chapter 19 In the Vault of the Adepti
IN THE VAULT OF THE ADEPTI
The curtain is closed. The backstage of the empty theater has been prepared for a most elaborate magical ceremony.
Mathers has converted it to be the rectangular “temple” for Crowley’s initiation.
Objects in the room are softly lit, and the darkened walls and floor give the effect of infinite space.
Upstage, filling nearly the entire east end of the temple, is a large seven-sided structure, a room known as the “vault.” On each side of the vault two ornate pillars (one black, one white) flank the far west wall of the structure.
Against the west wall stands a large red cross. It is big enough to crucify someone.
At the beginning of the ceremony, there are three officers visible.
Each wears a different color robe and Egyptian headpiece.
Each also holds different ceremonial objects.
This night, Moina is the chief officer. She holds a rod capped with a winged globe.
Next to her is a small altar table with a chalice of wine, a dagger, and a small ornamental rose cross. She stands between the pillars.
Bennett is the second officer. He holds a rod known as the Phoenix Wand. He stands to the right of the cross, facing east.
Jones is the third officer. He holds a rod known as the Lotus Wand. He stands to the left of the cross, facing east.
At first there is complete silence. Then Mathers, unseen, begins to speak from off stage.
“Ol sonuf va-orsagi, goho iad balata!”
Crowley, dressed in a black robe with a white sash, enters from the northeast corner. Jones and Bennett go to him and conduct him to Moina, who holds her wand over Crowley’s head and speaks words we do not hear. Crowley responds with words we cannot hear.
“Wait a minute, Sir Francis. Speaks words we cannot hear? Why not? The Portal Ritual is perhaps the most dramatic and powerful initiation ceremony of all time! Not to mention it is cinematically breathtaking! You’re not going to rob the audience of this most spectacular piece of the story, are you? ”
“Yes, Milo. Yes, I am! Because it is not our place to magically initiate an audience unaware! For a film, or even a novel, it is only necessary to expose them to just enough of the ceremony’s wonders to help them understand the profound impact the experience is going to have upon young Aleister Crowley.
That’s who your movie is about, Milo. Not to mention the fact that it would add two more hours to the running time. ”
As always, Sir Francis was correct. I silently vowed to keep my mouth shut and let the true film genius get on with his dictation.
Jones and Bennett conduct Crowley to the cross. They back him flush against it, slip his hands through loops of rope near the end of each arm of the cross, and firmly tighten the ropes. They next bind his waist and his feet to the cross.
Once Crowley is securely bound to the cross, Moina picks up the rose cross, the symbol of the order, and holds it in front of his face. She yells something at him. Crowley strains against the ropes that bind his hands to the cross.
She yells again, and again Crowley struggles to pull his arms against the ropes.
Then Bennett and Jones move to the back of the cross and gradually loosen the rope loops, allowing Crowley’s hands to reach with painful slowness toward the rose cross in Moina’s hands.
Finally, his hands grasp the rose cross, and he pulls it toward his lips. He weeps in ecstasy.
Jones and Bennett now pull the ropes tight again. Moina moves as close as she can to Crowley and speaks a few words. Through his tears, Crowley appears to repeat her words. It is the sacred oath of the Degree.
Jones picks up the chalice and dagger and hands the dagger to Bennett, who dips the blade in the wine. Then, with the point of the dagger, Bennett makes crosses of wine on Crowley’s forehead, feet, right hand, left hand, and heart. As he does so, he speaks words we cannot hear.
Inside the seven-sided vault rests an ornate Egyptian coffin. Crowley has been released from the cross and stands at the foot of the coffin. Moina stands behind him to his right.
Jones and Bennett remove the coffin lid, revealing the “body” of Mathers dressed in the rich ceremonial robes of a pharaoh. His arms are crossed on his breast, and he holds the pharaoh’s crux and scourge.
Bennett says something to Crowley, hands him the rose cross, and instructs him to move toward the coffin and touch Mathers on the heart with the crucifix. Mathers does not open his eyes but begins to talk.
As he talks, he slowly levitates out of the coffin and hangs about five feet in the air. Crowley cannot believe his eyes. Mathers’s body tilts forward until he is floating upright, suspended in mid-air in front of an astonished Crowley.
The next morning, Mathers and Moina lead Crowley, Jones, and Bennett on a stroll by the tranquil lake of the Public Gardens of Paris.
They are all dressed in comfortable street clothes. Moina shades herself with a black parasol; Crowley and Jones are smoking cigars. Mathers and Moina face straight ahead and let the others talk to their backs.
Mathers chats with Bennett. “Allan, off to Ceylon are you?”
“In the morning. Don’t know if I’ll ever be back. Monks don’t receive travel allowances, I understand.”
Moina smiles as pleasantly as she as able, not that the others can see it. “You are a saint, Allan dear.”
Mathers pretends he didn’t hear that. “I envy you, Allan. We of course wish you the very best.”
“That’s very kind of you. I’ll never forget you—either of you.”
Raising his voice so that he can be heard by the cigar-smoking adepts that trail behind, Mathers asks, “Jones! Have you mastered your astral projection yet?’
“I confess, sir, I have not. Oh, I pop out now and then in my sleep. Quite by accident, though. Usually after too much broccoli quiche.”
Jones laughs. No one joins him. Mathers stops and turns to Crowley.
“You’re very quiet this morning, Brother Crowley. Did your initiation meet your expectations?”
“I am, in a word, sir, transfigured.”
“Good. That’s the point. Brother Crowley, there is a great service you can perform for me when you get back to London.”
“Anything! I am at your service.”