THE NORTHERN WHIG

Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland

17 April 1909

(PAGE 10)

LITERATURE.

SHORT NOTICES.

“The Equinox.” (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. 5s.)—Described as the review of scientific illuminism and the official organ of the “A.A.,” this bulky volume is likely to try the temper of the unenlightened Philistine into whose hand it chances to fall. The editorial introduction, which claims that “The Equinox” “begins a completely new adventure in the history of mankind,” admits that, but argues that the contents are difficult to understand “only in the sense that Homer is unintelligible to a person ignorant of Greek.” The course of training by which one may acquire the desired knowledge is formidable enough in all conscience. The novice must learn to sit perfectly still with every muscle tense for long periods, and when he can hold a saucer filled to the brim with water without spilling a drop during an hour, he is admitted for examination, and may hope to grasp some of the mystical theories explained at length in the volume. It would no doubt be intensely exciting to attempt it, but a reviewer turning out his tale of bricks against time must be excused, and the doctrines of the “Brothers of the A.A.” remain perforce a closed book to him. He can enjoy whole-heartedly, however, the short story by Mr. Frank Harris, “The Magic Glasses,” a piece of work in every respect worthy of the author of “The Bomb,” and Mr. Aleister Crowley’s poem “The Wizard Way,” even though “asana,” “pranayama,” and “Dharana” are to him no more than mysterious and unpronounceable words.