Then will ye have to thank your headstrong will If we are driven to a sterner course.
The honour of our brotherhood demands That only when defeated, sword in hand, Do we allow ourselves to be despoiled.
So be it! Now my mission is fulfilled. Between us there is no more need of words. Will it be possible for me to have An audience with thy lord, who here commands?
The master doubtless will concede thee this; Yet wait, I pray three, for a little while. He cannot at this moment come to thee.
O, that mine office forceth me to tread The halls of this detested brotherhood. Turn where they may, my eyes must contemplate Sinful devices and satanic spells. Almost a horror seizeth hold on me; A crackling and a rumbling fill the air; I feel the powers of ill are gathered round.
But as my conscience is entirely clear I will defy the enemy.
Collect thyself, my son. I often came To meet thee, when the fervour of thy prayers Transported thee unto the spirit-world. Take therefore courage in this present hour And learn a truth which thou must realize If spirit clearness is to hold its sway And drive away the darkness from thy soul.
When in my trials I prayed to Heaven for light, And when my supplication winged its way To realms celestial, and won response, Thou, venerated master, didst appear. Thou, who wast aye our Order's ornament, The while thou wert amongst us here on earth, And out of higher realms didst speak to me, Enlightening my mind and strengthening me. My soul beheld thee with its inner eye, My spirit ear was open to thy words. In this hour also then, will I receive The revelation with humility Which thou shalt cause to flow into my soul.
Thou art within that brotherhood's abode Whom thou dost charge with wicked heresies. They seem to hate what we are taught to love And hold in honour what we count as sin. Our brethren feel themselves in duty bound To haste the spirit-brethren's overthrow, And think their action sanctioned by the words I spake myself whilst I was still on earth. Yet do they not imagine that these words Can only hold the living truth so long As they are rightly acted on by those Who have been my successors in my work. So let those thoughts which I once held on earth Rise up afresh and live within thy soul In harmony with needs of newer times. And thus behold this Order, which doth seek Its goal in mystic realms, as I should judge And look on it, if it had been my lot To dwell on earth and work with thee today. This brotherhood is vowed to lofty aims. These individuals who have joined its ranks Have premonitions of the days to come; Their leaders see with a prophetic eye The fruits that shall grow ripe in future times; Science and daily life shall undergo A change of form and seek ideals new; And what this brotherhood doth now achieve, Whom thou hast lent a hand to persecute, Are deeds which serve to bring this change about. Alone by peaceful union of the aims Sought by our brethren and these heretics Can good be made to blossom on this earth.