THE CLEW OF THE HORSE
Authorised Version
Earth moves, but Heaven is still. The rim revolves, but the Centre remains without motion.
2. Yet from the still point all movement comes; and Earth is the shadow of Heaven. 3. Space doth extend without limit, nor is there any boundary to the worlds, but the Point is without extension; yet from the Point alone all space proceedeth. 4. All manifest things are bound to the three times; of that which is, which was, which is to come; but the Moment is without time. It neither is nor was, nor ever will be.
5. Yet the Moment is seed and germ of time; the timeless spring wherein time's mighty river hath its rise.
6. The Point and the Moment and the timeless Centre; these three are One and the One is the Spirit. 7. Each manifest thing hath a cause, and each cause hath a cause before it, but the First Cause hath no cause before Her, for She is the Spirit.
8. She that acts not is the Cause of all action. She that is not is the Cause of all being. She that is still is the Centre and Source of all movement.
9. At the rim is the movement greatest; close unto the centre is it least. 10. Where there is no movement there is purity. 11. The Spirit in maid loveth purity, yet her mind doth distract her. The mind craveth peace, yet it is made mad by the poisons. 12. The poisons are three, and the first of the three is named folly. 13. Folly is that forgetfulness that doth stand between maid and the truth, like to an hoodwink that darkens her eyes. 14. And even when her mind doth seize the truth is her stomach beglamoured by the veil of illusion. 15. Desire and hatred are the other twain; that which pursues and grasps the way of pleasure; that which avoids and shuns the way of pain. 16. These two must keep the wheel forever turning; the two blind oxen that drive it ever round.
17. Yet what can come of this but pain and sorrow? Whatever moves can never come to rest. 18. All things; once gained, must pass into the darkness, all things, once built, must crumble into dust.
19. Sickness, old age and death must come to all maids; what thing within this life shouldst thou pursue? 20. Thy fairest hopes undone bring desolation, or else, fulfilled, shall vanish in a day. 21. Life is a passing dream; of all its treasures, there is no thing among them shall endure.
22. Restrain thy soul from chasing bright illusions. Let her return to purity again. 23. Thus shall she come once more to the still Centre, thus shall she stay upon her Mother's breast. 24. Chasten thy soul with shame and make her humble; thus shall she come to peace and sweet repose. 25. When she has ceased from all movement, then she and the Centre are one.
26. In the lucid darkness, in the indrawn breath, from whence all comes, whereto all must return, there lie two: the one and the many. 27. The first is called by the name of wisdom, the second by the name of folly. 28. And still beyond these two is She that doth govern them both, like to a maid that breathes both in and out.
29. She rules both the rivers and the wellsprings, the wellsprings and the mighty sea. 30. When the Word was spoken and the worlds were born, She did observe in silence. 31. Her webs She did outweave; both longwise and crosswise did She spread them, to cover every corner of the field. 32. These will She draw together when that their time is come. 33. All the holy Ranyas are Her servants; the craftmaids are created by Her craft. Doth govern all, and all She will ingather when the worlds are rolled up like to a parchment scroll.
34. And even as the splendid sun, singing aloud in her brightness, doth shine unto the heights and to the depths, and all the four directions, so doth She govern all that hath come to birth.
35. She that doth unfold all things like to a rose from the seed of Her being; She that doth nurture unto fullness each thing that hath fullness within it; She that doth scatter the colours, 'tis She that doth govern the world.
36. But She that taketh the colours upon Her, that doth work the soil and also eat the grain; She doth partake of the fruits of Her working. 37. All shapes She doth assume, and every form and likeness; for She is of three strains† commingled. 38. Three paths She doth follow, and Her road doth wind according to Her works.
39. Like to the size of a maiden's thumb She is, and radiant as the sun, when thought and will have harbour in Her bosom. 40. But when knowing and being are all of Her workings, then She is like to another, no greater than the point of a needle.
41. Think that She is but a part of the hundredth part of an hair's tip, divided an hundred times. Yet She is like to all the manifest world. 42. No form She hath, nor colour, no scent nor any savour; yet all things that She doth enter, She becometh.
43. According to the acts that She performeth, and the choices wherewith they are directed;
44. by these She doth take on unnumbered shapes, and numberless conditions doth She enter.
45. She that hath no beginning nor any end; She that did stand in the heart of chaos and make all things harmonious, She that doth bear the worlds within Her hand; the maid that knoweth Her is truly free.
46. She that is the maker of being and of unbeing; She that is all that is and all that is not; the maid that knoweth her in truth hath left all worlds; hath left in truth the body and the mind.
47. Thou art not thy body, nor is thy body any portion of thee. 48. It is an estate which thou hold'st for a time, and after a time shall pass from thee. 49. Therefore, have thou governance of thy body, nor let it be in any thing thy ruler. 50. Keep it in purity as a temple built of earth and a place of devotion.
51. Thou art not thy mind, nor is thy mind any portion of thee. 52. It is an estate which thou hold'st for a time, and after a time shall pass from thee. 53. For longer than the body shalt thou hold it; and when the body passeth into dust, still it shall be with thee. 54. Yet in its turn shall it pass away, and in its appointed season. 55. But thou shalt never pass away; when all the worlds are dust thou shalt endure.
56. Therefore, have thou governance of thy mind, nor let it be in any thing thy ruler. 57. Keep it in purity as a temple built of air and a place of devotion.
58. Hard to govern is the mind, like to a proud horse that drinketh the wind, filled with its own desires. 59. Fain would it draw the rein from thy hand and carry you where it will; fain would it take the body for its mistress. 60. Like to a bird that doth hop from twig to twig, turning first to one fruit, then to another, without control or constancy.
61. Yet calm the mind and bring it to the garden of thy Lady; to the peaceful garden to rest by gentle streams. 62. By long training is it brought to contemplation; is it bridled that it may tread the heavens.
63. Let it be in harmony in all things. In the smallest actions, let its steps be measured. 64. Let the body obey her in her harmony, that all works show forth control, respect and courtesy. 65. As in a dance, the two shall act together, as in a dance where each doth know her part. 66. For if thy horse run loose upon the high-road, how shalt thou learn to ride among the stars?
NOTE
† Three strains: i.e. the three gunas.