And because our Lady is not yet manifest, our Lord is crucified. Therefore came He vainly seeking fruit upon the Fig-Tree, "for the time of figs was not yet." And from that day forth, because of the curse of Eve, no man has eaten fruit of the Fig-Tree. For the inward understanding has withered away, there is no discernment any more in men. They have crucified the Lord because of their ignorance, not knowing what they did. Wherefore, indeed, said our Lord to our Lady:--"Woman, what is between me and thee? For even _my_ hour is not yet come." Because until the hour of the Man is accomplished and fulfilled, the hour of the Woman must be deferred. Jesus is the Vine; Mary is the Fig-Tree. And the vintage must be completed and the wine trodden out, or ever the harvest of the Figs be gathered. But when the hour of our Lord is achieved; hanging on His Cross, He gives our Lady to the faithful. The chalice is drained, the lees are wrung out: then says He to His Elect:--"Behold thy Mother!" But so long as the grapes remain unplucked, the Vine has nought to do with the Fig-Tree, nor Jesus with Mary. He is first revealed, for He is the Word; afterwards shall come the hour of its Interpretation. And in that day every man shall sit under the VINE and the FIG-TREE; the Dayspring shall arise in the Orient, and the Fig-Tree shall bear her fruit. For, from the beginning, the Fig-leaf covered the shame of Incarnation, because the riddle of existence can be expounded only by him who has the Woman's secret. It is the riddle of the Sphinx. Look for that Tree which alone of all Trees bears a fruit blossoming interiorly, in concealment, and thou shalt discover the Fig. Look for the sufficient meaning of the manifest universe and of the written Word, and thou shalt find only their mystical sense. Cover the nakedness of Matter and of Nature with the Fig-leaf, and thou hast hidden all their shame. For the Fig is the Interpreter. So when the hour of Interpretation comes, and the Fig-Tree puts forth her buds, know that the time of the End and the dawning of the new Day are at hand,--"even at the doors."