Mary Butts Diary Entry

Friday, 29 July 1921

I see clearly enough that the symbol is an image of the great work. The point is to make my personal rite out of it, my image of the great work. I ‘can’t get it’—

I find that my point on intensity is always met by a point of cynicism. But these two are also opposites and I can’t do without my contempt—It keeps one from ill-breeding.

Astral journey on the whole symbol was very sad, and carried it with me.

Revisited alchemical plane, the cave with water—Tried to get away from it, by what A.C. calls ‘rising on the planes.’ Tried to look like Hermes.

Immediately got my Fragonard wood path (which is a kind of astral version of the Lavender Walk at Salterns). So much of this is an exalted version of Saltern’s ‘seen in another world.’

I got my Isis pillar very tall and perfect, a basket on top with a baby in it.

Went up the wood path to where at Salterne is the black-white summer house with the wooden stairs—There were two people—and very tall, heavily draped woman too large for life, and a small dark Actonish looking man with stags horus, and dark black and green clothes. He said ‘come and run and hide with me there is an escape for you.’ I tried but I couldn’t get far. I liked him. I did not like her. She made me worry—I tried to go with her and drifted away to the left unto another part of the [illegible] wood. She stood on the high bank and I rejoined her and we walked down the wood to where we could see the sea through the trees. The lithe dark man hung round us. She made a sickle shaped movement with her arm, showing the beauty of the place. I liked her better. I looked at it a long time and came back.

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