The Equinox (Volume I, Number X)

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING Such is the first part of the Ritual of Initiation. In the second part the Master is made to understand what is that Abyss which he has passed. In the 11th Athyr he comes to the fortress upon the frontier of the Abyss, and is there prepared for the crossing of the Abyss. Every drop of his blood is taken for the cup of BABALON. The Candidate asks, “Is there not the Holy Guardian Angel?” And the answer is given, “ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It is the last word of the A2thyr. And of all the horror of the Abyss, that is the one word that yet chills his blood as he remembers it. Now then, in the roth AEthyr, is given the Abyss. The Candidate is identified with the horror of that Abyss. Had not the Master already passed the Abyss, as it were, un- officially, he could not have endured this crystallization of it into name and form. In the gth AAthyr comes a further reward, a further under- standing of the task. And the first indication that he has really passed the Abyss on all planes is that there is no longer any curse. All is blessing. There is a secret meaning, a blessing in everything. And this is his reward— the Daughter of BABALON the beautiful. She is the pure soul, glorified by virtue of his attainment. In the 8th A2thyr this is continued. The Master becomes a Holy Guardian Angel unto another, the Bridegroom of his Bride. This marriage is now accomplished in the 7th Abthyr. There is Samadhi, but now no longer from below, but from above. 121