The Spirit Euterpe

The Real History of the Rosicrucians, by Arthur Edward Waite, [1887], at sacred-texts.com

John Heydon encounters the Spirit Euterpe.

Walking upon the plains of Bulverton Hill to study numbers and the nature of things one evening, I could see, between me and the light, a most exquisite divine beauty, her frame neither long nor short, but a main decent stature; attired she was in thin loose silks, but so green that I never saw the like, for the colour was not earthly; in some places it was fancied with gold and silver ribbands, which looked like the sun and lyllies in the field of grass. Her head was overcast with a thin floating tiffany, which she held up with one of her hands, and looked, as it were, from under it. Her eyes were quick, fresh, and celestial, but had something of a start, as if she had been puzzled with a suddain occurrence. From her vaile did leer locks break out, like sun beams from a mist; they ran disheveld to her brest, and then returned to her cheeks in curls and rings of gold. Her hair behind her was rowled to a curious globe, with a small short spire flowered with purple and skie-colour knots. Her rings were pure intire emeralds, for she valued no metal,. and her pendants of burning carbuncles. In brief, her whole habit was youthful and flowery; it smelt like the East, and was thoroughly ayrd with rich Arabian diapasms.

Whilst I admired her perfections, and prepared to make my addresses, she prevents me with a voluntary approach. Here, indeed, I expected some discourse from her, but she, looking very seriously and silently in my face, takes me by the hand and softly whispers: "My love I freely give you,

p. 345

and with it these tokens--mystery and signet; the one opens, the other shuts; be sure to use both with discretion. As for the mysteries of the Rosie Cross, you have my Library to peruse them all. There is not anything here but I will gladly reveal it unto you; I will teach you the virtues of numbers, of names, of angels, and genii of men. I have one precept to commend to you--you must be silent. You shall not in your writings exceed my allowance; remember that I am your love, and you will not make me a prostitute. But because I wish you serviceable to those of your own disposition, I give you an emblematical type of my sanctuary, namely, the Axiomata of the R. C., the secrets of numbers, with a full priviledge to publish it. And now I am going to the invisible region, amongst the ethereal goddesses. Let not that proverb take place with you, Out of sight, out of mind. Remember me and be happy."

I asked her if she would favour me with her name. To this she replyed very familiarly, as if she had known me long before:--"My dear friend H., I have many names, but my best beloved is Euterpe. Observe in your R. C. Axiomata that the genuine time of impression of characters, names, angels, numbers, and genii of men, is when the principles are Spermade and Callado; but being once coagulated to a perfect body, the time of stellification is past. Now the R. C. in old time used strange astrological lamps, images, rings, and plates, with the numbers and names engraven, which at certain hours would produce incredible extraordinary effects. The common astrologer he takes a piece of metalls, another whining associate he helps him with a chrystal stone, and these they figure with ridiculous characters, and then expose them to the planets,

p. 346

not in an Alkemust, but as they dream they know not what. When this is done, all is to no purpose, but though they faile in their practice, they yet believe they understand the Axiomata of numbers well enough. Now, my beloved J. H., that you may know what to do, I will teach you by example:--Take a ripe grain of corn that is hard and drye; expose it to the sun beams in a glass or other vessell, and it will be a dry grain for ever; but if you do bury it in the earth, that the nitrous saltish moysture of the element may dissolve it, then the sun will work upon it and make it sprout to a new body. It is just thus with the common astrologer; he exposeth to the planets a perfect compacted body, and by this meanes thinkes to perform the Rosie Crucian Gamaœa, and marry the inferiour and superiour worlds.

"It must be a body reduced into sperme, that the heavenly feminine moisture, which receives and retains the impress of the Astrall Agent; may be at liberty, and immediately exposed to the masculine fire of Nature. This is the ground of the Beril, but you must remember that nothing can be stellified without the joynt magnetism of three heavens--what they are you know already."

When she had thus said, she took out of her bosom two miraculous medalls with numbers and names on them; they were not metalline, but such as I had never seen, neither did I conceive there was in Nature such pure and glorious substances. In my judgment, they were two magical Telesms, but she called them Saphiricks of the sun and moon. These miracles Euterpe commended to my perusal, and stopt in a mute ceremony. She lookt upon me in silent smiles, mixt with a pretty kind of sadness, for we were unwilling to part, but her hour of translation was

p. 347

come, and, taking, as I thought, her last leave, she past before my eyes into the ether of Nature, excusing herself as being sleepy--otherwise she had expounded them to me. I lookt, admired, and wearied myself in that contemplation; their complexion was so heavenly, their continuance so mysterious, I did not well know what to make of them. I turned aside to see if she was still asleep, but she was gone, and this did not a little trouble me. I expected her return till the day was quite spent, but she did not appear. At last, fixing my eyes on that place where she sometimes rested, I discovered certain pieces of gold, full of numbers and names, which she had left behinde her, and hard by a paper folded like a letter. These I took up, and now the night approaching, the evening star tinned in the West, when taking my last survey of her flowery pillow, I parted from it in these verses--

Thus much at this time and no more am I allowed by my

p. 348

mistress Euterpe to publish. Be, therefore, gentle reader, admonished, that with me you do earnestly pray to God, that it please Him to open the hearts and ears of all ill-hearing people, and to grant unto them His blessing, that they may be able to know Him in His omnipotency, with admiring contemplation of Nature, to His honour and praise, and to the love, help, comfort, and strengthening of our neighbours, and to the restoring of all the diseased by the medecines above taught.

I had given you a more large account of the mysteries of Nature and the Rosie Cross, but whilst I studyed medecines to cure others, my deare sister Anne Heydon dyed, and I never heard she was sick (for she was one hundred miles from mee), which puts an end to my writings, and thus I take my leave of the world. I shall write no more; you know my books by name, and this I write that none may abuse me by printing books in my name, as Cole does Culpeper's. I return to my first happy solitudes.