Magick Without Tears

SORE SPOTS 475 results obtained by Mystics- this includes the Ecstasy of Sexual Feeling, as you may read in pretty nearly all of them , from St. Augustine to st. Teresa and the Nun Gertrude. The stages recounted by the Buddha in his psychological analyses correspond with almost incredible accuracy. (2) The phenomena observed by those who use opium, hashish , and some other "drugs" (3) The phenomena of various forms of insanity . The facts of this research are infuriating to the religious mystic ; and the fact of its main conclusion is liable to drive him into so delirious a frenzy of rage as to make one reach for one's notebook-one more typical extreme case! Now of course very few religious persons know that they are mystics- already it annoys them to suggest it!-but , whether the lady doth protest too much , or too little, the fact is that they are. There is no true rational meaning in religion. Consider the Athanasian Creed itself! This dilemma, consciously or sub-consciously, is well rooted in the minds of everybody who takes Life, in anyone of its forms , seriously. He feels the touch of the rapier, however shrewdly or cautiously wielded. The salute itself is more than enough ; he feels already the thrust to his vitals. To every man and woman that has not seen Sex as it is, faced it, mastered it- you will find elsewhere in these letters sufficient on this matter-it is his secret guilt. Imagine, then, how at any reference however remote , the "sinner' quails, his inmost mystery laid bare, his evil conscience holding up a tarnished mirror to his deformed and hideous face! Often enough , he does not mind gross jests which admit complicity on the part of the other ; but any allusion to the Truth , and his soul shrieks : I am found out! Then apoplectic Fear puts on the mask of Indignation and Disgust. As for a serious discussion of anything concerned therewith, why, every word is a new rasping tear. The mind takes refuge in irrational and irrelevant outbursts of feigned rage and horror. I wonder how many lunatics there are in the "bughouse"