58
THE STAR IN THE WEST
He swore the third time .
But that Heaven's
Lord
Curbed
their black
wrath , the stars of Heaven's
vault
Had rushed to whelm the sun with vehement assault ."
Such
is the power
of Love , undaunted , infuriated
in the cause of Freedom , Justice , and Truth . Charicles
plunges
into the
waves
of destiny ,
“ And
with
his
strenuous
hands the emerald water gripped . ” Onward
he swims striving against
Poseidon , god of the ocean
,
who heaps the sea foam against
him , as he makes for
the Paphian
isle to seek aid from the goddess of Love ;
and in his blinding anger he sees her not , though
she
is by
his
side journeying homeward
from
Rome
.
She
raises
the swimmer
to
her pearly car and carries
him
to
her
fair
home
,
where
in
the following
beautiful
symbolic
action
she promises
to
restore
him his lost
love-Archais
.
Then
Aphrodite
loosed
a
snake
of
gold
From
her arm's whiteness
,
and upon his wrist
Clasped
it.
Its glittering eyes
of
amethyst
Fascinate
him
.
“
Even
so
,"
the goddess
cried
,
“
I
will bind
on
thy arm the serpent bride
Freed
from her fate
,
and promise
by
this kiss
The warmer
kisses
of
thy Archais
.”2
1
The
Tale
of
Archais
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
12
.
Cf.
the
Qabalistic
Dogma
of
Pistorius
:
“
Schema
misericordiam
dicit
,
sed
et
judicium
.”
The Infinite
Being
when exercising
his power
upon
the finite must necessarily
chastise
to
correct
and not
to
avenge
himself
.
The strength
of
the sin does
not exceed that
of
the
sinner
,
and
if
the punishment
be
greater
than the offence
,
he
who
inflicts
it
becomes
executioner
and
the real
criminal
,
who
is
wholly
inexcusable
,
and
himself
alone
deserving
of
eternal punishment
.
Any being who
is
tortured
above measure
,
enlarged
by
an
infinitude
of
suffering
,
would
become God
,
and
this
is
what the ancients
represented
in
the myth
of
Prometheus
,
immortalized
by
the devouring
vulture
,
and destined
to
dethrone
Jupiter
.
-
The Mysteries
of
Magic
,
p
.
120
.
2
The Tale
of
Archais
,
vol
.
i,
pp
.
13
,
14
.