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THE SHRINE OF THE
GOLDEN HAWK. ❦ ❦
❦ _The Priest of the Waters is seated. Enter the Priest of the
Harvests._
❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦ ❦
_The Priest of Harvests._
Our Master finishes his work to-night.
_The Priest of Waters._
At last! Each day his spirit becomes more charged with lonely
suspicion. I doubt sometimes if this act of faith will bear good
fruit for us.
_The Priest of Harvests._
Do not fear. Gebuel, being a great magician and our master, has
promised us the victory. Even the Majesty of Egypt, whose name
shakes our land, is to be overcome.
_The Priest of Waters._
Gebuel shall overcome Zozer, the enemy of our arts.
_The Priest of Harvests._
Hark! did you not hear the distant thunder? Which of us has dared
name the king of Egypt for these many years?
_The Priest of Waters._
Pah! He, whom I have named, is the enemy of our arts. When
I cursed the land of Egypt with a great flood, he opened
watercourses, and the evil became a good, and the desert
was no longer waste.
_The Priest of Harvests._
The curse of famine, which I laid upon the land of Egypt, was
unavailing. I cursed the land when he, whom you have named, was
using the strength of his people to build the pyramid of six
heights and four sides as a tower of magic; for it is raised
above that chamber which lies empty, hidden deep in the earth,
waiting for the divine secret which is to manifest in its depths
and make full its vacancy.
_The Priest of Waters._
Curse the king over Egypt, for he has wrought so that our power
falls from us.
_The Priest of Harvests._
Curse the king over Egypt, for he has annulled the ancient law to
which all the works of men have been obedient! He has made bread
from the substance of heaven; wherewith he fed his people when it
was my will that they should starve.
_The Priest of Waters._
To-night great Gebuel will bless the talisman of Heru, for the
power of Heru is supreme: and if his godhead is on our side, not
even the Egyptian himself can work against our will.
_The Priest of Harvests._
The fire of Heru will take the form of the Golden Hawk; and his
wings shall stretch out, and he shall hover over the secret place
which Gebuel, blessed be he, has made of precious stones and rare
metals. And our ancient glory shall be given to us once more.
_The Priest of Waters._
So long as the Golden Hawk is with us, victory is with us.
_The Priest of Harvests._
Only the taking from us of the Golden Hawk can take victory from
us.
_Gebuel_ (_without_).
Ruler of the rivers and the floods, prepare for the coming of the
Hawk of the North!
_The Priest of Waters._
Here I obey, great Gebuel.
_Gebuel._
Ruler of the Harvests and the Famines, prepare for the coming of
the Hawk of the North!
_The Priest of Harvests._
Here I obey, great Gebuel.
(_Gebuel enters, carrying the enamelled pectoral of the
Golden Hawk._)
_Gebuel._
Let the ruler of the floods and of the storms stand on my right
hand.
(_The Priest of Waters brings libation vase to his right._)
_Gebuel._
Let the ruler of the harvest and the famines stand on my left
hand.
(_The Priest of Harvests brings corn and a cone of bread to
his left._)
_Gebuel._
Take the perfected talisman of the Golden Hawk between your hands
while I invoke Heru, who rests upon the central pillar of the
world! Heru, whose four servers uphold the shining adamantine
heavens! Heru, who has sent forth his retinue to the uttermost
limits of the earth, and remains solitary in the midst whilst
they wind the magic cord on the circle of the wheel. Heru, the
axletree of flame, the source of the fire of life!
(_The priests each hold one side of the pectoral while
Gebuel rests his hands on their shoulders and prays._)
_Gebuel._
O Ancient, before all time! Supreme Ruler over the work of That
Mighty Countenance which speaks the Word of Life! Pour thy golden
fire into this Golden Hawk now coming into being. I have made
thee in the image of the mountain hawk which thou hast chosen to
be thy symbol because of his fearless eye, which alone can
affront the eye of heaven. Thou hast commanded, and I have made
thy visible image in unchanging gold. May thy chosen ones rejoice
in its presence, feeling the spirit of peace resting upon them.
(_Removes his hands from the shoulders of the priests._) Lift the
bolt of the doors of the sanctuary.
(_Priests go out. Gebuel holds the pectoral on high. Priests
return._)
_Priests._
It is done, mighty one.
(_Gebuel stands before the door. The priests kneel on either
side of him._)
_Gebuel._
Hail in the holy place of thine Epiphany, solitary one! O thou
who restest on the star in the centre of the Northern heavens!
That star which alone is immovable. Thou art the celestial abode
of our god, Star of the North! Divine Hawk, hovering in the blue
night, dark as lapis lazuli! Immovable eye, in the midst of the
wheel of the stars, send down a ray from thy splendid solitude
upon this hawk—image of thee, thou solitary one, resting upon the
empty air, immovable as thou art in the midst of heaven. Let the
Priest of the Harvest and the Famine do homage before Heru! (_He
prostrates himself._) Let the Priest of the Floods and the Storms
do homage before Heru! (_He prostrates himself._) Hail, Hawk of
Gold! I give thy symbol into thine own keeping. Hail to thee,
resting over the Star of the North!
(_Veils himself and enters the sanctuary. The priests rise
and replace their symbols upon the altar._)
_The Priest of Harvests._ So long as Heru in the form of the
Golden Hawk is hidden within the shrine, victory is hidden
between our hands.
_The Priest of Waters._ The Golden Hawk is hidden within the
shrine; and victory is hidden between our hands.
(_Gebuel re-enters trembling. The priests support him._)
_Gebuel._
I am stricken by his eyes; I am stricken by the eyes of Heru.
(_They lead him to the seat._)
_Gebuel_ (_staring in front of him_).
The Star of the North shines beyond the open gates; but some
strong hand holds me back. I have a strange knowledge of one
coming—whose coming will bring darkness. (_Tries to stand._) I
cannot stand. Close the doors quickly. Drop the bolt. (_This is
done._) Bring me the sweet-smelling fire that I may breathe it
and find strength. (_They burn incense. He gradually recovers._)
Bring me the stones of wisdom, that I may understand this
portent. (_They bring two stones._) Let the secret be read and
the sign given. Speak! let me know the riddle. (_He holds the
stones to his ears. He says to the priests_) Leave me, for the
answer is adverse. There is a secret evil even at the doors of
this holy place. Go cleanse yourselves with rites till I summon
you again before me. (_The attendant priests go out._) O Heru,
dost thou demand that a victim should be sacrificed? How have I
unwittingly sinned against thee? Thou sayest, “One must be made
desolate.” Someone is to be made desolate.
(_Nectoris knocks outside._)
_Gebuel._
Who is there?
_Nectoris._
A wanderer.
_Gebuel._
There is food and shelter for all a little to the westward of
this place.
_Nectoris._
I ask no food for the body. I come to feed the soul on wisdom.
(_Gebuel opens the door._) Hail to you, guardian of the
mysteries.
(_She salutes him in the Egyptian manner._)
_Gebuel._
What wisdom do you seek?
_Nectoris._
The wisdom of the Golden Hawk.
_Gebuel._
Who told you of this place?
_Nectoris._
In my dreams I went into the forest where the bronze and gold
serpents coil like flames amid the leaves, and they made me wise
with great sayings, and the spirits of power passed into my
spirit; for the forest was the forest of knowledge. But when I
held the image of the Hawk exalted on the standard of the crossed
pole before the serpents, they paled and grew dim in the presence
of a strength greater than theirs; and as I looked the wood
became silent and empty, and the creatures of the wisdom, which
is of time, faded away.
_Gebuel._
The serpent is wisdom from the beginning of time, but the Golden
Hawk is poised in the immensities between that which has been and
the revelation of the last secret.
_Nectoris._
Even so. I saw before me the Hawk brooding with spread wings in
space beyond the worlds, in the midst of the network of the
stars; and as its wings moved they fanned the golden denseness of
the air, and sparks arose and came and went like luminous winged
creatures.
_Gebuel._
They are the flames of life.
_Nectoris._
I saw three towers rising from the head of the bird like a great
crown, and from them sprang the souls of the heroes.
_Gebuel._
Even so. This is one of the greater mysteries.
_Nectoris._
From the wings and the heart sprang the souls of the workers, who
make beautiful all they touch.
_Gebuel._
The heart is the kindling will of the golden one.
_Nectoris._
From the feet of the bird came the workers of less skill and
cunning, and these make the foundations of the works of beauty,
and drift onwards, without the inspiration and the kindling fire.
_Gebuel._
Where did you learn to discern these mysteries, my daughter?
_Nectoris._
Since my childhood I have lived among strangers in a place of
dreams. I have wandered from land to land searching for wisdom. I
have but the sombre knowledge born of time, which is shattered
before the final ecstacy. Now my footsteps have brought me to
you, O great magician.
_Gebuel_ (_kindly_).
You are welcome.
_Nectoris._
I have been guided by some star that smiled on my nativity, which
was darkened until this day in obedience to a wisdom higher than
its own.
_Gebuel._
Why did you seek for me?
_Nectoris._
Your spirit springs from the triple crown. You alone can fill my
soul, hungering for satisfaction in that wisdom which is beyond,
hidden behind the veil. (_Gebuel sighs, feeling conscious of his
own difficulties. He is genuine in his interest in Nectoris._)
Will you not let me follow you one step beyond the threshold of
the golden sanctuary?
_Gebuel._
O child of the serpent wisdom, do you not know that no mortal may
look upon the face of Heru and live? Only after the purifications
of long silences, long fasts, and constant uplifting of the
heart, may one born of the human race purge himself of the
perishable substance of the life we know, and exchange it for the
imperishable essence of the shining ones. Only after such rites
have been performed may you hope to pass through the closed doors
of the sanctuary.
_Nectoris_ (_with passion_).
Let me but look upon the door.
_Gebuel._
The door is there—your first duty is to keep vigil. But beware of
the brightness hidden in the heart of the shrine. To look upon it
is to be blind; to be enfolded by its heat is to pass through
fires too potent for any human soul.
_Nectoris._
I will keep vigil.
_Gebuel._
You are rash! being young, and do not know that there is a wisdom
before which the sun pales and the stars are put out.
_Nectoris._
Let me begin the vigil that it may be the sooner ended!
_Gebuel._
To watch from this day until your span of earthly life is ended
would not be long enough. Be warned, let the shut door remain
closed.
_Nectoris._
Father of Wisdom, put me to the test. I will endure all
hardships.
_Gebuel._
No hardship is before those who worship Heru. I ask nothing but
obedience to my warning. Keep vigil before the door of the
sanctuary; the bolts are easy, the secret of secrets is within,
but remember the light of flame brings desolation. You are
warned.
_Nectoris_ (_as if in a dream_).
“The light shines forth and leaves you desolate.”
_Gebuel_ (_suddenly becoming suspicious_).
The words that were spoken to me out of the stones! Desolate—one
to be made desolate! Where have you heard those words?
_Nectoris._
They passed through the air as you were speaking.
_Gebuel._
The warning is given for the second time! To you the unseen
spirits are not dumb. How have you this power?
_Nectoris._
Great Master, I am but a little child in the presence of your
wisdom. I come not to show that I have knowledge, but to gain it
by your aid. I have heard the voices of the unseen ones since I
was a child, and taken no thought of it.
(_Gebuel claps his hands. The priests enter._)
_Gebuel._
Set guards about the door, and see that none go in or out this
day.
(_The priests salute and go out._)
_Gebuel_ (_sardonically_).
The secret of all knowledge is within the shrine. The vigil must
be long. You will be alone for many hours, and none will enter in
to disturb you. Have courage!
_Nectoris._
Your look upon me is heavy and cold as stone. O Master, do you
deny me the wisdom of the Golden Hawk, for which I ask in all
humility?
_Gebuel._
Again I say the secret is within the shrine. Keep vigil!
_Nectoris._
I am afraid! Your face has become like a mask of stone. The human
face is hidden behind it. I am afraid!
_Gebuel._
The secret is within the shrine. Keep vigil till I come again.
(_He goes._)
_Nectoris_ (_shrieks_).
This terror kills me! (_She throws off her veil._) Spirit of
Zozer my father, I call on you for help! My flesh fails—I cannot
move, Father in thy magic shrine, save me! Father in thy magic
shrine, reign over me! Father in thy magic shrine, pour thy will
into me, for I am powerless alone! Spirit of Zozer my father,
help thy child!
(_She sinks on the floor. The Ka glides in and covers
herself with the veil._)
_The Ka._
Look upon me. I am with you. You have begun well, and are worthy
of your inheritance. Do not fail now. Have you forgotten your
father’s words?
_Nectoris._
Sister of my soul! they are in my heart for ever.
_The Ka._
Speak them.
_Nectoris._
He said, a Golden Hawk has been fashioned by the magicians of
Mount Bakhua, and will be hidden by them in a sanctuary. Its
capture would bring joy and great knowledge to Egypt. If you, a
woman wise with the serpent wisdom, should gain that sanctuary
and bring back the amulet, I will give the throne of Egypt to you
and to your daughters for ever; that honour may be paid to the
woman of splendid courage. And no man shall reign over Egypt, in
his own right, from that day.
_The Ka._
So he swore to you. You know what is within this shrine; enter
and take the Golden One for your people.
_Nectoris._
The face of the Guardian was terrible when he left me, as though
he knew I were tempting the gods to my ruin. Can a mortal look on
that hidden brightness and live?
_The Ka._
You are not mortal. The pure essence of the gods, whereof your
spirit is made, is but veiled with a gossamer of substance. Have
not we, O my sister soul, passed together through the flames
which cleanse us from mortality? Have I not stripped you naked of
that mortal flesh, which gives terror to the whirl of time and to
the immensity of the abyss, when your mortal heart died in you,
and your spirit dared greatly in those spaces beyond knowledge?
_Nectoris._
I will cast out trembling from my heart in this hour, and take
the strong soul which no passion can shake; that I may enter into
the shrine and win the Golden One for my people and the throne of
Egypt for myself and my daughters.
_The Ka._
Egypt is great and skilled in august mysteries; and to reign over
her and to follow her wisdom is to become equal with the gods;
and when the last mysteries are won, even greater than they.
Kneel with me, that we may together call the powers forth from
their hidingplace, for the great Heru is not without us. We shall
find him in ourselves.
(_They kneel._)
O thou whose wings cover the earth! cover the body of thy
servant, that she may find the living flame within herself, and
enter without fear before thee! O Hawk of the North, whose secret
places are paved with fire which consumeth time and the substance
thereof! bless the feet of thy servant that she may pass
unscathed to thy throne. O Heru, whose eye pierces the earth and
the heavens, bless the eyes of thy servant that she may look upon
thee and live. O Heru, on whose brow lies the weight of wisdom,
bless the brow of thy servant, that she may bind upon it the
triple crown of glory; and that she may win the wisdom of the
Golden Hawk, and give it to her people.
(_Nectoris rises and enters the shrine. The Ka looks after
her._)
_The Ka._
The bolts are lifted and the doors turn in their sockets. She
kneels, and fear wraps her round as a grey garment. O sister, let
the light of Heru pierce you. She rises, and her fear is rent
upon her as lightning rends the flesh. She is clothed in the cold
fires of the Northern Star. She flings her arms to the air, and a
wild joy is in her heart. The spirit and the flesh wrestle for
victory, for she has yet some part in what is mortal. She cannot
breathe—she speaks at last!
_Nectoris_ (_within_).
Let my feet move now in triumph to the music of the worlds beyond
space, where thy mighty heart beats out the rhythm, making the
worlds to fall and rise in their order, and the stars to follow
in their courses! I am drunk with conquest, and I shake the
sistrum and dance with my naked feet unscathed upon thy golden
floor! And the measures I dance are to me as the movement of a
great army which has scaled the awful walls of thy majesty, and
taken the fortress of thy wisdom!
_The Ka._
She moves in the dance as one who sees a splendour which is
beyond the eye of man. Her limbs shine in the nimbus of the Hawk
of Glory. She is more golden than the talisman upon her breast.
She is here! (_Dances._) She is around me! (_Dances._) Her
substance is not mortal! (_Dances._) She is around me; the flames
sweep over me, and the shadows of time pass away! (_Dances._)
Nectoris, my sister soul, the victory is won! (_Dances, and
passes into the shrine._)
_Gebuel_ (_enters and looks round_).
Yet another vigil broken! Heru has chosen his victim. He has
called her into the shrine that he may slay her. One more mortal
light put out by the light of the gods!
(_Nectoris appears at the door of the shrine, radiant,
looking younger and full of exultation. The amulet is on her
breast._)
_Gebuel._
You are not slain before the face of Heru?
_Nectoris._
I am not slain!
_Gebuel._
How have you, being unveiled, looked upon his face?
_Nectoris._
I look unharmed upon the face of the god because his eyes are my
eyes, and his power is my power, his spirit is my spirit. I am an
Egyptian and mistress of the mysteries. I have become one with
Heru, for I have eaten of his substance and I have drunk of his
spirit, and I am henceforth ruler of the holy places. Whoso is
made one with the gods makes their holy places desolate, and
himself becomes their sanctuary; and his being is greater than
theirs, being made of their own substance. For he has devoured
their mystical rites and symbols, he has swallowed their shining
forms, he has eaten the power and wisdom of every god, and the
period of his life is eternity!
_Gebuel._
Let the presence of Heru seal your blasphemous lips!
_Nectoris._
Yes, you are in the presence of the Flame of Life. I, a woman of
Egypt, have been chosen to pierce this mystery, and have entered
into the shrine of the Golden One, and his fires have not burned,
neither has his eye wounded me. The wise sister of my spirit
enfolded me in safety, and gathered about me the shining garment
of Heru. Enter in, O magician, and look upon the place of flame.
Enter into the empty shrine which has yielded its treasure to me.
The Golden Hawk is on my breast as a sign. Heru has put his
finger upon me and marked me for his own, and I am Egypt. I go to
my own country that I may sit on the throne and give wisdom and
exultation of heart to my people.
_Gebuel._
Desolation has fallen upon me! I am myself the victim of Heru.
Verily it is true, “In his shining I have seen darkness, and the
light of mine eyes has been put out.” You are stronger than I;
the amulet of the god lies upon your heart and does not strike
you dead. You have won it; let your triumph be enough. Give me
back my Golden Hawk, which I have made of the imperishable
substance of the earth!
_Nectoris._
I carry the Golden Hawk to my father, wise and beautiful Zozer,
builder of the pyramid of six heights and four sides, that he may
place it in the secret sanctuary under the bolt of granite that
will answer to the touch of his finger, but takes the strength of
a hundred men to lift.
_Gebuel._
Daughter of Zozer, wise and beautiful, let the spirit of your
victory remain with you, and give me back my image of the god;
that I, who am less than you, may see and worship with mine eyes,
which may only look upon the god in his semblance.
_Nectoris._
You can follow Heru into Egypt, O magician, and so long the
secret lord of this place! Your day is darkened. Come with your
god into Egypt, and serve him in that new land which is thirsty
for him; you shall see the dawn again when his light rises in a
great country, and you shall teach his wisdom.
_Gebuel._
And if I follow you, will it be to forsake this shrine which I
have made of precious stones and metals, each stone with its own
secret?—in chrysoprase the secret of vision, in amethyst the
inner fire of the soul, in chrysolyte the secret of seership, in
lapis lazuli the hidden wisdom, and in cornelian the secret of
ritual.
_Nectoris._
Bring the dwellingplace of Heru with you, for it is sacred; and
you are the master of these things. And my people shall hold you
in high honour, and your works shall live after you, wrought in
amethyst and in cornelian, in chrysoprase and in chrysolyte, and
in lapis lazuli. Bring the shrine of Heru, for his spirit goes
before. And put chains on the necks of your priests, and bend
their wills to the will of the great one who rules in Egypt, that
there may be no more floods or famines in the land.
_Gebuel._
O wearer of the Golden Hawk! Daughter of Zozer of whom prophecy
has spoken! Daughter of Zozer, builder of the pyramid of which
the six heights are the steps of wisdom, I follow you, and my
priests shall follow you; we are the victims upon his altar. Is
not the dwelling of Heru my dwelling? and shall not the shrine of
Heru be the eternal resting-place of my spirit? I follow you, O
great among women, for you are the will of Heru made manifest.
_Chorus of Priests._
Immovable in heaven, we adore thee. Heru, Hawk of Gold, we adore
thee.