The Equinox (Volume I, Number III)

THE BIG STICK COUNTERPARTS. Vol. XVI of THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE NEW LIFE. An Epitome of the Work and Teaching of Thomas Lake Harris. By RESPIRO. 2s. 6d. net. A New Edition. C. W. Pearce and Co., 139, West Regent Street, Glasgow. If we are in any way to shadow forth the Ineffable, it must be by a degrada- tion. Every symbol is a blasphemy against the Truth that it indicates. A painter to remind us of the sunlight has no better material than dull ochre. So we need not be surprised if the Unity of Subject and Object in Con- sciousness which is Samadhi, the uniting of the Bride and the Lamb which is Heaven, the uniting of the Magus and the God which is Evocation, the uniting of the Man and his Holy Guardian Angel which is the seal upon the work of the Adeptus Minor, is symbolized by the geometrical unity of the circle and the square, the arithmetical unity of the 5 and the 6, and (for more universality of comprehension) the uniting of the Lingam and the Yoni, the Cross and the Rose, For as in earth-life the sexual ecstasy is the loss of self in the Beloved, the creation of a third consciousness transcending its parents, which is again reflected into matter as a child; so, immeasurably higher, upon the Plane of Spirit, Subject and Object join to disappear, leaving a transcendent unity. This third is ecstasy and death; as below, so above. It is then with no uncleanness of mind that all races of men have adored an ithyphallic god; to those who can never lift their eyes above the basest plane the sacrament seems filth. Much, if not all, of the attacks upon Thomas Lake Harris and his worthy successor “Respiro” is due to this persistent misconception by prurient and degraded minds. When a sculptor sees a block of marble he thinks “ How beautiful a statue is hidden in this! I have only to knock off the chips, and it will appear!” This being achieved, the builder comes along, and says: “I will burn this, and get lime for my mortar.” There are more builders than sculptors in England. 327