The Equinox (Volume I, Number IX)

THE KEY OF THE MYSTERIES The ancient fathers of Christianity counted an eighth deadly sin: it was Sorrow. In fact, to the true Christian even repentance is not a sorrow; it is a consolation, a joy, anda triumph. “I wished evil, and I wish it no more; I was dead and I amalive.” The father of the Prodigal Son has killed the fatted calf because his son has returned. What can he do? Tears and embar- rassment, no doubt! but above all, joy! There is only one sad thing in the world, and that is sin and folly. Since we are delivered, let us laugh and shout for joy, for we are saved, and all those who loved us in their lives rejoice in heaven! We all bear within ourselves a principle of death and a principle of immortality. Death is the beast, and the beast produces always bestial stupidity. God does not love fools, for his divine spirit is called the spirit of intelligence. Stupidity expiates itself by suffering and slavery. The stick is made for beasts. Suffering is always a warning. So much the worse for him who does not understand it! When Nature tightens the rein, it is that we are swerving; when she plies the whip, it is that danger is imminent. Woe, then, to him who does not reflect! When we are ripe for death, we leave life without regret, and nothing would make us take it back; but when death is premature, the soul regrets life, and a clever thaumaturgist would be able to recall it to the body. The sacred books indicate to us the proceeding which must be employed in such a case. The Prophet Elisha and the Apostle St. Paul em- ployed it with success. The deceased must be magnetized 279