The Star in the West

THE OLD BOTTLE 161 But man the father of God did , for he was naturally bloodthirsty , avaricious , and cruel , and man to -day is but a veneered representative of his forefathers , still suppliant at the feet of the phallic Jahveh : That man to -day should not be weaned Of worshipping so foul a fiend In presence of the living Sun.2 66a But so it is , and so it will be for many a generation yet to come ; cause and effect are but replicas of each other , and if the cause be ignorance , it is useless to look for the wisdom of Solomon in the effect ; men's gods are but gilded duplications of themselves , and their ideal but the “ resurrection pie ” of past feasting . Man loves the mysterious , and his god is but a poor conjuring trick , as is shown in “ Pentecost ” _ " mysterious way God moves in to fix up his Maskelyne tricks.” 2 Leaving now these satirical poems for other works of Crowley's , we shall find a deep , yet in no way less , intense hatred for the sham ideal of all religions . In “ Jephthah ” we listen to Jephthah praying to Jehovah , god of hosts , for victory over the Ammonites , not withstanding the fact that should victory be his lot a general violation of all the virgins of Ammon was to follow : And turn their own devouring blade On city fired and violate maid ,» Chemosh was probably no whit better than Jahveh , and Jephthah has almost as firm a belief in the former 1 The Sword of Song , Pentecost , vol . ii, p . 177 . Ibid . vol . ii, p . 168 . Jephthah , vol . i, p . 74 . M