(03/??/1961) The Star of the Magi

NOTE: This is the opening poem in the cycle “The Angel and the Abyss,” corresponding to Atu XVII: The Star in the Tarot. 

The Star of the Magi
Beyond the Fortress of the Night
That rules the Gulf of Avatar
My own transfigured soul burns bright
And glorious: A Deathless Star!

And this our pledge to those who keep
Their vigil on the dreadful Deep
Ad Astra Athanasia!

This is the star the Magi know
It flashes in the mystic North
Artemis bends it to her bow
It tips the shaft She blazes forth!

And this our pledge to those who keep
Their vigil on the Dreadful Deep
Ad Astra Athanasia!

There is a Tyger burning bright
A Star seen from beneath the Trees
“In the forests of the night”
Of Her eternal mysteries!

And this our pledge to those who keep
Their vigil on the Dreadful Deep
Ad Astra Athanasia!

“Childe Roland to the dark tower came”
The Watchtower of the Universe
“Siege Perilous” its awful name
And “Chapel Dolorous” its curse

And this our pledge to those who keep
Their vigil on the Dreadful Deep
Ad Astra Athanasia!

Supine the armored dead man lies
A Master slain, an empty Shrine
Diana, Huntress of the Skies!
Take Thou his soul and make it Thine

And this our pledge to those who keep
Their vigil on the Dreadful Deep
Ad Astra Athanasia!

— Grady L. McMurtry
(3/1961 e.v.)

Note: Originally published in Thelema Lodge Calendar, November 1991