The Rites of Eleusis

THE RITES OF ELEUSIS “ We are the poets ! We are the children of wood and stream, of mist and mountain, of sun and wind ! We are the Greeks ! and to us the rites of Eleusis should open the doors of Heaven, and we shall enter in and see God face to face . . . Under the stars will I go forth, my brothers, and drink of that lustral dew : I will return, my brothers, when I have seen God face to face and read within those eternal eyes the secret that shall make you free. Then will I choose you and test you and instruct you in the Mysteries of Eleusis, oh ye brave hearts, and cool eyes, and trembling lips ! I will put a live coal upon your lips, and flowers upon your eyes, and a sword in your hearts, and ye also shall see God face to face. Thus shall we give back its youth to the world, for like tongues of triple flame we shall look upon the Great Deep—Hail unto the Lords of the Groves of Eleusis ! ” ALEISTER CROWLEY in “ Eleusis.” ALEISTER CROWLEY is one of those men who can never remain satisfied. His ambitions are insatiable. He desires the unattain- able with the fervour of a fanatic. Whether he is climbing volcanoes in Mexico or traversing the vast snowfields of Kinchinjunga, edit- ing a paper or playing golf, he proceeds on his way with swiftness and passion. In Ceylon he was a Buddhist. In Paris he was the beloved of Rodin. Wherever he may be he must lead the way. Whilst Maeterlinck was delicately suggesting that there was more in magic than most of us imagined, Crowley was saturating himself in all the mystical works of the middle ages. He learnt Magic as certainly no living man has ever learnt it. Eighteen months ago he started a periodical called “ The Equinox, ” brilliant from first page to last. Some of it is pure literature ; some semi-magical : the greater portion intended for the study of those who see a serious side to Ceremonial Magic. The Equinox has been a great success. Even those who have never heard of the Taro or read Eliphas Levi buy the THE EQUINOX. Aleister Crowley is a poet ; no minor bard twittering in gentle verse the praises of his mistress’s eyelash, but a virile singer, robust