Liber Saturni - Chapter 24

Verses

Verse 45

I saw a ladder raised through the dark sphere, and every rung was made of a silence someone had kept.

Verse 46

No choir met me there. The contemplatives had outgrown applause.

Verse 47

An old monk pointed upward, then removed even the gesture.

Verse 48

Saturn was below us like a bell that had chosen not to ring.

Verse 49

The first rung was solitude, which frightened the social self.

Verse 50

The second was patience, which frightened ambition.

Verse 51

The third was memory without nostalgia.

Verse 52

The fourth was obedience to truth rather than command.

Verse 53

The fifth was the relinquishing of spiritual rank.

Verse 54

The sixth had no name, because naming had become too loud.

Verse 55

I asked how high the ladder went. The monk smiled at the questioner instead.

Verse 56

Those who climb for heaven carry earth upward in their pockets.

Verse 57

Those who climb to escape hell carry hell in their shoes.

Verse 58

Leave both at the rung where you notice them.

Verse 59

Contemplation is not staring at eternity. It is ceasing to interrupt what is present.

Verse 60

The planet of old age guards the stair because haste cannot pass.

Verse 61

At the top, I found no Saturn and no ladder.

Verse 62

Only the quiet in which both had appeared.