13. When my Guide had ceased speaking, we left the Chamber and proceeded to ascend to the Fifth Level of the Tower; there we entered together the Thirteenth Chamber, and this Vision appeared to me. A luxuriant meadow spread out before my eyes like the plain of the World; it was filled with variety and the luxuriant flowers nodded to each other in their joy of existence. Presently, however, the breath of winter approached and its icy blast chilled my Soul; and as I gazed I saw the Vision of Death looming up before me; in one hand he held a scimitar, and in the other an empty basket; and he mowed down the flowers and threw them into the basket; and it seemed to me that they turned into dead men's heads; and some wore crowns and others the humble hood of the Dervish; and some had the golden hair of youth, and others the whitened locks of age. And in my fear I cried aloud: 'O! Terror of the World, what art thou?' And a voice replied: 'I am the Link between the Known and the Unknown. That which seems gold in the World I will turn into base metal, and that which seems base metal will I turn into gold. As the Ocean dissolveth and absorbeth the Salt of the World, so do I, for I am the Solvent of Humanity, and out of that which is do I make that which shall be'.

      When the Voice ceased, the Vision of Death departed from me, and I saw again the green meadow filled with flowers. Then my Guide said to me: 'The Spirit of Life is the antagonist of the Spirit of Stagnation, for Stagnation is the Negation of Life. In the Unity nothing is created, nothing is destroyed. To the Sage, therefore, Death hath no terrors, for he knoweth that without Death there could be no Life, without Darkness, no Light, without the Negation no Manifestation of the Reality. Death is the Key which opens unto Man a further stage on the Path of Manifestation of the Unity'.

      14. From this chamber my Guide led me to the Fourteenth Chamber, where I saw before me an Angel who poured out of a pitcher into a receiver beneath the Water of Life. My Guide said to me: 'The meaning is this. In the World in which thou livest, the mind perceiveth the existence of Individuality, which is caused by the Water of Life descending in varying degrees into Matter, its Opposite. Now the Angel, when fertilizing the World by pouring upon it the Water of Life, giveth unto Man the conception of justice, which is to be the Light which is to guide him upon the path through the Material World. The Angel whom thou seest is, therefore, the Emblem of Temperance, which is the principle which should govern the individual creature in the World'.

      15. Then with my Guide, I proceeded to the last chamber on this Level of the Tower, which was the Fifteenth in Number. Here I found myself in complete darkness, but presently out of the profundity of the gloom glowed forth the Beast of Evil, the Dragon biting his tail. Seized with fear I clung to my Guide, who threw around me the Mantle of Protection, and said: 'Behold the Sign! This is the Circle of Evil. Woe unto the man who steppeth unto the shadow of the Light, for the gloom shall grow greater and greater, and against the fatal power of the Dragon's Ring man's will struggleth in vain. Who falleth into the Magic Circle him no regrets can avail, for an Eternity seemeth to separate him from the Path of Reunion'.

      16. Overcome with dread, I issued from the last Chamber, and began the ascent to the next Level of the Tower, where when I had reached it I entered with my Guide the Sixteenth Chamber. Here I saw before me a Tower of great strength, and the Master of the Tower and his attendants were enjoying their security behind the battlements of their stronghold. And I said to myself: 'So cunning seemeth to have been the skill of the architect that this Tower will not perish but with the destruction of the World'. But presently I heard a great roar, and I beheld a thunderbolt descending from a cloud, and it struck the mighty Tower, and the battlements parted asunder, and the Master and his attendants were hurled to the ground. In amazement I exclaimed: 'What meaneth this Sign?' My Guide replied: 'Behold the sign of the Fall! Man who was Spiritual has entered the World and put on the burden of the material body. Behind the Symbol of the Spirit of the Unity, which to thine eyes is invisible, incarnated in the World which lieth open unto thy senses'.

      17. When the Vision had passed away I followed my guide to the Seventeenth Chamber, and as I entered it I felt the Breath of Spring upon me, and my heart, which had been saddened at the sight of the ruined Tower, leapt for joy; and as I looked, I saw before me the Vision of a lovely maiden, and her golden tresses were crowned with a diadem of seven stars; she sat in the midst of a green meadow enamelled with the glory of flowers, and by her side was fountain from which poured forth the pure Water of the Earth. Presently the lovely maiden opened her lips and spoke, and my soul was so stirred, that tears flowed from my eyes for the joy of the softness of her voice, which was like the music of a harp in the stillness of the night. And she said: 'I am the Voice of Hope in the World. I am the Eternal Youth of Nature. In the depth of the Material World lieth hid the Water which welleth up in the Fountain of Immortality. The Glory of the Sun have I absorbed in my golden tresses; from my diadem of stars do I draw down the Spirit into the Body of Man; into his fallen Soul I breathe the Hope of Redemption; through me cometh to man the Courage to struggle against the bondage in which he is placed'.

      18. I tarried long in contemplation of this beautiful Vision, until my Guide, with his wand of Power caused it to vanish; then I followed him to the last Chamber on this Level of the Tower, which was the Eighteenth in Number. Here again I found myself in utter darkness, but after a few moments I heard my Guide saying to me: 'Watch, and thou shalt see'. Then I gazed again into the gloom, and there grew before me a Vision which filled my soul with despondency, for it seemed to me that I saw the World spread out before me, illuminated only by the pale and sickly light of the moon; and man was struggling against man; and wild beast against wild beast; and the reptiles of the Earth came out of their hiding places to gather their spoil. And in my sorrow I exclaimed aloud: 'What meaneth this Sign?' My Guide replied: 'This is the last Term. This is the ultimate descent of the Spirit of the Unity into the depths of the Abyss of Negation. This is the Realm of Chaos; in the World the Kingdom of Passions let loose. This is the Triumph of Matter, Matter absorbing the Spirit and on the verge of throttling it'.

      The sight of this Vision inspired my with so great a terror that my eyes had no tears to weep, and I felt as if a mountain of Matter were piled upon my Soul to crush it, so that beneath the strain my mind gave way and I fell back in a swoon into the arms of my Guide. When I recovered the use of my senses the Vision had departed, and like a child I was led without this Chamber of Despair; but when I sought to begin the ascent to the next Level of the Tower, my Guide checked me and said: 'Ere we proceed any further, pause and reflect. Thus far hast thou ascended through Six Levels of the Tower, and thou hast visited Eighteen Chambers therein. Now this is the meaning of what thou hast seen. In the first Six chambers thou hast gained Knowledge of the Spirit of Preservation; in the last Six chambers thou hast gained Knowledge of the World of Facts. The total which thou hast seen hath had this for meaning: the Breath of the Unity, descending Towards the Abyss of Darkness; what thou shalt see now is the Yearning for Reunion raising the Spirit of Eternal back to the Unity from which it proceeded'.