322
THE STAR IN THE WEST
Nevertheless
, though
at heart one , many extraneous
differences
do exist , and it behoves
any true searcher
after Truth to discover for himself
the straightest road
towards
his
ultimate
home
which he long ago first
left ; to ask help of none , to live alone , as he will have
to
die alone , to heed no
man , to work
out
his
own
salvation , to see
that
his
staff
is stout , and that
his
lamp
burns
brightly ,
lest
he
fall
into
that
great
slough
of rational
dung -wallowing which besets
his
path . To voyage
like
our father
Ambrose
through
thunder
and lightning , past
the
sun , and the moon ,
and
the
stars , as Crowley most
curiously depicts
in
“ Ambrosii
Magi
Hortus
Rosarum ,”
that
mysteri
ously
symbolic
progress
through the Tarot , the
ten
numbers
and the twenty -two letters .
When along the shores
of the Ægean
sea a mys
terious
voice
proclaimed
:
“ Great
Pan
is
dead ! ”
Christianity
was
born ; and like
all
the
other
great
truths
,
it
contained
a
great
lie
:
Pan was
not
dead
,
but
he
was
snoring
in
that
drunken
night which
cloaked
the
debaucheries
of
the classic
day
,
and
as
the night grew darker
,
and the dismal
vapours
of
the
middle
ages
rolled
on
,
blotting
out
one
by
one the
remaining
stars
of
that past wonder which was Rome
,
great Pan stirred
himself
,
and awoke
.
But the crystal
wine
of
lacchus
had long since soured
in
the thunders
of
those dark days
,
yet
,
with death
-
pale lips
,
he
drank
the blood
-
red wine
of
witchcraft
.
“
Hark
!
the
cock
crows
!
Farewell till
to
-
morrow
,
to
-
morrow night
!
A
1
Ambrosii
Magi Hortus Rosarum
,
vol
.
ii,
p
.
212.
I
do
not
hesitate
to
add
here
that
had
this
extraordinary
Essay been
written
in
the days
of
Albertus
Magnus
,
it
would
now
be
con
sidered
one
of
the
most
important
and
curious
of
magical
works
;
many religions
have been founded
on
less
.