Book 4 (Part II)

97 Here is another parable. Peter, the Stone of the Philosophers, cuts off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest (the ear is the organ of Spirit). In analysis the spiritual part of Malkuth must be separated from it by the philosophical stone, and then Christus, the Anointed One, makes it whole once more. ''Solve et coagula!" It is noticeable that this takes place at the arrest of Christ, who is the son, the Ruach, immediately before his crucifixion. The Calvary Cross should be of six squares, an unfolded cube, which cube is this same philosophical stone. Meditation will reveal many mysteries which are concealed in this symbol. The Sword or Dagger is attributed to air, all-wandering, all-pene- trating, but unstable; not a phenomenon subtle like fire, not a chemical combination like water, but a mixture of gases.' The Sword, necessary as it is to the Beginner, is but a crude weapon. ' The Oxygen in the air would be too fierce for life ; it must be largely diluted with the inert nitrogen. The rational mind supports life, but about seventy-nine per cent, of it not only refuses itself to enter into combination, but prevents the remaining twenty-one per cent, from doing so. Enthusiasms are checked; the intellect is the great enemy of devotion. One of the tasks of the Magician is to manage somehow to separate the Oxygen and Nitrogen in his mind, to stifle four-fifths so that he may burn up the remainder, a flame of holiness. But this cannot be done by the Sword. H