The Scented Garden

76 The First Joy of Union. 1. The Sanskrit root Sar “ head ” has given to Europe and Asia the word for ruler ; as Sar, sir, sieur, Caesar, Sarah, Kaiser, Tsar, Shah, sirdar, sirkar, sire, signor, señor, siegneur, and a host of others. 2. [Persian text] the temple at Mecca. But I think here it means the House not made with hands. The letter [Persian text] itself (not [Persian text] but the Hebrew ב. Ed.) means house, and connotes (says Mahbub) a great Magus — “ The Magus of Power.” The passage means therefore that mystic Union is the key to Practical Magic. 3. This sort of individualization of ideas is common in Eastern literature. We had a bad attack of it ourselves with Thomas Haines Bayley and Co. “ Though Custom may frown upon Boyhood and Beauty, And Ethics take counsel with Prudence and Breeding, Morality smiles “ But if Patience be Duty, Should Courage lament, or Repentance lie bleeding ? ” And so though on Conscience’ inviolate altar We strew the sad flowers of Repulsion and Shame, Religion and Justice must bid us not falter Till Purity mingles with Pleasure and Fame.” You go on till your stock of abstract nouns is exhausted. [There is, the Qabalist may (perhaps too hyper- critically) remark a shade of lack of Equilibrium here. Why prefer the Near to the Far ? Browning (Abt Vogler, IV) is better with his “ Earth had at- tained to heaven ; there was no more near not far.” Yet even Browning in this passage discrimi- nates against Earth in favour of Heaven : I sup- pose we are none of us perfect.] 4. Roses etc. — the cheeks, teeth, and lips. 5. I I have heard the claim that the substance of porcelain can be so impregnated with scent that “ You may break, you may shatter — etc. ” But I