Epsilon, Or The First Of The Gods

No. XI

EPSILON, OR THE FIRST OF THE GODS ²[E]

Proem

MANY are the thrones which the Holy Spirit of Elohim hath vivified.

2. They are centres of systems, bonds of graces, trees of life, suns of many worlds.

3. And the colour of them is the colour of the ruby and of the fire; and their name is, in the Hebrew, Uriel, and in the Greek, Phoibos, the Bright One of God.

4. To whom are committed the dominion of the highest sphere, and the demonstration of the reason of all things which are manifest.

5. The Spirit of whose being is the Spirit of Wisdom, which is the first of the holy Seven.

6. Now, He--the angel of the sun--is not the Spirit of Wisdom, but the brightness of the glory thereof, and the express image of the selfsame spirit.

7. He is the first of the Gods, and his praise is great, and his works are wonderful, and his throne is in the midst of heaven.

8. He is that light which Adonai created on the first day.

9. And before his face Python the mighty serpent fell from heaven, to make his dwelling in the caverns and in the secret places of earth.

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Hymn to Phoibos

1. Strong art thou and adorable, Phoibos Apollo, who bearest life and healing on thy wings, who crownest the year with thy bounty, and givest the spirit of thy divinity to the fruits and precious things of all the worlds.

2. Where were the bread of the initiation of the Sons of God, except thou bring the corn to ear; or the wine of their mystical chalice, except thou bless the vintage?

3. Many are the angels who serve in the courts of the spheres of heaven: but thou, Master of Light and of Life, art followed by the Christs of God.

4. And thy sign is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and of the just made perfect.

5. Whose path is as a shining light, shining more and more unto the innermost glory of the day of the Lord God.

6. Thy banner is blood-red, and thy symbol is a milk-white lamb, and thy crown is of pure gold.

7. They who reign with thee are the Hierophants of the celestial mysteries; for their will is the will of God, and they know as they are known.

8. These are the sons of the innermost sphere; the Saviours of men, the Anointed of God.

9. And their name is Christ Jesus, in the day of their initiation.

10. And before them every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and of things on earth.

11. They are come out of great tribulation, and are set down for ever at the right hand of God.

12. And the Lamb, which is in the midst of the seven spheres, shall give them to drink of the river of living water.

13. And they shall cat of the tree of life, which is in the centre of the garden of the kingdom of God.

14. These are thine, O Mighty Master of Light; and this is the dominion which the Word of God appointed thee in the beginning:

15. In the day when God created the light of all the worlds, and divided the light from the darkness.

16. And God called the light Phoibos, and the darkness God called Python.

17. Now the darkness was before the light, as the night forerunneth the dawn.

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18. These are the evening and the morning of the first cycle of the Mysteries.

19. And the glory of that cycle is as the glory of seven days; and they who dwell therein are seven times refined;

20. Who have purged the garment of the flesh in the living waters;

21. And have transmuted both body and soul into spirit, and are become pure virgins.

22. For they were constrained by love to abandon the outer elements, and to seek the innermost which is undivided, even the Wisdom of God.

23. And Wisdom and Love are One.

Footnotes

147:1 "Election is by no arbitrary appointment. The elect are all who make love their rule, conscience their guide, and a pure ideal their aim. Thus are they seekers after the perfection which is God" (Lecture by E. M. on "The Nature and History of the Ego ").

147:2 Referred to in Life of Anna Kingsford, Vol. i, pp. 290-292.