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This Epistle first appeared in The International, andits appearance
here is dedicated to the late Frater Superior HymenaeusAlpha 777 Xш
O.T.O.--H.B.

AN EPISTLE OF BAPHOMET to the Illustrious Dame Anna Wright, Companion of the Holy Graal, shining like the moon, concerning Death, that she and her sisters may bring comfort to all them that are nigh death, and unto such as love them.

Beloved Daughter and Sister,

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
 

Let it be thy will and the will of all them that tendupon the sick,  to comfort and to fortify them with these words following.

I
 

IT IS WRITTEN in The Book of the Law: Every man and everywoman is a
Star. It is Our Lady of the Stars that speaketh to thee,O thou that  art a star, a member of the Body of Nuith! Listen, forthine ears  become dulled to the mean noises of the earth; the infinitesilence of  the Stars woos thee with subtile musick. Behold her bendingdown above  thee, a flame of blue, all-touching, all-penetrant, herlovely hands  upon the black earth, and her lithe body arched forlove, and her soft  feet not hurting the little flowers, and thinkthat all thy grossness  shall presently fall from thee as thou leapestto her embrace, caught  up into her love as a dewdrop into the kissesof the sunrise. Is not  the ecstasy of Nuit the consciousness of thecontinuity of existence,  the omnipresence of her body? All that hathhurt thee was that thou  knewest it not, and as that fadeth from theethou shalt know as never yet how all is one. Again She saith: I give unimaginablejoys upon  earth, certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death.This thou hast  known. Time that eateth his children hath not poweron them that would  not be children of Time. To them that think themselvesimmortal, that  dwell alway in eternity, conscious of Nuit, thronedupon the chariot of the sun, there is no death that men call death. Inall the universe darkness is only to be found in the shadow of a grossand opaque
planet, as it were for a moment; the universe itselfis a flood of light eternal. So also death is but through accident; thouhast hidden thyself in the shadow of thy gross body, and taking it forreality, thou hast trembled. But the orb revolveth anon; the shadow passethaway from thee. There is the dissolution, and the eternal ecstasy in
the kisses of Nu! For inasmuch as thou hast made theLaw of Freedom thine, as thou hast lived in Light and Liberty and Love,thou hast become a Free-man of the City of the Stars.
 

II

LISTEN AGAIN to thine own voice within thee. Is not Haditthe flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star?Is not He Life, and the giver of Life? And is not therefore the knowledgeof Him the knowledge of Death? For it hath been shown unto thee in manyother places how Death and Love be twins. Now art thou the hunter, andDeath rideth beside thee with his horse and spear as thou chasest thy Willthrough the forests of Eternity, whose trees are the hair of Nuit thy mistress!Thrill with the joy of life and death! Know, hunter mighty and swift, thequarry turns to bay! Thou hast but to make one sharp thrust, and thou hastwon. The Virgin of Eternity lies supine at thy mercy, and thou art Pan!Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our agelong love. Hast thounot striven to the inmost in thee? Death is the crown of all. Harden! Holdup thyself! Lift thine head! breathe not so deep--die!
 

III

OR ART THOU STILL ENTANGLED with the thorny plaits ofwild briar rose
that thou hast woven in thy magick dance on earth? Artnot thine eyes strong enough to bear the starlight? Must thou linger yetawhile in the valley? Must thou dally with the shadows in the dusk? Thenif it be Thy Will, thou hast no right but to do Thy Will! Love still thesephantoms of the earth; thou hast made thyself a King; if it please theeto play with toys of matter, were they not made to serve thy
pleasure? Then follow in thy mind the wondrous word ofthe Stele of Revealing itself. Return if thou wilt from the abode of theStars; dwell with mortality, and feast thereon. For thou art this day Lordof Heaven and of Earth.

``The dead man Ankh-f-na-Khonsu
Saith with his voice of truth and calm:
O thou that hast a single arm!
O thou that glitterest in the moon!
I weave thee in the spinning charm
I lure thee with the billowy tune.
The dead man Ankh-f-na-Khonsu
Hath parted from the darkling crowds
Hath joined the dwellers of the light
Opening Duant, the star-abodes,
Their keys receiving.
The dead man Ankh-f-na-Khonsu
Hath made his passage into night
His pleasure on the earth to do
Among the living.''

Love is the law, love under will.
 

The Benediction of the All-Begetter, All-Devourer be uponthee.

Baphomet Xш O.T.O.
 

Given under Our hand and seal this day of An XII the Sunour Father being in Leo, and the Moon in Pisces, from the throne of Ireland,Iona and all the Britains that is in the Sanctuary of the Gnosis.