Liber LXV: The White Swan of Ecstasy and the Little Crazy Boy of Reason
The parables of the Holy Books of Thelema
“Also the Holy One came upon me, and I beheld a white swan floating in the blue. Between its wings I sate, and the æons fled away. Then the swan flew and dived and soared, yet no whither we went.
A little crazy boy that rode with me spake unto the swan, and said: Who art thou that dost float and fly and dive and soar in the inane? Behold, these many æons have passed; whence camest thou? Whither wilt thou go?
And laughing I chid him, saying: No whence! No whither! The swan being silent, he answered: Then, if with no goal, why this eternal journey? And I laid my head against the Head of the Swan, and laughed, saying: Is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging? Is there not weariness and impatience for who would attain to some goal? And the swan was ever silent.
Ah! but we floated in the infinite Abyss. Joy! Joy! White swan, bear thou ever me up between thy wings!”
–Liber LXV, II:17-25
The second chapter of Liber LXV is attributed to the element of Air which, among other things, is associated with thought and ideas. Thus, the Adept traveling through the air gives us an indication that we will be dealing with such topics.
This brief parable is a lesson on the limitations of thought and reason when it comes to understanding the infinite and the ineffable. It also shows that joy can be found in every moment of existence and does not need to be tied to achieving goals and making results.
The swan awaits. Let us fly…
“Also the Holy One came upon me, and I beheld a white swan floating in the blue. Between its wings I sate, and the æons fled away. Then the swan flew and dived and soared, yet no whither we went.
This parable begins as an ecstatic vision in which the Adept flies through a clear blue sky upon the back of a white swan.
Swans are traditionally a spiritual symbol of wisdom, grace, beauty, and higher consciousness. The Greek gods Apollo and Aphrodite have been portrayed as flying on the back of a swan. The swan in this parable is representative of the Adept’s ecstatic state of consciousness, and, as we will see, his Holy Guardian Angel.
Qabalistically, the swan’s body maps to the Tree of Life. Its head corresponds to the Neshamah, or the super consciousness that is seated in Binah among the Supernal Triad. It’s long neck alludes to the path of Gimel which is linked with the High Priestess card of the Tarot and connects the spheres of Kether and Tiphereth. The swan’s trunk is the Ruach composed of the central spheres on the Tree.
The Adept is seated “between its wings” in a central position on the swan’s body. This placement refers to the sphere of Tiphereth, which is the seat of the Ruach and is symbolized by the Sun. Thus, the Adept sits in the symbolic position of the 5=6 Adeptus Minor grade of the A.’.A.’., indicating the achievement of Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel.
The swan flies and dives and soars, and yet they go nowhere. Motion, time, and space are meaningless while the Adept is in a state of ecstasy. “The aeons fled away,” and “no whither we went.” They have passed beyond the strictures of any such systems of worldly measurement.
“A little crazy boy that rode with me spake unto the swan, and said: Who art thou that dost float and fly and dive and soar in the inane? Behold, these many æons have passed; whence camest thou? Whither wilt thou go?”
The third character of the parable, a crazy little boy, was riding with the Adept the whole time but just now makes his appearance. He represents reason, logic, and structured thinking.
He is labeled “crazy” because of the stark contrast between his perspective and that of the ecstatic Adept. Reason and logic have no points of reference in the face of the ineffable. There is no purchase upon which to grasp or drive a handspike in the ascent of a logical argument. Such rationality must seem crazy when viewed from a higher perspective.
The boy’s questions to the swan reflect his inability to understand the nature of the ineffable. “Who art thou that dost float and fly and dive and soar in the inane?” He calls anything that falls outside of his frame of reference “the inane.”
The word inane is an interesting choice because it commonly means “lacking significance, meaning, or a point,” but another definition is “empty or insubstantial.” The first definition shows that the boy puts high value on things that have a purpose or that can be measured. The second does in a sense accurately define the ecstasy of the swan as something insubstantial, beyond measure, outside of time and space.
The little boy further wonders, after the passing of so much time, where the swan came from and where he is going. This question is very much tied to a rational mindset that says everything must have a measurable place in relation to other points in space and time. It also speaks to his assumption that every activity must have a start and an end, as well as a meaningful purpose or destination.
“And laughing I chid him, saying: No whence! No whither! The swan being silent, he answered: Then, if with no goal, why this eternal journey? And I laid my head against the Head of the Swan, and laughed, saying: Is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging? Is there not weariness and impatience for who would attain to some goal? And the swan was ever silent.”
The Adept laughs and rebukes the child with the truth: there are no answers to his questions. They are traveling to nowhere, and they have been going there forever! His laughter comes from the height of his ecstasy, not out of any feeling of derision.
The child, a creature of reason and logic, can only understand things as they relate to fixed points, to facts and figures. He cannot comprehend that such a journey would be possible, or even desirable. His assumption is that such motion over time would certainly bring one closer to a destination or further from one’s place of origin. He asks why they would travel eternally with no goal.
The Adept answers the child’s questions with two queries of his own. As he does so, he lays his own head next to the swan’s. Their heads are together, showing that they are in harmony of thought. This infers that he aligned himself with the long neck of the swan to reach its head, a Qabalistic reference to the path of Gimel on the Tree of Life that leads up from Tiphereth to the sphere of Kether, the Crown.
He laughs again in ecstasy. “Is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging? Is there not weariness and impatience for who would attain to some goal?”
These rhetorical questions form the key lesson of the parable.
The Adept maintains that endless joy exists outside of the restriction of finite concepts, schedules, and timetables. What the child sees as aimless winging is truly the experience of being mindfully present in the eternal now, within the continuousness of the body of Nuit.
The Adept further reflects that those who insist on applying their restrictive ideas of purpose and meaning to the endless and eternal will only find “weariness and impatience.” They are using a butterfly net to capture the beauty of a sunset.
Chasing constantly towards some far flung goal without any other care but the destination is one definition of lust of result, something we are advised against in the Book of the Law.
“For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result is every way perfect.” – Liber AL vel Legis I:44
Lust of result can warp the output of our efforts. It can lead to failure or dissatisfaction in the end.
When we let go of desired outcomes, and when conscious awareness itself becomes the centerpiece of the journey, we find a greater earned value beyond any outward prize reward that may come to us at the end of it. This is true of any activity, not only in magical work.
The swan’s silence is complete. Being of the Neshamah and Supernal in nature, there are no words to truly express that ecstasy which exists above the Abyss. The inexpressible can only be communicated by silence. Magically, this may allude to the fourth power of the Sphinx, the Latin word tacere which means to keep silent. This silence is also expressed by the image of the Egyptian god Hoor-paar-kraat with his finger on closed lips.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
“Ah! but we floated in the infinite Abyss. Joy! Joy! White swan, bear thou ever me up between thy wings!”
The conversation has stirred the Adept’s appreciation of this state of bliss. His experience is confirmed. There is absolute joy in the endless winging, and it goes on forever. The Adept wishes it to be ever so.
Conclusion:
This parable of the White Swan of Ecstasy and the Little Crazy Boy of Reason conveys, with very inspiring words and imagery, a picture of the nature of the eternal, the working of the logical mind, and it demonstrates why the two are often at odds.
It also says something about how we should value the journey just as much, if not more than, the destination we seek. The parable’s lesson emphasizes the point that focusing on the present moment is a valid purpose in itself. And, as is usual with the holy texts, there are several layers of interpretation to peel back.
Most broadly, it is the expression of the conscious continuity of existence as compared to the worldly concerns posed by a construct of time and space. There is no real argument presented here. The little boy is described as “crazy” from the start, and his concerns are said to lead to trouble and disappointment.
In a psychological sense, the Adept, seated on the swan’s back, can be seen as the fully aware human consciousness that is in contact with both the higher and lower functions of the Self. The head of the swan represents The Adept’s super consciousness, and the flying is symbolic of his ecstasy, while the crazy little boy is the Adept’s egoic mental and logical function. In this view, they each correspond to parts of our own inner world.
The swan can also be seen as the Will of the magician, or perhaps as the Holy Guardian Angel that guides the Adept along the path of his Will. Having found the swan, the Adept flies upon its back and goes wherever the swan may lead, a reflection of Knowledge and Conversation.
The little child is the Adept’s rational inner voice that insists on practical outcomes and who presents doubt about the purpose and goal of such “inane” activity. The Adept’s direct experience of ecstasy on this path brings certainty, not faith, and overrules any doubts that the little crazy child of reason might raise. The swan’s silence confirms the occult nature of its secrets.
The parable’s point of view is that of the Adept, who has seen for himself that there is no whence and no whither. He laughs in delight at the boy’s questions because they are meaningless in that context, and he knows through direct experience that such concerns have no common points of reference within his ecstasy. There is nothing he can do but laugh, or keep silent.
The message of the Adept is one that is echoed in numerous places throughout the holy texts. It is important to have an appreciation of the journey, no matter where it leads.
“There is joy in the setting-out; there is joy in the journey; there is joy in the goal.” — Liber Tzaddi
Our journey can take the form of a cross-country vacation or a professional career. It may track our progress through initiation in a magical Order, or even the mundane tasks of brushing teeth or washing the dinner dishes. The journey can go on for minutes, or a single day, or it can last an entire lifetime. Time is meaningless, because there is only the present moment in which to sit, like the Adept, between the wings of the swan of ecstasy and enjoy the aimless winging.
With this in mind, the journey becomes an end in itself, and there is no need for any other goal. Traveling through experience with mindfulness and a “be here now” awareness is the way to connect with the infinite body of Nuit. She is ever present within each moment.
As always, your insights are profound. The neck and head of the Swan being Pure Spirit; undifferentiated consciousness. The Little Boy becomes confounded because, as you point out, this is the realm of ego and logic, et al. It is the Child that has yet to be nurtured and brought to Individuation. This is the Adept, and why you describe him with the awareness of both the Child and the Spirit. As such, he has created Soul.
The mystical view though, does not hold in the material world of action; doing one's Will; formulating it and Becoming. While the connection to Spirit is very necessary, Spirit is Inimical to Being; its non-differentiation is contrary to everything Becoming and Being is all about. For this, there are tools of the trade, sotospeak; and a full material and physical awareness.
93,
This is a very nice series, thank you for sharing.