THE EMERALD TABLETS OF THOTH
Tablet VIII
The Key of Mystery
Unto thee, O man,
have I given my knowledge.
Unto thee have I given of Light.
Hear ye now and receive my wisdom
brought from space planes above and beyond.
Not as man am I
for free have I become of dimensions and planes.
In each, take I on a new body.
In each, I change in my form.
Know I now that the formless is all there is of form.
Great is the wisdom of the Seven.
Mighty are THEY from beyond.
Manifest THEY through their power,
filled by force from beyond.
Hear ye these words of wisdom.
Hear ye and make them thine own.
Find in them the formless.
Mystery is but hidden knowledge.
Know and ye shall unveil.
Find the deep buried wisdom
and be master of darkness and Light.
Deep are the mysteries around thee,
hidden the secrets of Old.
Search through the KEYS of my WISDOM.
Surely shall ye find the way.
The gateway to power is secret,
but he who attains shall receive.
Look to the LIGHT! O my brother.
Open and ye shall receive.
Press on through the valley of darkness.
Overcome the dweller of night.
Keep ever thine eyes of the LIGHT-PLANE,
and thou shalt be One with the LIGHT.
Man is in process of changing
to forms that are not of this world.
Grows he is time to the formless,
a plane on the cycle above.
Know ye, ye must become formless before ye are with the LIGHT,
List ye, O man, to my voice,
telling of pathways to Light,
showing the way of attainment
when ye shall be One with the Light.
Search ye the mysteries of Earth's heart.
Learn of the LAW that exists,
holding the stars in their balance
by the force of the primordial mist.
Seek ye the flame of the EARTH'S LIFE.
Bathe in the glare of its flame.
Follow the three-cornered pathway
until thou, too, art a flame.
Speak thou in words without voice
to those who dwell down below.
Enter the blue-litten temple
and bathe in the fire of all life.
Know, O man, thou art complex,
a being of earth and of fire.
Let thy flame shine out brightly.
Be thou only the fire.
Wisdom is hidden in darkness.
When lit by the flame of the Soul,
find thou the wisdom and be LIGHT-BORN,
a Sun of the Light without form.
Seek thee ever more wisdom.
Find it in the heart of the flame.
Know that only by striving
and Light pour into thy brain.
Now have I spoken with wisdom.
List to my Voice and obey.
Tear open the Veils of the darkness.
Shine a LIGHT on the WAY.
Speak I of Ancient Atlantis,
speak of the days
of the Kingdom of Shadows,
speak of the coming
of the children of shadows.
Out of the great deep were they called
by the wisdom of earth-men,
called for the purpose of gaining great power.
Far in the past before Atlantis existed,
men there were who delved into darkness,
using dark magic, calling up beings
from the great deep below us.
Forth came they into this cycle.
Formless were they of another vibration,
existing unseen by the children of earth-men.
Only through blood could they have formed being.
Only through man could they live in the world.
In ages past were they conquered by Masters,
driven below to the place whence they came.
But some there were who remained,
hidden in spaces and planes unknown to man.
Lived they in Atlantis as shadows,
but at times they appeared among men.
Aye, when the blood was offered,
for they came they to dwell among men.
In the form of man they amongst us,
but only to sight were they as are men.
Serpent-headed when the glamour was lifted
but appearing to man as men among men.
Crept they into the Councils,
taking forms that were like unto men.
Slaying by their arts
the chiefs of the kingdoms,
taking their form and ruling o'er man.
Only by magic could they be discovered.
Only by sound could their faces be seen.
Sought they from the Kingdom of shadows
to destroy man and rule in his place.
But, know ye, the Masters were mighty in magic,
able to lift the Veil from the face of the serpent,
able to send him back to his place.
Came they to man and taught him the secret,
the WORD that only a man can pronounce.
Swift then they lifted the Veil from the serpent
and cast him forth from the place among men.
Yet, beware, the serpent still liveth
in a place that is open at times to the world.
Unseen they walk among thee
in places where the rites have been said.
Again as time passes onward
shall they take the semblance of men.
Called may they be by the master
who knows the white or the black,
but only the white master may control
and bind them while in the flesh.
Seek not the kingdom of shadows,
for evil will surely appear.
For only the master of brightness
shall conquer the shadow of fear.
Know ye, O my brother,
that fear is an obstacle great.
Be master of all in the brightness,
the shadow will soon disappear.
Hear ye and heed my wisdom,
the voice of LIGHT is clear.
Seek not the valley of shadow,
and LIGHT will only appear.
List ye, O man,
to the depth of my wisdom.
Speak I of knowledge hidden from man.
Far have I been
on my journey through SPACE-TIME,
even to the end of space of this cycle.
Aye, glimpsed the HOUNDS of the Barrier,
lying in wait for he who would pass them.
In that space where time exists not,
faintly I sensed the guardians of cycles.
Move they only through angles.
Free are they not of the curved dimensions.
Strange and terrible
are the HOUNDS of the Barrier.
Follow they consciousness to the limits of space.
Think not to escape by entering your body,
for follow they fast the Soul through angles.
Only the circle will give ye protection,
save from the claws
of the DWELLERS IN ANGLES.
Once, in a time past,
I approached the great Barrier,
and saw on the shores where time exists not,
the formless forms
of the HOUNDS of the barrier.
Aye, hiding in the midst beyond time I found them;
and THEY, scenting me afar off,
raised themselves and gave the great bell cry
that could be heard from cycle to cycle
and moved through space toward my soul.
Fled I then fast before them,
back from time's unthinkable end.
But ever after me pursued they,
moving in strange angles not known to man.
Aye, on the gray shores of TIME-SPACE'S end
found I the HOUNDS of the Barrier,
ravening for the Soul
who attempts the beyond.
Fled I through circles back to my body.
Fled, and fast after me they followed.
Aye, after me the devourers followed,
seeking through angles to devour my Soul.
Aye, know ye man,
that the Soul who dares the Barrier
may be held in bondage
by the HOUNDS from beyond time,
held till this cycle is completed
and left behind
when the consciousness leaves.
Entered I my body.
Created the circles that know not angles,
created the form
that from my form was formed.
Made my body into a circle
and lost the pursuers in the circles of time.
But, even yet, when free from my body,
cautious ever must I be
not to move through angles,
else my soul may never be free.
Know ye, the HOUNDS of the Barrier
move only through angles
and never through curves of space.
Only by moving through curves
can ye escape them,
for in angles they will pursue thee.
O man, heed ye my warning;
Seek not to break open
the gate to beyond.
Few there are
who have succeeded in passing the Barrier
to the greater LIGHT that shines beyond.
For know ye, ever the dwellers,
seek such Souls to hold in their thrall.
Listen, O man, and heed ye my warning;
seek ye to move not in angles but curves,
And if while free from thy body,
though hearest the sound like the bay of a hound
ringing clear and bell-like through thy being,
flee back to thy body through circles,
penetrate not the midst mist before.
When thou hath entered the form thou hast dwelt in,
use thou the cross and the circle combined.
Open thy mouth and use thou thy Voice.
Utter the WORD and thou shalt be free.
Only the one who of LIGHT has the fullest
can hope to pass by the guards of the way.
And then must he move
through strange curves and angles
that are formed in direction not know to man.
List ye, O man, and heed ye my warning:
attempt not to pass the guards on the way.
Rather should ye seek to gain of thine own Light
and make thyself ready to pass on the way.
LIGHT is thine ultimate end, O my brother.
Seek and find ever the Light on the way.
Fire, the inner fire,
is the most potent of all force,
for it overcometh all things and
penetrates to all things of the Earth.
Man supports himself only on that which resists.
So Earth must resist man else he existeth not.
All eyes do not see with the same vision,
for to one an object appears of
one form and color
and to a different eye of another.
So also the infinite fire,
changing from color to color,
is never the same from day to day.
~ThothThe Magician
"They are without fears and without desires, dominated by no falsehood, sharing no error, loving without illusion, suffering without impatience, reposing in the quietude of eternal thought... a Magus cannot be ignorant, for magic implies superiority, mastership, majority, and majority signifies emancipation by knowledge.
The Magus welcomes pleasure, accepts wealth, deserves honour, but is never the slave of one of them; she knows how to be poor, to abstain, and to suffer; she endures oblivion willingly because she is lord of her own happiness, and expects or fears nothing from the caprice of fortune.
She can love without being beloved; she can create imperishable treasures, and exalt herself above the level of honours or the prizes of the lottery. She possesses that which she seeks, namely, profound peace.
She regrets nothing which must end, but remembers with satisfaction that she has met with good in all. She enjoys solitude, but does not fly the society of man; she is a child with children, joyous with the young, staid with the old, patient with the foolish, happy with the wise.
She smiles with all who smile, and mourns with all who weep; applauding strength, she is yet indulgent to weakness; offending no one, she has herself no need to pardon, for she never thinks herself offended.”
. She needs someone looking out for her, because the people in her life clearly don’t.