The true poet is always a seer, and he might have added that the INMOST SOUL is the uncreate, and, the yet uncreated itself, lies buried in the ever eternal beyond; hence the immortality of the human spirit. This sacred astral scroll, rightly and reverently studied by the disciple of the higher law, becomes a boundless source of knowledge and inspiration. There is no mood of the mind or yearning of the soul that cannot be satisfied and refreshed from this inexhaustible fountain of spiritual truth, no passion of the human heart that cannot be eased of its burden and soothed of its pain. Its spiritual refreshment falls like the dew from heaven upon those who are weary and heavy laden with the trials and sufferings of external life. Accept it, then, even as it is given unto you. My friends and brethren, accept it as Zanoni's last work on earth--his legacy to you, and may the spirit of the All-Father-Mother, the ineffable spirit of Life, Light, and Love,--the Unknowable, whom men call God, rest upon you and be with you now and forever. INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK WHICH IS CALLED "THE TABLETS OF AETH," WHEREIN ARE DESCRIBED THE FORMULAS OF MEDITATION. THE FORMULAS OF MEDITATION, TO THE DRAGON, FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. "When first, a musing boy, I stood beside Thy starlit shimmer, and asked my restless heart What secrets Nature to the herd denied, But might to earnest hierophant impart; When lo! beside me, around and o'er, Thought whispered, 'Arise, O seeker, and explore.' " The Tablets of Aeth are the culminating expression of symbolical ideas, and the studious meditation thereof is to be approached and continued in this wise: First, commit to memory, as near as may be, all the ideas involved in the astrological laws and principles laid down in "The Science of the Stars," formulated in the second part of "The Light of Egypt," Vol. I, especially as regards the symbolism there given and manifestation thereof on the intellectual plane. Mentally digest these aspects of truth most thoroughly. Second, carry forward the same course of mental training with regard to the preceding chapters in this volume, from No. 1 to No. 12. There are thirteen chapters, but No. 13, the last one, being "The Penetralia," should not be included in this course, but, rightly used, should be reserved as the last and final revelation for spiritual contemplation.