The Rite of Venus
h3>The Officers of the TempleVenus. Blue Robe.
Taurus. Orange Robe.
Libra. Green Robe.
Pisces. Crimson Robe.
Luna in Taurus. Silver Robe.
Saturn in Libra. Black Robe.
No officer has any weapon.
Venus is throned,
and on her right are Libra and Saturn In Libra,
on her left Taurus and Luna In Taurus,
while at her feet lies Pisces.
Her throne is an oyster-shell, as in the picture by Botticelli.
Before it a veil. Without, an altar; and without the temple, a further veil.
The Rite of Venus
Prelude
Full light.
Venus, seated before altar,
Libra and Taurus at its sides.
Venus
[7777777].
Libra
[7777777].
Taurus
[7777777].
Venus
Brother Libra, I command thee to declare the Secret of Venus.
Libra
Recites Swinburne's Hertha.
All present recline and sleep.
Venus
Having ears they hear not. Brothers Taurus and Libra, let the veil be drawn.
They do so.
Part I
Twilight.
Venus is enthroned on high, swathed in masses of red hair and roses.
The altar is covered with roses; there is a small flame thereon.
Taurus and Libra draw the inner veil apart.
Libra returns and kneels.
Libra
Daughter of Glory, child Of Earth's Dione mild By the Father of all, the Ægis-bearing King! Spouse, daughter, mother of God, Queen of the blest abode In Cyprus' splendour singly glittering. Sweet sister unto me, I cry aloud to thee! I laugh upon thee laughing, O dew caught up from sea! Drawn by sharp sparrow and dove, And swan's wide plumes of love, And all the swallow's swifter vehemence, And, subtler than the Sphinx, The ineffable iynx Heralds thy splendour swooning into sense, When from the bluest bowers And greenest-hearted hours Of Heaven thou smil'st toward earth, a miracle of flowers! Down to the loveless sea Where lay Persephone Violate, where the shade of earth is black, Crystalline out of space Flames the immortal face! The glory of the comet-tailed track Blinds all black earth with tears. Silence awakes and hears The music of thy moving come over the starry spheres. Wrapped in rose, green, and gold, Blues many and manifold, A cloud of incense hides thy splendour of light; Hides from the prayer's distress Thy loftier loveliness, Till thy veil's glory shrouds the earth from night; And silence speaks indeed, Seeing the subtler speed Of its own thought than speech of the Pandean reed!
Libra returns.
Venus
[7777777].
Saturn
Amen.
Venus
[333-1-333].
Saturn
Amen.
Venus
[1-55555-1].
Libra and Pisces
Amen.
Venus
Brother Saturn, what is the hour?
Saturn
Twilight.
Venus
Sister Pisces, from whose house are we come out?
Pisces
From the House of Death.
Venus
Brother Taurus, what is stronger than death?
Taurus
Love.
Venus
Brother Libra, what is the place?
Libra
The Mountain of Venus, that hangeth from the navel of the Universe over the Great Abyss.
Venus
Let us celebrate the Rite of Venus.
Luna plays a waltz tune.
The Probationers dance together.
Venus
Children of Love, what is the hour?
All
A confused murmur.
It is the hour of love.
All sink down together. The lights go out. A long pause.
Part II
Venus
(Awakening.)
[333-1-333].
Venus is brilliantly illuminated; the rest remain dark.
Venus
Little brother, what is the hour?
Pisces
The dawn is at hand.
Venus
Little brother, what is the place?
Taurus
It is the holy mountain of our Lady Venus.
Venus
Children, awake and rejoice.
Libra
Awake and rejoice.
Pisces
How shall we rejoice?
Taurus
As our Lady hath appointed.
Libra
As you like it.
Pisces
Wherein shall we rejoice?
Taurus
In our Lady Venus.
Libra
In what you will.
Taurus
Thy will, our lady, and not ours be done!
Pisces
Mistress, let the adorations be performed!
Venus
Children, array yourselves before me, and rejoice in the adorations of my beauty.
They form, each with his partner.
Libra disappears behind veil.
Taurus recites invocation.
Taurus
Salutation to Hathor, holy cow in the pastures of Evening. Salutation to Hathor, in the Mountain of the West; in the land of perfect Peace, Salutation. A devouring fire is thy soul, and the corpses of the dead are enkindled at thy breath. Salutation to Hathor, the child of Isis and of Nephthys! Salutation to Hathor, the bride of Apis, of Apis that hath the beetle upon his tongue! A devouring fire is thy soul, and the corpses of the dead are enkindled at thy breath. Salutation to Hathor, whose necklace is of the Souls of the blessed ones of Amennti. Salutation to Hathor, whose girdle is of the Souls of the blessed ones of Seb! Salutation to Hathor, whose sandals are of the Souls of the blessed ones of Nu! A devouring fire is thy soul, and the corpses of the dead are enkindled at thy breath.
Returns to his throne.
Venus
Brother Libra, art thou silent?
A pause.
Brother Libra, where art thou?
Libra still hidden, recites from Swinburne's Atalanta:
We have seen thee, O Love, thou art fair; thou art goodly, O Love; Thy wings make light in the air as the wings of a dove, (etc.) ... Famine, and blighting of corn, When thy time was come to be born.
Libra appears and confronts her;
All these we know of; but thee Who shall discern or declare? (etc.) ... Wilt thou utterly bring to an end? Have mercy, mother!
Venus
Nay, brother, thou art the chiefest of my chosen.
Libra
Alas.
Venus
Yea, brother: in the end all turn to me, and all return to me.
Isis am I, and from my life are fed All showers and suns, all moons that wax and wane; All stars and streams, the living and the dead, The mystery of pleasure and of pain. I am the mother! I the speaking sea! I am the earth and its fertility! Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to me — To me!
Hathoor am I, and to my beauty drawn All glories of the Universe bow down, The blossom and the mountain and the dawn, Fruit's blush, and woman, our creations's crown. I am the priest, the sacrifice, the shrine, I am the love and life of the divine! Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness are surely mine — Are mine!
Venus am I, the love and light of earth, The wealth of kisses, the delight of tears, The barren pleasure never come to birth, The endless, infinite desire of years. I am the shrine at which thy long desire Devoured thee with intolerable fire. I was song, music, passion, death, upon thy lyre — Thy lyre!
I am the Grail and I the Glory now: I am the flame and fuel of thy breast; I am the star of God upon thy brow; I am thy queen, enraptured and possessed. Hide thee, sweet river; welcome to the sea, Ocean of love that shall encompass thee! Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to me — To me!
Pisces performs a sleepy sinuous dance by herself, and returns to Venus' throne lapsed into herself, and as if exhausted.
Rise, rise, my knight! My king! My love, arise! See the grave avenues of Paradise, The dewy larches bending at my breath, Portentous cedars prophesying death!
She is interrupted by the Violin of the throned Luna, who plays her unutterable melody. [Beethoven: Romance in D]
Pisces manifests distress.
Venus
Brother Libra, what is this song?
Libra
My soul is an enchanted boat, Which, like a sleeping swan, doth float Upon the silver waves of thy sweet singing; And thine doth like an angel sit Beside a helm conducting it, Whilst all the winds with melody are ringing. It seems to float ever, for ever, Upon that many-winding river, Between mountains, woods, abysses, A paradise of wildernesses! Till, like one in slumber bound, Borne to the Ocean, I float down, around, Into a sea profound, of ever-spreading sound.
Meanwhile thy spirit lifts its pinions In music's most serene dominions; Catching the winds that fan that happy heaven. And we sail on, away, afar, Without a course, without a star, But by the instinct of sweet music driven; Till through Elysian garden islets By thee, most beautiful of pilots, Where never mortal pinnace glided, The boat of my desire is guided; Realms where the air we breathe is love, Which in the winds and on the waves doth move, Harmonising this earth with what we feel above.
We have past Age's icy caves, And Manhood's dark and tossing waves, And Youth's Smooth ocean, smiling to betray: Beyond the glassy gulphs we flee Of shadow-peopled Infancy, Through Death and Birth, to a diviner day; A paradise of vaulted bowers, Lit by downward-gazing flowers, And watery paths that wind between Wildernesses calm and green, Peopled by shapes too bright to see, And rest, having beheld; somewhat like thee; Which walk upon the sea, and chant melodiously!
Venus manifests distress.
Pisces slips away to the throne of Luna.
Luna plays her conquering melody. [Wieniawski: Polonaise in D]
Venus
Oh! Oh!
Libra
Holier than pleasure is pain; nobler is abstinence than indulgence; from sloth and faith we turn to toil and science; from the tame victories of the body to the wild triumphs of the mind.
Venus
It is the ruin of the temple.
Libra
For from thee cometh the Utterance of the Present; but of the Future no word.
Venus
And thou wilt?
Libra
The Word.
Saturn comes out and dances his dance, and falls, clasping the hem of Libra's robe.
Venus
Who is this? These are not my dances; these footsteps tread not my measures; not me he worships by the paces and pauses of his feet!
Saturn drags Libra backwards into the dusk.
The Probationers group similarly;
Mars with Mars and
Venus with Venus.
Some, too, stand isolated.
Venus
Brother Taurus, art thou faithful, thou alone?
Taurus
Seductively yet ironically.
Knowest thou not me?
Venus
Yea, my beloved, Lord of all my doves.
Taurus
Venus, our Lady!
Venus
Come unto me!
She half rises and draws him to her.
Taurus
Within the veil?
Venus
There is no veil before my shrine!
She unfastens his robe. As it falls he leaps up with the Caduceus, as Mercury, and tramples her beneath his feet.
Taurus
In the Beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God!
All come forward;
Saturn with Libra linked;
Luna and Pisces linked;
and bow to him.
Luna
The treason is accomplished.
Pisces
The mind is nobler than the body.
Saturn
Friendship is holier than love.
Libra
Nature is overcome by wit.
Pisces
How shall we adore thee?
Taurus
As you like it.
Saturn
What shall we sacrifice?
Taurus
What you will.
Luna plays a moto perpetuo [Ries: Moto Perpetuo] All, bowing in adoration to Mercury.
Libra
Brother, what is the hour?
Pisces
Dawn.
Libra
Let us depart unto the work of the day.
All
Amen.
