The Vision and the Voice

THE VISION AND THE VOICE Now it reverberates like the swords of archangels, clashing upon the armour of the damned; and there seem to be the blacksmiths of heaven beating the steel of the worlds upon the anvils of hell, to make a roof to the Aethyr. For if the great work were accomplished and all the Aethyrs were caught up into one, then would the vision fail; then would the voice be still. Now all is gone from the stone. AIN EL HajeEL. November 26, 1909. 2-3.25 p.m. THE CRY OF THE 23RD AETHYR, WHICH Is CALLED TOR In the brightness of the stone are three lights, brighter than all, which revolve ceaselessly. And now there isa spider's web of silver covering the whole of the stone. Behind the spider’s web is a star of twelve rays; and behind that again, a black bull, furiously pawing up the ground. The flames from his mouth increase and whirl, and he cries: Behold the mys- tery of toil, O thou who art taken in the toils of mystery. For I who trample the earth thereby make whirlpools in the air; be comforted, therefore, for though I be black, in the roof of my mouth is the sign of the Beetle. Bent are the backs of my brethren, yet shall they gore the lion with their horns. Have I not the wings of the eagle, and the face of the man? And now he is turned into one of those winged Assyrian bull-men. And he sayeth: The spade of the husbandman is the sceptre of the king. All the heavens beneath me, they serve me. They are my fields and my gardens and my orchards and my pastures. 29