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(p. 1)
PART
THE FIRST
ILLUMINATIONS
Nº. I
CONCERNING THE THREE VEILS BETWEEN MAN AND GOD (1)
A GOLDEN chalice, like those used in Catholic rites, but
having three linings, was given to me in my sleep by an Angel. These linings, he
told me, signified the three degrees of the heavens, – purity of life, purity of
heart, and purity of doctrine.
Immediately afterwards there appeared
to me a great dome-covered temple, Moslem in style, and on the threshold of it a
tall angel clad in white linen, who with an air of command was directing a party
of men engaged in destroying and throwing into the street numerous crucifixes,
bibles, prayer-books, altar-utensils, and other sacred emblems.
As I stood watching, somewhat
scandalised at the apparent sacrilege, a voice, at a great height in the air,
cried with startling distinctness: “All the idols He shall utterly destroy!”
Then the same voice, seeming to ascend still higher, cried to me: “Come hither
and see!” Immediately it appeared to me that I was lifted up by my hair and
carried above the earth. (2)
And suddenly there arose in mid-air the apparition of a man of majestic aspect,
in an antique garb, and surrounded by a throng of prostrate worshippers. At
first the appearance of this figure was strange to me; but while I looked
intently at it, a change came over the face and dress, and I thought I
recognised Buddha – the Messiah of India. But scarcely had I convinced myself of
this, when a great voice, like a thousand voices shouting in unison, cried to
the worshippers:
“Stand upright on your feet: – Worship God only!” And
again the figure changed, as though a cloud had passed before it, and now it
seemed to assume the shape of Jesus. Again I saw the kneeling adorers, and again
the mighty voice cried: “Arise! Worship God only!” The
sound of this voice was like thunder, and I noted that it had seven echoes.
Seven times the cry reverberated, ascending with each utterance as though
mounting from sphere to sphere. Then suddenly I fell through the air, as though
a hand had been withdrawn from sustaining me: and again touching the earth, I
stood within the temple I had seen in the first part of my vision. At its east
end was a great altar, from above and behind which came faintly a white and
beautiful light, the radiance of which was arrested and obscured by a dark
curtain suspended from the dome before the altar. And the body of the temple,
which, but for the curtain, would have been fully illumined, was plunged in
gloom, broken only by the fitful gleams of a few half-expiring oil-lamps,
hanging here and there from the vast cupola.
At the right of the altar stood the same tall angel I had before seen on the
temple threshold, holding in his hand a smoking censer. Then, observing that he
was looking earnestly at me, I said to him: “Tell me, what curtain is this
before the light, and why is the temple in darkness?”
And he answered, “This veil is not One, but Three; and
the Three are Blood, Idolatry, and the Curse
of Eve. And to you it is given to withdraw them; be faithful and
courageous; the time has come.”
Now the first curtain was red, and very heavy; and with a great effort I drew it
aside, and said: “I have put away the veil of blood from before
Thy Face. Shine, O Lord God!” But a voice from behind the folds of the two
remaining coverings answered me, “I cannot shine, because of the idols.” And lo,
before me a curtain of many colours, woven about with all manner of images,
crucifixes, madonnas, Old and New Testaments,
prayer-books, and other religious symbols, some strange and hideous like the
idols of China and Japan, some beautiful like those of the Greeks and
Christians. And the weight of the curtain was like lead, for it was thick with
gold and silver embroideries. But with both hands I tore it away, and cried, “I
have put away the idols from before Thy Face. Shine, O
Lord God!” And now the light was clearer and brighter. But yet before me hung a
third veil, all of black; and upon it was traced in outline the figure of four
lilies on a single stem inverted, their cups opening downwards. And from behind
this veil the voice
answered me again, “I cannot shine, because of the curse
of Eve.” Then I put forth all my strength, and with a great will rent
away the curtain, crying, “I have put away her curse from before Thee. Shine, O
Lord God!”
And there was no more a veil, but a
landscape, more glorious and perfect than words can paint, a garden of absolute
beauty, filled with trees of palm, and olive, and fig, rivers of clear water and
lawns of tender green; and distant groves and forests framed about by mountains
crowned with snow; and on the brow of their shining peaks a rising sun, whose
light it was I had seen behind the veils. And about the sun, in mid-air, hung
white misty shapes of great angels, as clouds at morning float above the place
of dawn. And beneath, under a mighty tree of cedar, stood a white elephant,
bearing in his golden houdah a beautiful woman robed
as a queen, and wearing a crown. But while I looked, entranced, and longing to
look for ever, the garden, the altar, and the temple were carried up from me
into Heaven. Then as I stood gazing upwards, came again the voice, at first high
in the air, but falling earthwards as I listened. And behold, before me appeared
the white pinnacle of a minaret, and around and beneath it the sky was all gold
and red with the glory of the rising sun. And I perceived that now the voice was
that of a solitary Muezzin standing on the minaret with uplifted hands and
crying: –
Put away
Blood from among you!
Destroy
your Idols!
Restore
your Queen!”
And straightway a voice, like that of an infinite multitude, coming as though
from above and around and beneath my feet, – a voice like a wind rising upwards
from caverns under the hills to their loftiest far-off heights among the stars,
– responded –
“Worship God alone!”
Footnotes
(1:1)
(1:2) I.e.
lifted up in the spiritual consciousness above the material consciousness. S.H.H.
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