A Brief Note on "Magick"
By the will of magick, I found myself in the company of a great old book. Signed anonymously, I decided to keep the name of the book anonymous too, for you, my brother, my sister. One day you will find it too, I pray.
In that book was the art of magick, among other things and thoughtlings and wonderlings. I found in it the wonderfully luminous poetry of a mystical doctor from the medieval period. It was called Canciones del alma or Stanzas of the Soul. I produce it here in full.
En una noche oscura,
con ansias, en amores inflamada,
(oh dichosa ventura!,
salí sin ser notada
estando ya mi casa sosegada.
On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings
--oh, happy chance!--
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.
A oscuras y segura,
por la secreta escala, disfrazada,
(oh dichosa ventura!,
a oscuras y en celada,
estando ya mi casa sosegada.
In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised
--oh, happy chance!--
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.
En la noche dichosa,
en secreto, que nadie me veía,
ni yo miraba cosa,
sin otra luz y guía
sino la que en el corazón ardía.
In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide,
save that which burned in my heart.
Aquésta me guiaba
más cierto que la luz de mediodía,
adonde me esperaba
quien yo bien me sabía,
en parte donde nadie parecía.
This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!)
was awaiting me--
A place where none appeared.
(Oh noche que guiaste!
(oh noche amable más que el alborada!
(oh noche que juntaste
Amado con amada,
amada en el Amado transformada!
Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined
Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!
En mi pecho florido,
que entero para él solo se guardaba,
allí quedó dormido,
y yo le regalaba,
y el ventalle de cedros aire daba.
Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping,
and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
El aire de la almena,
cuando yo sus cabellos esparcía,
con su mano serena
en mi cuello hería
y todos mis sentidos suspendía.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand
he wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.
Quedéme y olvidéme,
el rostro recliné sobre el Amado,
cesó todo y dejéme,
dejando mi cuidado
entre las azucenas olvidado.
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.
This text, or its fragments - disconnected, disjointed - became an arcana for me, the seedling of magick. And as you would know, and as I was told, an arcanum is a symbol. A symbol must be respected, for it contains not just the thing that is named, but all the things that it stands for. And further, I was told that just as the arcanum is superior to the secret, so is the mystery superior to the arcanum.
So I leave you with this mystery.
See: A New Age of Mystery