Commentary on the Charge of the Goddess 30: For I am the soul of nature

For I am the Soul of nature who giveth life to the Universe; From me all things proceed; and unto me all things must return; Beloved of the Gods and men; thine innermost divine self shall be enfolded in the raptures of the infinite. 

Sources and Influences

Ye Bok of Ye Arte Magical: For I am the flame that burns in the heart of every man, and the core of every Star. Let it be your inmost divine self who art lost in the constant rapture of infinite joy.

Gardner: High Magic’s Aid: ‘We worship the divine spirit of Creation, which is the Life-spring of the world, and without which the world would perish.' (Gerald Gardner: High Magic’s Aid. I-H-O Books, Louth, 1999, p.79)

Verse Charge: From me they come, to me they go.

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: Neophyte Ritual: ...from him all things proceed, and unto him all things return.(Israel Regardie: The Golden Dawn (Sixth Edition). Llewellyn Worldwide, Woodbury Minnesota, 1989, p. 130.)

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: Ritual for Transformation: From thee all things do proceed. Unto thee all must return. (Regardie, op. cit., p. 433.)

Milton: Paradise Lost: One almighty is, from whom all things proceed, and up to him return. (5.469-470) (John Milton (edited by Alastair Fowler): Paradise Lost. Longman, London, 1998, pp. 310 - 311.)

D. H. Lawrence: Women in Love: But it seemed to him, woman was always so horrible and clutching, she had such a lust for possession, a greed of self-importance in love. She wanted to have, to own, to control, to be dominant. Everything must be referred back to her, to Woman, the Great Mother of everything, out of whom proceeded everything and to whom everything must finally be rendered up. (D. H. Lawrence: Women in Love. Heinemann, London, 1975, p. 192.)

Marcus Aurelius: Meditations: Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early nor too late, which is in due time for thee. Everything is fruit to me which thy seasons bring, O Nature: from thee are all things, in thee are all things, to thee all things return... (4.23) (Cited in William James: The Varieties of Religious Experience. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1985, p. 44. No translator is given; presumably it is James’s own translation.)

Cro. L.L.: Hadit tells us of Himself: “I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the care of every star.” He is then your innermost divine self; it is you, and not another, who are lost in the constant rapture of the embraces of Infinite Beauty. (2)

Cro. XV: I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star.

Cro. AL: I am the flame that burns in the heart of every man, and in the core of every star. (2.6)

The reference from High Magic’s Aid illustrates the reuse of an idea that occurred to Gardner since the original composition of the Charge, and which has been included in the final version in a slightly different form. D’Este and Rankine_ comment that the ‘to me all things return’ line could have come ultimately from Milton as quoted in the Golden Dawn ritual. Both Kelly and d’Este and Rankine give the Golden Dawn ritual as the source for this phrase. Since the Golden Dawn version is closer to that in the Charge, I would prefer that as the source; Milton may have influenced the passage directly or influenced the original writers of the Golden Dawn ritual. The idea, however, is already present in the verse Charge (but not in the BAM version), so I have placed that high as a source. D. H. Lawrence provides a tantalising possible influence, especially because of the reference to the Great Mother, as does the passage from Marcus Aurelius, which also includes the characteristic Wiccan idea of the cycles of nature and the harmony of the universe. Once again I would favour Law of Liberty over Gnostic Mass as the source for Crowley here, and will treat it as such in the analysis to follow, since the context of Law of Liberty also provides the next part of the BAM text, rather than an isolated sentence.

Thealogy

The idea of the Goddess as present and embodied in nature, is here expanded to make her the life and soul of nature. The rest of the Charge forms a commentary on this reality in the life and magic of the witch. While this passage is an essential part of the inward journey of the Charge, I feel it also has much interest in that it takes up and runs with an idea occurring in all sorts of places. It shows both how Wicca is in the direct lineage of the modern Western tradition, from the Golden Dawn via Crowley, it also shows how the idea has been present in all sorts of literature, even D H Lawrence!