9 
Mars, invoked, is indeed capable of victory :  but he has already 
lost the controlled wisdom of age ; in the moment of conquest he 
wastes the fruits of it, in the arms of luxury. 
 
It is through this weakness that the perfected man, the Sun, is 
of dual nature, and his evil twin slays him in his glory.  So the 
triumphant Lord of Heaven, the beloved of Apollo and the Muses 
is brought down into the dust, and who shall mourn him but his 
Mother Nature, Venus, the lady of love and sorrow ?  Well is it if 
she bears within her the Secret of Resurrection ! 
 
But even Venus owes all her charm to the swift messenger of the 
Gods, Mercury, the joyous and ambiguous boy whose tricks first 
scandalize and then delight Olympus. 
 
But Mercury, too, is found wanting.  Not in him alone is the 
secret cure for all the woe of the human race.  Swift as ever, he 
passes, and gives place to the youngest of the Gods, to the Virginal 
Moon. 
 
Behold her, Madonna-like, throned and crowned, veiled, silent, 
awaiting the promise of the Future. 
 
She is Isis and Mary, Istar and Bhavani, Artemis and Diana. 
 
But Artemis is still barren of hope until the spirit of the Infinite 
All, great Pan, tears asunder the veil and displays the hope of 
humanity, the Crowned Child of the Future.  All this is symbolized 
in the holy rites which we have recovered from the darkness of 
history, and now in the fullness of time disclose that the world 
may be redeemed. 
 
For the corruptible shall put on incorruptibility, the mortal shall 
put on immortality ; my adepts shall walk crowned in the Gardens 
of the World, enjoying the breeze and the sunlight, plucking the 
roses and filling their mouths with ripe grapes.  They shall dance 
in the moonlight before Dionysus, and delight under the stars with 
Aphrodite ; yet they shall also dwell beyond all these things in the 
unchanged Heaven—Here and Now.