The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE EQUINOX pomp of atheists, coupled by two and by two in the supernal ecstasy of the stars. They did laugh and rejoice exceed- ingly, being clad in purple robes and drunken with purple wine, and their whole soul was one purple flower-flame of holiness. 35. They beheld not God; they beheld not the Image of God; therefore were they arisen to the Palace of the Splen- dour Ineffable. A sharp sword smote out before them, and the worm Hope writhed in its death-agony under their feet. 36. Even as their rapture shore asunder the visible Hope, so also the Fear Invisible fled away and was no more. 37. O ye that are beyond Aormuzdi and Ahrimanes! blesséd are ye unto the ages. 38. They shaped Doubt as a sickle, and reaped the flowers of Faith for their garlands. 39. They shaped Ecstasy as a spear, and pierced the an- cient dragon that sat upon the stagnant water. 40. Then the fresh springs were unloosed, that the folk athirst might be at ease. 41. And again I was caught up into the presence of my Lord Adonai, and the knowledge and Conversation of the Holy One, the Angel that Guardeth me. 42. O Holy Exalted One, O Self beyond self, O Self- Luminous Image of the Unimaginable Naught, O my dar- ling, my beautiful, come Thou forth and follow me. 43. Adonai, divine Adonai, let Adonai initiate refulgent dalliance! Thus I concealed the name of Her name that inspireth my rapture, the scent of whose body bewildereth the soul, the light of whose soul abaseth this body unto the beasts. 94