1. This
is the secret of the Holy Graal, that is the sacred vessel of our
Lady the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, the
bride of Chaos, that rideth upon our Lord the Beast.
2. Thou
shalt drain out thy blood that is thy life into the golden cup of
her fornication.
3. Thou
shalt mingle thy life with the universal life. Thou shalt keep not
back one drop.
4. Then
shall thy brain be dumb, and thy heart beat no more, and all thy
life shall go from thee; and thou shalt be cast out upon the midden,
and the birds of the air shall feast upon thy flesh, and thy bones
shall whiten in the sun.
5. Then
shall the winds gather themselves together, and bear thee up as
it were a little heap of dust in a sheet that hath four corners,
and they shall give it unto the guardians of the abyss.
6. And
because there is no life therein, the guardians of the abyss shall
bid the angels of the winds pass by. And the angels shall lay thy
dust in the City of the Pyramids, and the name thereof shall be
no more.
7. Now
therefore that thou mayest achieve this ritual of the Holy Graal,
do thou divest thyself of all thy goods.
8. Thou
hast wealth; give it unto them that have need thereof, yet no desire
toward it.
9. Thou
hast health; slay thyself in the fervour of thine abandonment unto
Our Lady. Let thy flesh hang loose upon thy bones, and thine eyes
glare with thy quenchless lust unto the Infinite, with thy passion
for the Unknown, for Her that is beyond Knowledge the accursed one.
10. Thou
hast love; tear thy mother from thine heart, and spit in the face
of thy father. Let thy foot trample the belly of thy wife, and let
the babe at her breast be the prey of dogs and vultures.
11. For
if thou dost not this with thy will, then shall We do this despite
thy will. So that thou attain to the Sacrament of the Graal in the
Chapel of Abominations.
12. And
behold! if by stealth thou keep unto thyself one thought of thine,
then shalt thou be cast out into the abyss for ever; and thou shalt
be the lonely one, the eater of dung, the afflicted in the Day of
Be-with-Us.
13. Yea!
verily this is the Truth, this is the Truth, this is the Truth.
Unto thee shall be granted joy and health and wealth and wisdom
when thou art no longer thou.
14. Then
shall every gain be a new sacrament, and it shall not defile thee;
thou shalt revel with the wanton in the market-place, and the virgins
shall fling roses upon thee, and the merchants bend their knees
and bring thee gold and spices. Also young boys shall pour wonderful
wines for thee, and the singers and the dancers shall sing and dance
for thee.
15. Yet
shalt thou not be therein, for thou shalt be forgotten, dust lost
in dust.
16. Nor
shall the aeon itself avail thee in this; for from the dust shall
a white ash be prepared by Hermes the Invisible.
17. And
this is the wrath of God, that these things should be thus.
18. And
this is the grace of God, that these things should be thus.
19. Wherefore
I charge you that ye come unto me in the Beginning; for if ye take
but one step in this Path, ye must arrive inevitably at the end
thereof.
20. This
Path is beyond Life and Death; it is also beyond Love; but that
ye know not, for ye know not Love.
21. And
the end thereof is known not even unto Our Lady or to the Beast
whereon She rideth; nor unto the Virgin her daughter nor unto Chaos
her lawful Lord; but unto the Crowned Child is it known? It is not
known if it be known.
22. Therefore
unto Hadit and unto Nuit be the glory in the End and the Beginning;
yea, in the End and the Beginning.
