The Vision and the Voice

THE VISION AND THE VOICE Yetziratic attributions of the letters into Hebrew, it gives 66, and 66 is the sum of the numbers from o to 11.) Yes; there is peace. There is no ¢endency of any sort, much less any observation or feeling or impression. There is only a faint consciousness, like the scent of jasmine. The body of the Seer is rested in a waking sleep that is deeper than sleep, and his mind is still; he seems like a well in the desert, shaded by windless palms. And it is night; and because the night is the whole night of space, and not the partial night of earth, there is no thought of dawn. For the light of the Sun maketh illusion, blinding man’s eyes to the glory of the stars. And unless he be in the shadow of the earth, he cannot see the stars. So, also, unless he be hidden from the light of life, he cannot behold Nuit. Here, then, do I abide in unalterable midnight, utterly at peace. I have forgotten where I am, and who Iam. I am hang- ing in nothing. Now the veil opens of itself. (To Scribe. Come nearer; I don’t want to have to speak so loudly.) It is a little child covered with lilies and roses. He is supported by countless myriads of Archangels. The Arch- angels are all the same colourless brilliance, and every one of them is blind. Below the Archangels again are many, many other legions, and so on far below, so far that the eye cannot pierce. And on his forehead, and on his heart, and in his hand, is the secret sigil of the Beast. And of all this the glory is so great that all the spiritual senses fail, and their reflections in the body fail. It is very strange. In my heart is rapture, holy and in- effable, absolutely beyond emotion; beyond even that bliss 167