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mysteriously
radiant shape of Spinoza! This latter philosopher, in
respect at least
of his Pantheism, represents fairly enough the fundamental
thesis of the
White tradition. Almost the first observation that we have
to make is
that this White tradition is hardly discoverable outside
Europe. It
appears first of all in the legend of Dionysus. (In this
connection
read carefully Browning's Apollo and the Fates.)
The Egyptian tradition of Osiris is not dissimilar. The
central idea
of the White School is that, admitted that "everything is
sorrow" for
the profane, the Initiate has the means of transforming it
to "Every-
thing is joy". There is no question of any ostrich-ignoring
of fact,
as in Christian Science. There is not even any more or less
sophisti-
cated argument about the point of view altering the
situation as in
Vedantism. We have, on the contrary, and attitude which was
perhaps
first of all, historically speaking, defined by Zoroaster,
"nature
teaches us, and the Oracles also affirm, that even the evil
germs of
Matter may alike become useful and good." "Stay not on the
precipice
with the dross of Matter; for there is a place for thine
Image in a
realm ever splendid." "If thou extend the Fiery Mind to the
work of
piety, thou wilt preserve the fluxible body."35
It appears that the Levant, from Byzantium and Athens to
Damascus,
Jerusalem, Alexandria and Cairo, was preoccupied with the
formulation
of this School in a popular religion, beginning in the days
of Augustus
Caesar. For there are elements of this central idea in the
works of
the Gnostics, in certain rituals of what Frazer conveniently
calls the
Asiatic God, as in the remnants of the Ancient Egyptian
cult. The doc-
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MAGIC WITHOUT TEARS
94
trine became abominably corrupted in committee, so to speak
and the
result was Christianity, which may be regarded as a White
ritual over-
laid by a mountainous mass of Black doctrine, like the baby
of the
mother that King Solomon non-suited.
We may define the doctrine of the White School in its purity
in very
simple terms.
Existence is pure joy. Sorrow is caused by failure to
perceive this
fact; but this is not a misfortune. We have invented
sorrow, which
does not matter so much after all, in order to have the
exuberant satis-
faction of getting rid of it. Existence is thus a
sacrament.
Adepts of the White School regard their brethren of the
Black very much
as the aristocratic English Sahib (of the days when England
was a nation)
regarded the benighted Hindu. Nietzsche expresses the
philosophy of
this School to that extent with considerable accuracy and
vigour. The
man who denounces life merely defines himself as the man who
is unequal
to it. The brave man rejoices in giving and taking hard
knocks, and the
brave man is joyous. The Scandinavian idea of Valhalla may
be primitive,
but it is manly. A heaven of popular concert, like the
Christian; of
unconscious repose, like the Buddhist; or even of sensual
enjoyment, like
the Moslem, excites his nausea and contempt. He understands
that the
only joy worth while is the joy of continual victory, and
victory itself
would become as tame as croquet if it were not spiced by
equally contin-
35* This passage appears to be a direct hint at the Formula
of the IXø
O.T.O., and the preparation of the Elixir of Life.
53
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MAGIC WITHOUT TEARS
95
ual defeat.
The purest documents of the White School are found in the
Sacred Books
of Thelema. The doctrine is given in excellent perfection
both in the
book of the Heart Girt with the Serpent and the book of
Lapis Lazuli.
A single passage is adequate to explain the formula.
7. Moreover I beheld a vision of a river. There was a
little boat
thereon; and in it under purple sails was a golden
woman, an
image of Asi wrought in finest gold. Also the
river was of
blood, and the boat of shining steel. Then I loved
her; and,
loosing my girdle, cast myself into the stream.
8. I gathered myself into the little boat, and for
many days and
nights did I love her, burning beautiful incense
before her.
9. Yea! I gave her of the flower of my youth.
10. But she stirred not; only by my kisses I defiled
her so that
she turned to blackness before me.
11. Yet I worshipped her, and gave her of the flower of
my youth.
12. Also it came to pass, that thereby she sickened,
and corrupted
before me. Almost I cast myself into the stream.
13. Then at the end appointed her body was whiter than
the milk of
the stars, and her lips red and warm as the sunset,
and her
life of a white heat like the heat of the midmost
sun.
14. Then rose she up from abyss of Ages of Sleep, and
her body
embraced me. Altogether I melted in her beauty and
was glad.
15. The river also became the river of Amrit, and the
little boat
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