The Great Work Lyrics

From water comes illusion

It was the water that slew Osiris

While the crocodiles snarled at Hoor-Pa-Kraat

I give unimaginable joys on Earth

Certainty, not faith, peace unutterable

Rest, ecstasy, and ask nothing in return

Every man and every woman is a star

Embrace the knowledge of who you are

For every star possesses boundless wealth

And the Great Work is Yourself

I am beauty, I am strange, I am immemorial and moribund

If ever things threaten this is the way to put things right

Certainty and ecstasy slay self-sacrifice and the chaste

Pity not the fallen, I never knew them

Animals and children, treat them with respect, even worship

Every man and every woman is a star

Embrace the knowledge of who you are

For every star possesses boundless wealth

And the Great Work is Yourself

Perfect innocence and high intelligence

Wine collected by the beloved disciple

Melt imperceptibly into each other

The Stone of the Wise, the Medicine of Metals, the Elixir of Life

Every man and every woman is a star

Embrace the knowledge of who you are

For every star possesses boundless wealth

And the Great Work is Yourself