John St. John

THE EQUINOX 9.0. Arrived at Pantheon, to breakfast on coffeeand brioche 36 and a peach. I shall try and describe Ritual DCLXXI ; since its nature is important to this great ceremony of initiation. Those who understand a little about the Path of the Wise may receive some hint of the method of operation of the L.V.X. And I think that a description will help me to collect myself for the proper adaptation of this Ritual to the purpose of Self-initiation. Oh, how soft is the air, and how serene the sky, to one who has passed through the black rule of Apophis! How infinitely musical are the voices of Nature, those that are heard and those that are not heard! What Understanding of the Universe, what Love is the prize of him that hath performed all things and endured all things! The first operation of Ritual DCLXXI is the prepara- tion of the Place. There are two forces ; that of Death and that of Natural Life. Death begins the Operation by a knock, to which Life answers. Then Death, banishing all forces external to the opera- tion, declares the Speech in the Silence. Both officers go from their thrones and form the base of a triangle whose apex is the East. They invoke the Divine Word, and then Death slays with the knife, and embalms with the oil, his sister Life. Life, thus prepared, invokes, at the summons of Death,