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ΚΕΦΑΛΗ ΝΗ
HAGGAI-HOWLINGS
Haggard am I, an hyaena; I hunger and howl. Men
think it laughter-ha! ha! ha!
There is nothing movable or immovable under the
firmament of heaven on which I may write the
symbols of the secret of my soul.
Yea, though I were lowered by ropes into the
utmost Caverns and Vaults of Eternity, there is
no word to express even the first whisper of the
Initiator in mine ear: yea, I abhor birth, ululating
lamentations of Night!
Agony! Agony! the Light within me breeds veils; the
song within be dumbness.
God! in what prism may any man analyse my Light?
Immortal are the adepts; and ye hey die-They
die of SHAME unspeakable; They die as the
Gods die, for SORROW.
Wilt thou endure unto The End, O FRATER PERDURABO,
O Lamp in The Abyss? Thou hast
the Keystone of the Royal Arch; yet the
Apprentices, instead of making bricks, put the
straws in their hair, and think they are Jesus Christ!
O sublime tragedy and comedy of THE GREAT WORK!
page 126
COMMENTARY (ΝΗ)
Haggai, a notorious Hebrew prophet, is a Second
Officer in a Chapter of the Royal Arch Masons.
In this chapter the author, in a sort of raging
eloquence, bewails his impotence to express himself,
or to induce others to follow into the light. In para-
graph 1 he explains the sardonic laughter, for which he
is justly celebrated, as being in reality the expression of
this feeling.
Paragraph 2 is a reference to the Obligation of an
Entered Apprentice Mason.
Paragraph 3 refers to the Ceremony of Exaltation
in Royal Arch Masonry. The Initiate will be able to
discover the most formidable secret of that degree concealed in the paragraph.
Paragraphs 4-6 express an anguish to which that of
Gethsemane and Golgotha must appear like whitlows.
In paragraph 7 the agony is broken up by the
sardonic or cynical laughter to which we have previously
alluded.
And the final paragraph, in the words of the noblest
simplicity, praises the Great Work; rejoices in its
sublimity, in the supreme Art, in the intensity of the
passion and ecstasy which it brings forth. (Note that
the words "passion" and "ecstasy" may be taken as
symbolical of Yoni and Lingam.)
page 127
Original text by Aleister Crowley
Commentary by Karl Gerner
I need your help! This stuff is very cryptic, feel free to provide your own commentary.