me take wine and strange drugs whereof I will
tell my prophet, and be drunk thereof! They
shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly
against self. The exposure of innocence is a lie.
Be strong, man! lust, enjoy all things of sense
and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny
thee for this.
23. I am alone: there is no God where I am.
24. Behold!
these be grave mysteries; for
there are also of my friends who be hermits.
Now think not to find them in the forest or on
the mountain; but in beds of purple, caressed
by magnificent beasts of women with large
limbs, and fire and light in their eyes, and
masses of flaming hair about them; there shall
ye find them.
Ye shall see them at rule, at
victorious armies, at all the joy; and there
shall be in them a joy a million times greater
than this. Beware lest any force another, King
against King! Love one another with burning
hearts; on the low men triumph in the fierce
lust of your pride, in the day of your wrath.
25. Ye are against the people, 0 my chosen!
26. I am the secret serpent coiled about to
spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up
my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop
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