and the clouds of little gods like wood-nymphs that inhabit the nostrils! Feel with your whole body the glorious smoothness of the marble coolth and the generous warmth of the sun and the slaves! Let the Invisible inform all the devouring Light of its disruptive vigour! Yea! all the world is split apart, as an old grey tree by the lightning! ”

“ In what recesses will ye hide our love? The forest of the spears of the Most High is called Night, and Hades, and the Day of Wrath; but I am His captain, and I bear His cup. Fear me not with my spearmen! They shall slay the demons with their petty prongs. Ye shall be free. Ah, slaves! ye will not - ye know not how to will. Yet the music of my spears shall be a song of freedom. A great bird shall sweep from the abyss of Joy, and bear ye away to be my cup-bearers. Come, O my God, in one last rapture let us attain to the Union with the Many! ”

“ There is none other beside Thee in the whole Universe of Love. My God, I love Thee, O Thou goat with gilded horns! Thou beautiful bull of Apis! Thou beautiful serpent of Apep! Thou beautiful child of the Pregnant Goddess! Thou hast stirred in Thy sleep, O ancient sorrow of years! Thou hast raised Thine head to strike, and all is dissolved into the Abyss of Glory. ”

“ In our groves, in our cloistral cells, in our honeycomb of happiness, let us drink, let us drink! It is the wine that tinges everything with the true tincture of infallible gold. There are deep secrets in these songs. It is not enough to hear the bird; to enjoy song he must be the bird. ”

“ I rear my Titan bulk into the teeth of the gale, and I smite and prevail, and swing me out over the sea. There is a strange pale God, a god of pain and deadly wickedness. My own soul bites into itself, like a scorpion ringed with fire. ”

“ Prologue of the Unborn Into my loneliness comes - The sound of a flute in dim groves that haunt the uttermost hills. Even from the brave river they reach to the edge of the wilderness. And I behold Pan. The snows are eternal above, above - And their perfume smokes upward into the nostrils of the stars. ”

“ The Universe reels; Thou hast looked upon it. Twice, and all is done. Come, O my God, and let us embrace! Lazily, hungrily, ardently, patiently; so will I work. There shall be an End. O God! O God! I am a fool to love Thee; Thou art cruel, Thou withholdest Thyself. Come to me now! I love Thee! I love Thee! O my darling, my darling - Kiss me! Kiss me! Ah! but again. Sleep, take me! Death, take me! This life is too full; it pains, it slays, it suffices. Let me go back into the world; yea, back into the world. III I was the priest of Ammon-Ra in the temple of Ammon-Ra at Thebai. ”

“ The night falls; it is a great orgy of worship and bliss. The night falls like a spangled cloak from the shoulders of a prince upon a slave. He rises a free man! Cast thou, O prophet, the cloak upon these slaves! ”

“ Then do they cook the shining god, and gulp him whole. These are evil folk, O beautiful boy! let us pass on to the Otherworld. Let us make ourselves into a pleasant bait, into a seductive shape! I will be like a splendid naked woman with ivory breasts and golden nipples; my whole body shall be like the milk of the stars. ”

“ The whole world is broken up into a mighty wind, and a voice cries aloud in a tongue that men cannot speak. I know that awful sound of primal joy; let us follow on the wings of the gale even unto the holy house of Hathor ”