Chapter II * Verses 73-74
151
be bold to measure the Morrow, or declare what causes conjoin to 
bring forth an Effect that no man knoweth?
Was not Lao-tzu thrust forth from his city? Did not Buddha go 
begging in rags? Did not Mohammed flee for his life into exile? 
Was not Bacchus the scandal and the scorn of men? Than Joseph 
Smith1 had any man less learning? Yet each of these attained to do 
his Will; each cried his Word, that all the Earth yet echoes it! And 
each was able to accomplish this by virtue of that very cir­
cumstance which seems so cruel. Shall I, who am armed with all 
their weapons at once, complain that I must go into the fight 
unfurnished?
1 [Joseph Smith (1805-1844), Mormon prophet who produced The 
Book of Mormon (1830); Crowley admired his accomplishments.]
2 In previous notes. See also the essay “Time”: Crowley, Collected 
Works, Vol. II, pp. 267-82.
74. The length of thy longing shall be the strength of its glory. 
He that lives long & desires death much is ever the King 
among the Kings.
Commentary: One'does not need to be constantly popping in 
and out of Trance. One ought to do both actions with ever- 
increasing length and strength of swing. Hence one’s life-periods, 
where time counts, become gradually larger and more vivid, and 
one’s death-periods, though very short, perhaps, may be unfath- 
omably intense.
The whole question of Time has been thoroughly investigated 
already.1 2 The present remarks refer only to the conditions of 
“normal” consciousness, into which we throw ourselves at recur­
ring intervals. The doctrine here stated should be studied in the 
light of previous remarks; verses 61 to 74 inclusive form a coher­
ent passage: notice the words “death” in verses 63 and 66 and 
“die” in verse 68. There is evidently an intention to identify the 
Climax of Love with that of Life. It is then not unnatural for us to 
ask: Can “Death” have some deeper significance than appears? 
Scorpio, the Zodiacal Sign of Death, is really the Sexual or Repro­
ductive function of Nature. It is the Earth-transcending Eagle, the