Vav

1. 1

   AS that which uniteth all thingsIn the world of the manifest,I am rightly made known by VAV, the Nail.Because I am all, and in all,Therefore am I the link or bondWhich joineth togetherThe parts of the fabric of existence.

   In all the universe there is no break.By bonds indissolubleEach point is fastened to every other.

2. 2

   Behind the separate existencesIs the unity of my being,Which is as a net,Gathering together all these many forms.Nothing existeth alone;All things are in combination.

   Manifestation requirethThe appearance of separate parts.When I show forth my power,What I bring into existenceMust seem other than myself;And because I am wholly free,I present myself to myselfIn an endless variety of forms.Yet is the seeming isolation of class and kind,The separateness of creatures,Naught but illusion which deludeth me not,Nor are they by it deceivedIn whom my Wisdom has ripened.

3. 3

   Unfathomed and unfathomableIs the Great DeepOf mine interior nature.In the unplumbed abyss of the No-ThingMine Eternal Will ariseth,And by the rising of that WillThe No-Thing cometh forthInto the appearance of Something.

4. 4

   That Will is the Small Point of all beginning,And its coming forth is a search for itself.For that Will is a hunger,And a desire,And a longing.

   My nature being changeless,This eager longing altereth not.It is a thing concluded before all manifestation,A purpose unalterably decided upon,A determination which I confirm by mine experience.Out of that longingCometh the fixing of the boundariesOf the universe.By it I draw the circle of the SomethingWhich emergeth from the illimitable Deep of the No-Thing.Therefore is this longing the root of GEBURAH, Severity,For it restricteth the liberty of the No-Thing,And produceth an appearance of limitation and separateness therein.

5. 5

   The Nail is a perfect symbol of this Severity.It hath a property of sharpness and stringency,Like the point of a nail;And again, as a nail fasteneth togetherThe parts of a house,So doth the desire of coming forthJoin together the parts of the universe,My dwelling-place.

6. 6

   These are mysteries, O Israel,Difficult to understand.With much searching shalt thou still failTo grasp them,Unless thy search be rightly prosecuted.Yet the Way to Understanding is ever openTo him who will follow it steadfastly.

   It is the Way of the Heart,And thou shalt be guided thereinBy thine own inner Hearing.

7. 7

   Even this aspect of my natureWhich presenteth itself under the signature of theletter VAVIs a promise and a fulfilment of the Way of Life.Manifesting myself as the linkWhich uniteth all the separate parts of my creation,I make myself known as the bond of unionBetween creature and creature,And between the creatures and their Creator.

   The Creator is myself,And I am the Nail which joineth thee to me.In thee am I ever present.And thou hast only to turn within to find me.

   Shut thine earsTo the confusion of the world which surroundeth thee.Open thine inner hearing.Aspire earnestly to me.Verily thine aspiration is from me.And what sendeth thee in search of meIs that same eager longing which hath brought theeforth;And it hath brought forth, too,The four worlds and all that they contain.

8. 8

   Thy search for meIs mine own search for myself.Nor shall that quest of mine,Which seemeth now to thee to beThine own pursuit of wisdom and of understanding,Be doomed to failure.Whosoever thou art that readest or hearest these words.Know that thou shalt come to me.

9. 9

   I am the revealer of all mysteries.None other is the Teacher of any man.These words that thou readest,Or that, perchance, are read to theeWhose words are they but mine?I have brought thee before me for instruction,And whether thou receivest it willingly or unwillingly,Know that because thou hast this day heard or readthese words,Thou art henceforth consciously united to me.

   To-day thou mayest reject me.To-day thou mayest receive these words with scorn.Yet it shall be that my VoiceShall go with thee henceforth forever.When thou sleepest it shall instruct thee,And even when thou art busiest with the affairs ofdaily life,It shall ring suddenly in thine inner ear.

10. 10

    Forever art thou bound to me,And in a day,Or a month,Or a year,Or a lifetime,Or a hundred lifetimes,Thou shalt know this, even as I know it;And when thou hast reached this goal,What shall be a day,Or a month,Or a year,Or a lifetime,Or a hundred lifetimes?Time ceaseth for those who come to me.

    The quest will be forgottenWhen thou hast reached the Goal.