The Rites of Eleusis

9 Mars, invoked, is indeed capable of victory : but he has already lost the controlled wisdom of age ; in the moment of conquest he wastes the fruits of it, in the arms of luxury. It is through this weakness that the perfected man, the Sun, is of dual nature, and his evil twin slays him in his glory. So the triumphant Lord of Heaven, the beloved of Apollo and the Muses is brought down into the dust, and who shall mourn him but his Mother Nature, Venus, the lady of love and sorrow ? Well is it if she bears within her the Secret of Resurrection ! But even Venus owes all her charm to the swift messenger of the Gods, Mercury, the joyous and ambiguous boy whose tricks first scandalize and then delight Olympus. But Mercury, too, is found wanting. Not in him alone is the secret cure for all the woe of the human race. Swift as ever, he passes, and gives place to the youngest of the Gods, to the Virginal Moon. Behold her, Madonna-like, throned and crowned, veiled, silent, awaiting the promise of the Future. She is Isis and Mary, Istar and Bhavani, Artemis and Diana. But Artemis is still barren of hope until the spirit of the Infinite All, great Pan, tears asunder the veil and displays the hope of humanity, the Crowned Child of the Future. All this is symbolized in the holy rites which we have recovered from the darkness of history, and now in the fullness of time disclose that the world may be redeemed. For the corruptible shall put on incorruptibility, the mortal shall put on immortality ; my adepts shall walk crowned in the Gardens of the World, enjoying the breeze and the sunlight, plucking the roses and filling their mouths with ripe grapes. They shall dance in the moonlight before Dionysus, and delight under the stars with Aphrodite ; yet they shall also dwell beyond all these things in the unchanged Heaven—Here and Now.