THE EQUINOX
the mockery of the normal man, even when these normal men
are as witty as this or that editor of this or that comic journal.
These phenomena of the light which produce apparitions
always appear at epochs when humanity is in labour. They
are phantoms ofthe delirium of the world-fever; it is the
hysteria of a bored society. Virgil tells us in fine verse that
in the time of Caesar Rome was full of spectres; in the time
of Vespasian the gates of the Temple of Jerusalem opened of
themselves, and a voice was heard crying, “‘ The gods depart.”
Now, when the gods depart, the devils return. Religious
feeling transforms itself into superstition when faith is lost;
for souls need to believe, because they thirst for hope. How
can faith be lost? How can science doubt the infinite
harmony? Because the sanctuary of the absolute is always
closed for the majority. But the kingdom of truth, which is
that of God, suffers violence, and the violent must take it by
force. There exists a dogma, there exists a key, there exists
a sublime tradition; and this dogma, this key, this tradition
is transcendental magic. There only are found the absolute
of knowledge and the eternal bases of law, guardian against
all madness, all superstition and all error, the Eden of the
intelligence, the ease of the heart, and the peace of the soul.
We do not say this in the hope of convincing the scoffer, but
only to guide the seeker. Courage and good hope to him;
he will surely find, since we ourselves have found.
The magical dogma is not that of the mediums. The
mediums who dogmatize can teach nothing but anarchy,
since their inspiration is drawn from a disordered exaltation.
They are always predicting disasters; they deny hierarchical
authority; they pose, like Vintras, as sovereign pontiffs.
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