The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE EQUINOX us men and women: “Come forth, O children, under the stars, and take your fill of love! Iam above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.” Later She explains the mystery of sorrow: “For I am divided for love’s sake, for the chance of union.” “This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.” It is shown later how this can be, how death itself is an ecstasy like love, but more intense, the reunion of the soul with its true self. And what are the conditions of this joy, and peace, and glory? Is ours the gloomy asceticism of the Christian, and the Buddhist, and the Hindu? Are we walking in eternal fear lest some “sin” should cut us off from “grace”? By no means. “Be ye goodly therefore: dress ye all in fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines, and wines that foam! Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where, and with whom ye will! But always unto me.” This is the only point to bear in mind, that every act must be a ritual, an act of worship, a sacrament. Live as the kings and princes, crowned and uncrowned, of this world, have always lived, as masters always live; but let it not be self- indulgence; make your self-indulgence your religion. When you drink and dance and take delight, you are not being “immoral,” you are not “risking your immortal soul”; you are fulfilling the precepts of our holy religion—provided only that you remember to regard your actions in this light. Do not lower yourself and destroy and cheapen your plea- sure by leaving out the supreme joy, the consciousness of the Peace that passeth understanding. Do not embrace 48