|
Aleister Crowley Diary Entry Monday, 14 November 1898
Notes of Astral Travel
No. 5. Monday, Nov. 14th.
Hotel Cecil. About 20 minutes.
Up as with J.L.B. [Julian L. Baker] Circle well defined—fog—clear sky.
Shepherd in circle above comes quickly.
Cannot understand haste. Ask. “There is haste.”
Defile. Very Black. Luminous blue man with sword.
I ask his guidance. Immediate acquiescence.
Turn left through rock door. I notice I have my white? robes on.
Out on to cliff-face as before.
Through air.
I fall—recover by aid of shepherd or alone. (Qy)
I am winged.
A silver-moss rugged hill.
A circular bright temple, domed, sign of crescent.
I hesitate for this reason to enter.
The guide makes me understand. (Quite easy—previous prayer?)
Brilliant woman ( [. . .] ) in centre. I go to her and kneel.
Olive-branch (myrtle ?) given me—fold it to my heart.
Woman goes up—pillar of thick smoke pushes from below.
Pillar loosens. I return to guide. We go forward into pillar and end up through dome.
Blue sea—silver ship enter, repose, arrive island.
Great square silver temple colonnaded.
Outside altar. Branch sacrificed.
I sacrifice myself.
I rise alone to the flat top of the temple.
Sunrise (E.). Intense thrills henceforth.
I kneel.
I perceive other suns N. W. & S.
I am standing on a 5th sun. I am brilliantly golden. Wings etc and very tall and large—say 30ft high, perhaps more.
My sun rises above the other suns.
I stand before an old man, white beard, intense benevolence. I desire to touch the beard.
This is permitted. The lips of the old man are pressed on my forehead.
I would linger, but am dismissed, the other four suns having risen to an equal height.
I fly.
I sink through sheets of silver.
Fog.
I return.
[The following narrative is the version of this Astral Vision that was printed in "The Temple of Solomon the King (Book III)" in The Equinox vol. I No. 2.]
Nο. 5. “After fervent prayer I was carried up above the circle? which I had drawn, through a heavy and foggy atmosphere. Soon, however, the air grew purer, and after a little I found myself in a beautifully clear sky.
“On gazing up into the depths of the blue, I saw dawn immediately above me a great circle;[1] then of a sudden, as I looked away from its centre, there swept out towards me at intolerable speed the form of a shepherd; trembling and not knowing what to say, with faltering voice I asked, ‘Why speed ye?’ Whereupon the answer came: ‘ There is haste!’ Then a great gloom closed mine eyes, and a horror of defilement encompassed me, and all melted in twilight and became cloaked in the uttermost darkness. And out of the darkness there came a man clothed in blue, whose skin was of the colour of sapphire, and around him glowed a phosphor light, and in his hand he held a sword.
“And on seeing him approach I fell down and besought him to guide me, which without further word he did.
“On turning to the left I saw that near me was a rock door, and then for the first time I became aware that I was clothed in my robes of white.[2] Passing through the door, I found myself on the face Of a high cliff that sank away into the abysms of space below me; and my foot slipping on the slippery stone, I stumbled forward, and would of a certainty have been dashed into that endless gulf, had not the shepherd caught me and held me back.
“Then wings were given me, and diving off from that great rocky cliff like a sea-bird, I winged my course through the still air and was filled with a great joy.
“Now, I had travelled thus but for a short time, when in the distance there appeared before me a silver-moss rugged hill. And on its summit was there built a circular temple, fashioned of burnished silver, domed and surmounted with a crescent. And for some reason unknown to me, the sight of the crescent made me tremble so that I durst not enter; and when my guide, who was still with me, saw that I was seized with a great fear, he comforted me, bidding me be of good courage, so with him I entered. Before us in the very centre of the. temple there sat a woman whose countenance was bright as the essence of many moons; and as I beheld her, fear left me, so I stepped towards her and knelt reverently at her feet.
“Then, as I knelt before her, she gave me a branch of olive and myrtle, which I folded to my heart; and as I did so, of a sudden a great pillar of smoke rose from the ground before me and carried her away through the dome of the temple.
“Slowly the pillar loosened itself, and spiral puffs of smoke, creeping away from the mighty column, began to circle round me, at which I stepped back to where my guide was still standing. Then he advanced, and beckoning me to follow him, we entered the great pillar of smoke and were carried through the bright dome of the temple.
“On, on we soared, through regions of cloud and air; on, on, past the stars and many myriads of burning specks of fire, till at length our journey led us to a vast blue sea, upon which was resting like a white swan a ship of silver. And without staying our flight, we made towards the ship, and descending upon it, rested awhile.
“On awaking, we found that we had arrived at a fair island, upon which stood a vast temple built of blocks of silver, square in form, and surrounded by a mighty colonnade. Outside it was there set up an altar upon which a branch had been sacrificed.
“On seeing the altar, I stepped towards it and climbed upon it, and there I sacrificed myself, and the blood that had been my life bubbled from my breast, and trickling over the rough stone, was sucked up by the parched lips of the white sand. . . . And behold, as I rose from that altar, I was alone standing upon the flat top of the square temple, and those who had been with me, the shepherd and my guide, had vanished;—I was alone . . . alone.
“And as I stood there, the east became as an amethyst clasped in the arms of the sard, and a great thrill rushed through me; and as I watched, the sard became as a fawn; and as I watched again, the east quivered and the great lion of day crept over the horizon, and seizing the fawn betwixt his gleaming teeth, shook him till the fleecy clouds above were as a ram’s skin flecked with blood.
“Then thrill upon thrill rushed through me, and I fell down and knelt upon the flat roof of the temple. And presently as I knelt, I perceived other suns rising around me, one in the North, and one in the South, and one in the West. And the one in the North was as a great bull blowing blood and flame from its nostrils; and the one in the South was as an eagle plucking forth the entrails of a Nubian slave; and the one in the West was as a man swallowing the ocean.
“And whilst I watched these suns rising around me, behold, though I knew it not, a fifth sun had arisen beneath where I was standing, and it was as a great wheel of revolving lightnings. And gazing at the Wonder that flamed at my feet, I partook of its glory and became brilliantly golden, and great wings of flame descended upon me, and as they enrolled me I grew thirty cubits in height—perhaps more.
“Then the sun upon which I was standing rose above the four other suns, and as it did so I found myself standing before an ancient man with snow-white beard, whose countenance was a-fired with benevolence. And as I looked upon him, a great desire possessed me to stretch forth my hand and touch his beard; and as the desire grew strong, a voice said unto me, ‘ Touch, it is granted thee.’
“So I stretched forth my hand and gently placed my fingers upon the venerable beard. And as I did so, the ancient man bent forward, and placing his lips to my forehead kissed me. And so sweet was that kiss that I would have lingered; but I was dismissed, for the other four suns had risen to a height equal to mine own.
“And seeing this I stretched out my wings and flew, sinking through innumerable sheets of blinding silver. And presently I opened mine eyes, and all around me was as a dense fog ; thus I returned into my body.”
The vision being at an end, a thanksgiving was offered.
1—A circle was first drawn, as in many invocations, in the centre of which the seer stood. 2—The robes of the Neophyte in the 0º=0o Ritual of the G∴D∴
|