Something vast is passing in the night
These days I tend to assume all coincidences guilty until proven innocent by virtue of Qaballah. Seriously, I just noticed something: Ronald Reagan, 40th US president, dies at the age of 93 on June 5, 2004, just one day before the 40th anniversary of D-Day -- and 100 years plus a few months after the writing of Aleister Crowley's Liber Al vel Legis, A.K.A. The Book of the Law. 93 is the number of the Thelemic or New Aeon current, which is Liberty.
In Chapter 3 of Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law, it says, in verse 46: "I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me, & are abased. . . ." 40 is the number of Mem, associated with Neptune, which, by the way, rules cinema, acting, and related matters, as well as our nuclear navy; 80 is the number of Peh, associated with Mars.
In the same chapter there is a rant (verses 49-55) heaping anathema on all human religions, not just Christianity. I have heard some Thelemites relate this to the rise of Communism, which is, essentially, atheistic. In addition, I have always felt that this chapter contains more than one voice, that is, that there is more than one narrator, at least two: whoever makes that rant, and Horus, protector of Earth in the New Aeon of Aquarius, Whom the owner of the first voice opposes. The symbol of Horus is a bird of prey; on our side of the Big Water, Horus might be likened to the American (Bald) Eagle. Ronald Wilson Reagan, who is credited by many, rightly or wrongly, with the collapse of the Soviet Empire and Soviet Communism, because he was a US President, is also associated with the American Eagle.
Just what the devil the foregoing means, if anything, I have no idea. Just thought that you, Constant Reader, might find it of interest.
In memory of our 40th president, I will add here a poem I wrote when another Republican President, Richard M. Nixon, died, for the number 40 was prominent in his life, too:
What Gain Hath the Worker for His Toil?
On the death of Richard M. Nixon
(Written April 23, 1994, 1:50 am PDT, Seattle)
Something vast is passing by
In the night -
Something vast.
It drowned a nation in fire -
It walked upon the Moon.
It left men in ruin -
It opened up the sky.
Something vast is passing by -
Something vast:
40 years of history.
Two generations.
Something vast.
The king is dead:
Long live the king.
Whatever else we may be,
We are our history.
Kings are but the englamored segments
Of history’s long, cestodic body.
A king dies.
A king is crowned.
Men fought, bled, died.
Men dreamed, strove, reached for the stars.
Something vast is passing by -
Something vast.
Did you hate him?
Did you love him?
Remove your hat,
Bow your head,
Pay a moment of respect
To that vast thing passing by
In the night,
That dragon, history,
That is ourselves.
Something vast is passing by
In the night -
Something vast.
For good and bad men here and gone,
For good and bad years passing, passing -
He was us,
Hate him, love him.
We ourselves are passing in the night,
Passing by.
History weaves him
Into its impossibly complex tapestry.
He was us, and we, him.
He was all the births, lives, and deaths
Of the time he spanned.
Old worlds closed,
New worlds opened.
He was the time.
The king is dead.
Long live the future.
Say a prayer -
And ask not for whom the bell tolls:
It tolls for thee and me.
Requiescat in pace, Presidents Nixon and Reagan, and God bless.
In Chapter 3 of Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law, it says, in verse 46: "I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me, & are abased. . . ." 40 is the number of Mem, associated with Neptune, which, by the way, rules cinema, acting, and related matters, as well as our nuclear navy; 80 is the number of Peh, associated with Mars.
In the same chapter there is a rant (verses 49-55) heaping anathema on all human religions, not just Christianity. I have heard some Thelemites relate this to the rise of Communism, which is, essentially, atheistic. In addition, I have always felt that this chapter contains more than one voice, that is, that there is more than one narrator, at least two: whoever makes that rant, and Horus, protector of Earth in the New Aeon of Aquarius, Whom the owner of the first voice opposes. The symbol of Horus is a bird of prey; on our side of the Big Water, Horus might be likened to the American (Bald) Eagle. Ronald Wilson Reagan, who is credited by many, rightly or wrongly, with the collapse of the Soviet Empire and Soviet Communism, because he was a US President, is also associated with the American Eagle.
Just what the devil the foregoing means, if anything, I have no idea. Just thought that you, Constant Reader, might find it of interest.
In memory of our 40th president, I will add here a poem I wrote when another Republican President, Richard M. Nixon, died, for the number 40 was prominent in his life, too:
What Gain Hath the Worker for His Toil?
On the death of Richard M. Nixon
(Written April 23, 1994, 1:50 am PDT, Seattle)
Something vast is passing by
In the night -
Something vast.
It drowned a nation in fire -
It walked upon the Moon.
It left men in ruin -
It opened up the sky.
Something vast is passing by -
Something vast:
40 years of history.
Two generations.
Something vast.
The king is dead:
Long live the king.
Whatever else we may be,
We are our history.
Kings are but the englamored segments
Of history’s long, cestodic body.
A king dies.
A king is crowned.
Men fought, bled, died.
Men dreamed, strove, reached for the stars.
Something vast is passing by -
Something vast.
Did you hate him?
Did you love him?
Remove your hat,
Bow your head,
Pay a moment of respect
To that vast thing passing by
In the night,
That dragon, history,
That is ourselves.
Something vast is passing by
In the night -
Something vast.
For good and bad men here and gone,
For good and bad years passing, passing -
He was us,
Hate him, love him.
We ourselves are passing in the night,
Passing by.
History weaves him
Into its impossibly complex tapestry.
He was us, and we, him.
He was all the births, lives, and deaths
Of the time he spanned.
Old worlds closed,
New worlds opened.
He was the time.
The king is dead.
Long live the future.
Say a prayer -
And ask not for whom the bell tolls:
It tolls for thee and me.
Requiescat in pace, Presidents Nixon and Reagan, and God bless.