THE VISION AND THE VOICE
Hosts of the Mighty. For they are the servants of Babalon,
and of the Beast, and of those others of whom it is not yet
spoken. And, being servants, they have no name, but we are
of the blood royal, and serve not, and therefore are we less
than they.
Yet, as a man may be both a mighty warrior and a just
judge, so may we also perform this service if we have aspired
and attained thereto. And yet, with all that, they remain
themselves, who have eaten of the pomegranate in Hell. But
thou, that art new-born to understanding, this mystery is too
great for thee; and of the further mystery I will not speak
one word.
Yet for this cause am I come unto thee as the Angel of
the Aethyr, striking with my hammer upon thy bell, so that
thou mightest understand the mysteries of the Aethyr, and of
the vision and the voice thereof.
For behold! he that understandeth seeth not and heareth
not in truth, because of his understanding that letteth him.
But this shall be unto thee for a sign, that I will surely come
upon thee unawares and appear unto thee. And it is no odds,
(z.e., that at this hour I appear not as I am), for so terrible is
the glory of the vision, and so wonderful is the splendour of
the voice, that when thou seest it and hearest it in truth,
for many hours shalt thou be bereft of sense. And thou shalt
lie between heaven and earth in a void place, entranced, and
the end thereof shall be silence, even as it was, not once
nor twice, when I have met with thee, as it were, upon the
road to Damascus.
And thou shalt not seek to better this my instruction; but
thou shalt interpret it, and make it easy, for them that seek
115