Liber Aleph

THE BOOK OF WISDOM OR FOLLY 135 Ee De Duobus Præmiis Viæ (Of the Two Rewards of the Path) ET it be a Treasure in thine Heart, o my Son, this Mystery that I shall next unveil before thine Eyes, O Eagle that art undazzled by the brilliance of Light, that soarest continually with virile Flight to thine august Inheritance. Behold the Beatific Vision is of two Orders, and in the Formula of the Rosy Cross it is of the Heart and is called Beauty; but in the Formula of the Silver Star (id est, of the Eye within the Triangle) it is of the mind, and is called Wonder. Otherwise spoken, the former is of Art, a sensuous and creative Perception; but the latter of Science, and intellectual and intelligible Insight. Or again, in our Holy Qabalah, the one is of Tiphereth, the other of Binah, and in pure Philosophy, this is a Contemplation of the Cosmos, causal and dynamic, and that of its effect in static Presentation. Now this rapture of art is a Virtue or Triumph of Love in his most universal Comprehension, but the Ecstasy of Science is a continual Orgasm of Light; that is, of the mind. Thou sayest, o my Father, how may I attain to this Fulness and Perfection? Art thou there, o my Son? It is well, and blessed be the Bed wherein thou was begotten, and the womb of thy sweet Mother Hilarion, my Concubine, holy and adulterous, the Scarlet Woman! Amen! l