MOON RITUAL
THIS chapter may well be omitted by the incredulous. For my part I know
not fully whether to see in it mere hypnotic influence, or some power
more evil. Possibly both had dealing in the matter. As it occurred, I
will give it you, as briefly as may be, since I have little liking for
these doings.
One night, the moon being very clear and full, Peregrine was roused from
slumber by a rap on his chamber door. Opening it he saw Castrano the
negro without, bearing a lantern in his hand.
“My master, Menippus, bids you follow me, an’ you would see that which
will chance in the Temple this night,” he said shortly.
Donning his clothes anew, and wrapping his cloak around him, Peregrine
prepared to follow the negro. The latter led the way in silence to the
hall, and thence down vaulted passages which struck with a strange
chillness. From the manner of their descent Peregrine perceived that
they led underground, penetrating deep into the earth. They were hewn
out of rock and stone, very rough and jagged. Far above him was their
arched roof plastered in some manner.
After walking five minutes or so, Castrano came to a halt opposite a
great door, nail-studded. This he opened, and in the dim light Peregrine
saw steps descending. Castrano led the way down them; signed to
Peregrine to take his place by a pillar, indicated a stone seat,
whispered an injunction to remain where he found himself, and so left
him.
Peregrine’s eyes becoming accustomed to the gloom, he looked around him.
It was a dark vaulted place, very lofty. In each of the four corners,
barely discernible through the darkness, were huge marble statues. To
the left was an arch containing seven hanging lamps, their dim flame
casting a faint light upon a dark object below it. What this object was
Peregrine knew not. It appeared to be a cabinet of black wood.
In the middle of the Temple was a stone pillar some three and a half
feet in height, the base pentagnol, the capital slightly hollowed. Smoke
ascended from it in a misty blue column. The burning substance upon it
gave forth a strange heavy scent. Above it hung a lamp half hidden by
the ascending smoke. Around the pillar, on the black marble floor, was
drawn a great circle in white chalk. An outer circle surrounded the
floor of the whole Temple. This Peregrine saw but faintly, and only as
he peered from right to left, marking all that reached his eye.
His gaze coming back again to the pillar, he saw Menippus standing near
it, within the inner circle. He had not marked him previously, and
believed this to be his first appearance. He was standing motionless and
rigid, robed in purple, white, and scarlet; Peregrine felt his eyes
drawn to him by some impelling force.
For a space Menippus remained thus; then Peregrine saw him slowly
stretch out his arms. Through the Temple came his whispered voice,
gradually gathering in force.
“_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_”
came the cry. And then again louder.
“_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_”
It seemed to Peregrine that the atmosphere around him trembled, as the
cry came floating through the Temple. And then it came a third time.
“_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_”
Now it penetrated to the furthest corners, echoed hollowly in the
vaulted roof. He was very sure that the air shook.
Still the cry went on, and with it further words. They were uttered in
Latin. For your better understanding of the ritual I give you the
translation. The utterance of the words came in curious waves of sound,
rising, falling, beating through space; collecting, so it seemed, power
and force, in their inexorable rhythm.
“_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Thou that dwellest in the spaceless void,
_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Thou that dwellest in the illimitable silence,
_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Bring to us thine aid.”
The voice fell to silence; a breath of wind swept through the Temple.
“_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Indomitable Ruler of the Firmaments,
_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Invisible Wanderer of the trackless stars,
_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Lend to us thy power.”
Again the wind swept through the Temple, falling once more to a deathly
stillness. Small points of light focussed, broke, and scattered through
the gloom.
“_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Majestic Creator of the Vast All,
_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Breath of the Boundless Universe,
_Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_
Give to us creation and the breath of life.”
And then, lastly, the supreme utterance given with the whole collective
force of will:
“_Messias Soter Emanuel Sabaoth Adonay, te adore et invoco._”
Now the wind swept through the Temple in a volume, swaying the lamps
till their chains jangled, beating down the smoke from the pillar till
it spread in clouds around it. Again the stillness fell. The air around
the pillar cleared.
Now Peregrine saw four figures standing by it, where previously there
had been but one,—men robed in purple, white, and scarlet, as Menippus
was robed; and round the forehead of each was a gold fillet fronted by
the Rising Sun. From whence they had made their appearance he knew not,
but it is very certain that the awe brought to his heart by the sweeping
wind remained with it in their presence. The still air felt almost ice
cold. Peregrine shivered, and drew his cloak closer around him the while
he gazed, his eyes rivetted upon the pillar and the four figures. While
fully aware of their actual presence, he was yet imbued with a sense of
unreality, and more especially a sensation of unsafety. He felt somewhat
as a man might feel, who sees poisoned arrows falling round him, and
knows himself vulnerable at every point. An’ he be not wounded, it will
be by some good chance, rather than by any protection he can afford
himself.
Then he saw that another light had entered the Temple,—pale moonlight
falling straight upon the circle where the four stood, though from
whence it entered he knew not. Now he heard chanting coming from the
four; saw some ceremony was in progress. This was none too easy for the
uninitiated to follow.
At the first they stood, arms wide-spread, rhythmic syllables falling
from their lips in measured tone, with curious undulation and dwelling
on the vowels. It seemed, indeed, naught but vowels that they uttered
with the wailing cry as of some Banshee. Next, the cry dying away, they
bowed themselves in silence to the earth, touching the black marble
floor with their fillet-bound foreheads. Then, standing again upright,
the figure nearest him went up to the pillar, took from it with a pair
of golden tongs, what appeared to be glowing charcoal. This he placed in
a gold censer. Standing, then, beside the pillar, Menippus, who faced
him, came towards him, blew upon the charcoal till it glowed to deeper
crimson. Half unconsciously, through the ritual, Peregrine found his
brain recording sentences. Here was the first.
“_And the Wind of the North shall blow upon the Fire of the South that
it increase in fervour, since from the South cometh the Purifying
Fire._”
Menippus moved back to his place, and the figure to his right came
forward. This one scattered drops of water on the pillar, which hissed
as they fell among the burning mass. Next Menippus came down, breathed
upon the vessel the figure held.
“_And the Wind of the North shall blow upon the Waters of the East, that
they quench not the Fires of the South._”
Here the figure holding the vessel of water carried it to him with the
censer. Thrusting his hand into the vessel he scattered drops upon the
charcoal in the censer. Again there was a sound of hissing; but the
smoke from the censer continued to ascend. He stepped back, and Menippus
came forward, signing symbols over the water, finally scattering drops
around the pillar and upon the other three.
“_And the Wind of the North scatters the Waters of the East, purifying
those on whom the drops shall fall._”
Now he again returned to his place, and the figure to his left came
forward. From a bag of purple stuff he drew forth grain, threw it on the
pillar where it was caught by the fire, and flame sprung up. Once more
Menippus came forward. Here he took grain from the hands of the figure
who held the bag, carried it to the figure bearing the censer, threw
grain on the censer.
“_And the Wind of the North shall carry the offering of the West, that
it be purified by the Fires of the South._”
All four now returning to their former places, again the wailing chant
rang through the Temple with ever increasing insistence. The vibratory
strength of the ascending and descending cry brought back to Peregrine’s
mind somewhat of the Sage’s teaching. He perceived in it new meaning,
felt, in a measure, the vibrations correspond with other subtle
vibrations in the atmosphere around him. Together they formed a strange
harmony. Now he saw Menippus stand with arms again outstretched, saw the
figures South, West, and East, scatter burning charcoal, grain, and
water upon the ground, found his brain again recording words, even
though they were not heard in actual sense by his ears.
“_Thus purified upon the altar, further purified by the breath of the
Wind from the North, we return these gifts to the Earth, in the Name of
the Great Lord Adonay, Creator of the Universe, Lord of the World, Ruler
of all Creation, of the Elements, of things animate and inanimate.
Adonay! Adonay! Adonay!_”
Now they moved in measured tread around the pillar, chanting as they
went. Nine times they circled it, coming at length to a stand in their
former position. The chanting now held a tone of praise rather than of
invocation. Words after this fashion came to his mind:
“_Light of the Sleeping World,
Globe suspended in Boundless Space,
Watcher of the Silence,
We worship Thee._
“_In the ninth month of Thy Reign,
In the time of Plenteousness,
In the time of Harvest,
We worship Thee._
“_Looking upon the Fruitful Earth,
Looking upon the Bounteous Plenitude,
Looking upon the Gifts of Nature,
We worship Thee._
“_Thy light is falling on the Ripened Harvest,
Thy light is falling on the Whitened Cornfields,
Thy light is falling on the Purple Vineyards.
We worship Thee._
“_For the white Oil of Gladness,
For the golden Corn of Strength,
For the red Wine of Sweetness,
We worship Thee._
“_O Golden Sphere,
We worship Thee.
O Queen of Night,
We worship Thee._”
He saw that the moonlight was shifting. It no longer fell full upon the
circle. The chanting came with a tone of finality. He received now no
sense of words, knew merely that the ritual was drawing to an end.
On a sudden the chant ceased. An extraordinary silence fell upon the
Temple. At the same instant he saw that the three figures had
disappeared. Menippus alone stood rigid by the pillar. Peregrine found
himself trembling. A slight sound drew his eyes to the dark object
before the archway. A face, white and frightened, was peering from it.
Peregrine made a quick step forward. On the instant his arm was seized.
Turning he saw Castrano.
“It is ended,” whispered the negro, and hurried him from the Temple.
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