The Star in the West

60 THE STAR IN THE WEST It was a pinnacle of ivory Whereon she stood , the loftiest of three fangs Thrust up by magic , in the direst pangs Of Earth , when Earth was yet a whirling cloud Of fire and adamant , a ceaseless crowd Of rushing atoms roaring into space , Driven by demons from before the face . ? So beautiful was she , that “ the sun forgot his chariot , nor would set " ; and in this mystic hour , the marriage of Day and Night , she prayed fervently to Aphrodite , fond goddess of lovers , and there amidst the thunder -smitten stone , beautiful and piteous , she waited , longing for that strong desire of love that had been so rudely snatched from her. Again , Love in the form of Aphrodite listens to her prayer , but is helpless to help her till she has sought aid from the lewd city of Aphaca , where Lust in the grim shape of Priapus dwelt . The large - lipped drawn -out grinning of that court That mouthed and gibbered in their swinish sport.? This curious duality of Love and Lust, or better , of Virtue and Vice , we shall attempt to explain more fully when we deal with the philosophy of Aleister Crowley . From Priapus , Phallommeda gains her necessary in formation , and then seeking Charicles , appears first as an old hag , soon to change again into her own brilliant form , thus symbolizing the joy she brought him from out the hideousness of his fate ; for during the day he should assume the form of the divinest of divine maidens , and only at the passionate hour of noon , crawl away before the full glory of the sun a 1 The Tale of Archais , vol. i, p. 17. Ibid . vol. i, p. 19.