The Star in the West

The other OT UT of the countless thousands who tread the slippery and perilous paths of the lower self Tannhäuser was one of the very few who emerged from its clammy darkness purified , and sanctified , to soar resplendent into the sunny realms of the higher self ; nor did he rest , but entranced in the immensity of hope , rushing on , whirling through the abyss of time and space , he ultimately lost self in the rapture of Nirvana . Again , in others so subtle is the psycho logy of sense that this hysterical clinging to the Chaste often reacts , hurling its unfortunate aspirant into the arms of Lubentina . The lust after God and the lust after man are near akin . A woman crossed in love and debarred from enjoying the sweet em braces of her lover , will embrace in his stead the sour feet of her God . Similarly , Magdalene , having passionately sought love , and having lost the skein of her desires in the labyrinthine byways of lust , threw her weeping form at the feet of Him in whom she found the ideal of her affection , washing those dusty feet with her tears , and drying them with the long tresses of her hair , still perfumed with the kisses of a thousand lovers . Jesus Christ and John Smith are very nearly related , and a woman who is capable of loving one is also capable of loving the other . Flaubert finely pictures this when he represents Madame Bovary , kneeling at her prie - dieu and ad dressing to her Lord the same sweet words she had