STANZA I

(From Archaic Formulas. No. 49)

The Dragon who hideth within the lowest of the Sacred Three ariseth in His might. In His mouth He holdeth the balances, and in the balances He weigheth the sons of men who - upon the field of battle - are impaled upon His spear.

In the great balance upon which His eyes are fixed, one scale is veiled in fire of vivid green; the other hides itself behind a screen of red.

Those sons of men whose note responds not to the note of red enter the scale upon the right hand side. From thence they pass upon a path which dimly can be seen behind the dragon's form.

The sons of men (and few their number is) enter that door of luminous fire when they surmount the crest of gold which riseth on the dragon's head above the point where gleams "the eye of fire."

This eye of fire transmits a strong vibration from the triple Lhas unto a center in the Adept's head. This, when aroused, reveals the Life that is, the form that shall be, and the work united of the two and four.

These two are drawn together. Their essence blends. The man who seeks this path is then impaled upon the spear and thrust within the fiery light which veils the balance. The mystic process then proceeds and... Thus is the work of SATURN seen, and thus the consummation is effected.

Through SATURN'S fateful force the victor then is swiftly projected to the summit of the crest, and thence to that vibrating disk which guards the fourfold door of luminosity.

Three Words are then committed to the Liberated One. He stands triumphant on the speeding disk and when their utterance has... the door is seen ajar, and from its other side a voice is heard to say: "Son of Compassion, Master of Love and Life, the wheel turns all the time for those who battle on the fiery ground beneath the dragon's feet."

The first Word having entered on its mission, the victor lifts His head and seeks to utter forth the second Word. But, as He sounds it forth, He arrests its wide vibration, drawing again its power within His heart. [1269]

The motion of the disk slows down. The portal of the fiery light opens more widely yet. A form is seen. Unto the Master of the Fiery Heart, this form presents three precious jewels. Their names are hidden from those sons of men who have not yet attained the dragon's crest.

These jewels three give to the Master of the Fiery Heart a portion of the triple force which circulates within the planet's sphere.

With eye intent and heart alive with burning love the Master utters not the final Word. He steps from off the disk and turns His Lotus Feet back to that Path He earlier left behind, and from the other side remounts the Dragon's crest. Himself a dragon, He now identifies Himself with those who seek the beast. And thus He serves, turning His back upon the door of light. He is the offspring of the dragon and serves His time...

Unknown and unseen by Him, a greater disk becomes apparent, turning unceasingly. He seeth not its movement for His eyes are on the world He has returned to serve. The disk revolves and brings around - before His yet unseeing eye - a greater wider Door... His eye of vision opens... He treads the first great path, yet knows it not.

The note that sounds forth from that first great WAY is yet unheard by Him. Its sound is lost in the uprising cry of the children of the lesser dragon. [1270]