But in this story, as in so many others, what we really discern is the deceptive, ambiguous, and giddy riddle of violence, passion, poetry, and symbolism that lies at the heart of Greek myth and refuses to be solved. An algebra too unstable properly to be computed, it is human-shaped and god-shaped, not pure and mathematical.
Stephen Fry, Mythos [Bookshop, Amazon, Publisher]
Religion is not the same as ethics. Religion in its fanatic state may be a passion devoid of morality that will take any means to an end.
Harold Schechter, Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men [Bookshop, Amazon]
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”
Susan Johnston Graf, W.B. Yeats Twentieth Century Magus: An In-Depth Study of Yeats’ Esoteric Practices and Beliefs, Including Excerpts from His Magical Diaries
CXXVIII
Come forth, my lady, take form in the smoke!
Goddess of Passion, Thee, Thee I invoke!
O divine whore hear my incantation,
I raise up the cup and adore Babalon!
— In Nomine Babalon: 156 Adorations to the Scarlet Goddess
The Hermetic Library arts and letters pool is a project to publish poetry, prose and art that is inspired by or manifests the Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to submit your work for consideration as part of the Arts and Letters pool, contact the librarian.
CXII
Cups overflow with the waters of love,
Two side by side receive grace from above.
From the heart of the lotus, passion flows on,
I raise up the cup and adore Babalon!
— In Nomine Babalon: 156 Adorations to the Scarlet Goddess
The Hermetic Library arts and letters pool is a project to publish poetry, prose and art that is inspired by or manifests the Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to submit your work for consideration as part of the Arts and Letters pool, contact the librarian.
LIX
I call to the God of Force and Fire
To ignite the spark of my lady’s desire
And to fan the flames of my burning passion!
I raise up the cup and adore Babalon!
— In Nomine Babalon: 156 Adorations to the Scarlet Goddess
The Hermetic Library arts and letters pool is a project to publish poetry, prose and art that is inspired by or manifests the Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to submit your work for consideration as part of the Arts and Letters pool, contact the librarian.
Commentary (ΜΕ) on ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΜΕ Chinese Music in Liber CCCXXXIII, The Book of Lies by Aleister Crowley.
“The ruler asserts facts as they are; the slave has therefore no option but to deny them passionately, in order to express his discontent. Hence such absurdities as ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’, ‘In God we trust’, and the like. Similarly we find people asserting today that woman is superior to man, and that all men are born equal.” [via]
Synthesis in The Gate of the Sanctuary from The Temple of the Holy Ghost (Collected Works, Vol I) by Aleister Crowley.
“Many, so many, were ye to make one Womanhood—
A thing of fire and flesh, of wine and glory and blood,
In whose rose-orient texture a golden light is spun,
A gossamer scheme of love, as water in the sun
Flecked by wonderful bars, most delicately crossed,
Worked into wedded beauties, flickering, never lost—
That is the spirit of love, incarnate in your flesh!
Your bodies had wearied me, but your passion was ever fresh:
You were many indeed, but your love for me was one.” [via]
The Law of Change in The Gate of the Sanctuary from The Temple of the Holy Ghost (Collected Works, Vol I) by Aleister Crowley.
“This passion we possess
Necessitous; insistent none the less
Because we know not how its purpose brands
Our lives. Even on God’s knees and in His hands:
The Law of Change.” [via]
The Two Wisdoms in The Gate of the Sanctuary from The Temple of the Holy Ghost (Collected Works, Vol I) by Aleister Crowley.
“The petty bubble of Love’s pipe is burst!
Yea! through the portals of the dusky dawn
I see the nameless Rose of Heaven unfold!
Yea! through rent passion and desire withdrawn
Burns in the East the far ephemeral gold.
O Wisdom! Mother of my sorrow! Rise!
And lift my love to thine immortal eyes!” [via]