Sighs of the Saints, the Cries of the Fay

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I am the twilight – the widow – the unconsoled,
Nobility in whose towers the weeds now bloom;

My only star dead and all the strings sold
From my lute inscribed with the dark sun’s Gloom.

You who consoled me in the graveyard night,
Give me Pausillippo, Italy’s seas,
The flower to be my sad heart’s delight,
And the trellis whose vines the roses seize.

Apollo or Eros? … Arthur or Henry?
Still I blush from the kiss of the queen;
I have dreamt in the grotto where sirens are seen…

And I have crossed Hell twice to victory:
As Orpheus playing, now loud now faint,
The cries of the fairy, the sighs of the saint.

Translated by James Harriman-Smith

The Black Stage of Alchemy:

"After this terrible experience, Dante recovers a little, but realises that he cannot proceed alone: he is prevented from doing so by the three beasts that represent the three poisons of the ego (lust, pride, greed). Only with the help of a Master can he go on, and in fact the meeting with Virgil takes place (when the disciple is ready, the Master arrives). With Virgil’s guidance, Dante enters the Inferno, in other words, he begins his journey to the centre of the Earth, experiencing what the alchemists called VITRIOLVM (visit the inside of the Earth, by rectifying you will find the hidden stone, true medicine) [a Latin acronym – Tr.].This is the hermetic black phase, a dangerous operation whereby the structure of the individual, the personality, must dissolve, the soul-essence must cut loose from the individual body, tied to time and space (the world). In order for this work to succeed, it must be undertaken with a pure heart, with the right intention and accompanied by a guide.In this phase of the work on himself, the searcher must face up to his own shadows, his inner demons, the infernal side of his passions. The historical characters that Dante meets during his descent through the infernal rings symbolically represent these aspects. The damned are completely absorbed in the dimension of their own sin, blocked in that one single sentiment and psychological disposition, in an endless repetition of that same situation."

Saint Alban, protector the Islands of the West, pray for me. May I cross the river of Hell, twice, & with the aid and comfort of the angel.

The Rta, the Logos, the Moira - the Orders of Creation, will triumph over Darkness, within, without. Christ will come again.