Collected Works (Vol. III)

EPILOGUE AND DEDICATION 222 of art, literature, or philosophy.! But/ing to thy word,” and interpret ‘‘ thy word ” we do hear—well, what Gibbon has to/as ‘‘ The Works of Aleister Crowley.” say. | But this is to anticipate; let us answer Thereis surely a positive side to all this; we agree that Pagans must have been more spiritual than their successors, if only because themselves openly scoffed at their mythology without in the least abandoning the devout performance of its rites, while the Christian clung to irrelevant historical falsehood as if it were true and important. But it is justifiable : the first question by returning to our phrase ‘‘The Church that exteriorises is already lost.”” On that hypothesis, the decay of Paganism was accomplished by the very outward and visible sign of its inward and spiritual grace, the raising of massive temples to the Gods ina style and manner to which history seeks in vain a parallel. Security is —nay, urgent—to inquire how and why? mortals’ chiefest enemy; so also the perfec- Which having discovered, we are bound to‘tion of balanced strength which enabled proceed with the problem: “* Wherewithal , Hwang- sze to force his enemies to build shall a young man cleanse his way?” receive;the Great Wall was the mark of the the answer: ‘‘ By taking heed thereto accord- ‘imminent decay of his dynasty and race— ‘truly a terrible ‘‘ Writing on the Wall.” 1 Such philosophy as does exist is entirely | An end to the days of the Nine Sages; an vicious, taking its axioms no more from ob-!end to the wisdoms of Lao Tan on his dun served fact, but from ‘Scripture’ or from | cow ; an end to the making of classics of Aristotle. Barring such isolated pagans a5 | History and of odes and of ethics, to the M. Aurelius Antoninus, and the neo-Platonists, ' those glorious decadents* of paganism. Shu King and the Shih King, and the Li-Ki, * Decadence marks the period when the adepts, i ensues until the youthful forerunners of the next nearing their earthly perfection, become true adepts, | crop begin to shootin the form of artists. Diagram- not mere men of genius. 'They disappear, harvested | matically: by heaven: and perfect darkness (apparent death) | THE INVISIBLE /” y 4 ‘ a va THe VisiB LZ / a “2 8 } a 45.7 Sg f i) 2 ” ae Sid 7 ey’ oe. Suto ° noe RY, NESY 7 a : u / v A 4 oo , 6 MANNoo gene ‘ ae m “tT sneer ene ~ i. enol? Preeesee 2 oa “MANKIND fer Deca- |} «;: dence Slime. CIME |—> Adepts | Adepts ; Renaissance. Adepts, as jinvisiblei Renaissance, etc. as Artists, Philosophers, {Adepts.| to all. Men of Science, &c. |} They More or less recognised appear, (sooner or later) as great | but as men, fools and knaves. By the Progress of the World we mean that sheis always giving adepts to God, and thus losing them; yet,, through their aid, while they are still near enough to humanity to attract it, she reaches each time a higher point. Yet this point is never very high; so that Aeschylus, though in fact more ig- norant than our schoolboys, holds his seat besides Ibsen and Newtonin the Republic of the Adepti—a good horse, but not to be run too hard.—A. C.