The Third Sphere

I could see very plainly that they were familiar faces to mortal beings, for some were grey, and some, as we shall see, had the human form.

As I went on further to the Third sphere I saw, in view of the head, the body of a beautiful young maiden, apparently ready to cast herself upon a rock, or to leap from a boat into the ocean.

I now perceived other spirits who were walking up and down the platform, as if waiting for this young girl to return.

One man called out to me to look to the right of the platform, and there I saw a trio of mermaids, of the same pallid skin and the same unnaturally white hair as the White Lady herself, playing in the water with the will to live in spite of the terrible icy death which surrounded them. The scene reminded me of the horrible death which had overtaken the White Lady.

I got a thrill of excitement, and when I looked to the left of the platform I saw the last of the three spectral forms, the giant man, the dragon whose flesh was green and whose blood was blue, towering a great height above the ground and beating his heavy breast, so like a monstrous black starless planet, with his terrible blue eyes. I heard a strange noise, like a thudding or a knocking, and looking to my right I saw a white marble pillar leaning on its edge, only fifteen feet from the edge of the platform.

I turned to my left, and I saw that the marble pillar lay upon a huge and thickly packed stone floor, with its base being worn away into a groove; and I felt sure that if the light of day would have streamed down upon it, its surface would have been as transparent as glass. I saw that the man had raised his hand to his head, as if it were a human skull. I could not see clearly what the bas-relief upon it represented, but I fancied it was the figure of a man, a man with long, supple fingers like the paws of a cat.

Again he lifted his hand to his head, and I thought I saw the outline of a human brain, rosy-skinned and round, with a swollen pulsating centre, just as our brains sometimes look when they are affected by the vital fever. I remembered again that the harpy had shown me the mystery of human conception, and this I thought would be the best way of explaining it to the readers of this book.

Now I looked to the right of the pillar, and again saw the third spectral form in the guise of a little girl, about the age of my daughter. As I looked at her I felt as if I was looking at her sister, and I could not but wonder to myself how the serpent could have created such a beautiful, voluptuous creature.

The girl was a pale white, as if bleached by the southern sunlight, and her hair was as light as the dust of the earth itself. Her face was beautiful, and I could see that she had beautiful blue eyes. She turned to look at me, her eyes staring in an intense, compelling gaze.

I saw a sense of reverence in them, and a momentary awe. She was a fairy; that is to say, she was one of the two kinds of fairy I have met in my travels, the other being the Lamia.

For some weeks the White Lady, the spiritual double of the goddess Diana, had been trying to affect my daughter, even trying to seduce her, and I felt this was the very thing she was now doing.

I made a vow to the goddess that I would do as she had done, and not think of killing her.

Now I looked to the left of the pillar, and there, hanging in a ray of sunlight, I saw the bottom part of a pair of bare, cold feet.

I recognised the beautiful white alabaster feet, the nails long and black, and the rest of the body being in a tangle of nude, pale, shining white flesh.

I was certain I knew the feet; but I had never seen them before.

I remembered that the great Abraxas, the archetypal warrior and trickster, had hung his feet in his hall, and that I myself had seen the feet of Atropos.

I looked again to my right. There was a black and white dog which was sitting on the floor of the platform, staring with one single, sightless eye, the other being filled with a human eye, as it were.

The beast was apparently composed of white lead, its body and hair whitened and bleached. Its eyes and feet were a deep, deep red.

It was staring at me with that awful eye, and with a snarl of rage. I heard a wail of despair coming from the creature, as if it had been a wounded animal. I saw in my mind’s eye the grim-faced hound of the Hesperides, long-legged, huge and savage.

I turned to my left, and then I saw the demon, or spirit, which I had seen the night before.

It stood to my left, now with a hideous smile upon its lips, no longer in human form, but now like the image of a devil, an evil figure dressed in black, and wearing the skull of an owl upon its breast.

It was roaring and sputtering with rage, its arms extended forward, its fists closed in a pleading gesture, and it was calling out to me.

I shouted with horror. It was too late for this thing; it was too late to do anything. But I could still save the girl. I dashed towards the pillar and ran to my daughter, holding her in my arms.

As I did so I saw the devilish being soar towards me, swifter than a cobra. I sprang into the air, and my strength was renewed by the power of my rage.

But he was not a cobra. He was a serpent, and he caught my leg, a powerful jaw clamped round my shin, and then plunged down towards my daughter.

But I grabbed him by the tail, and now with my arms I tore him off, and flung him into the air. He landed on the edge of the platform and then fled back down the steps to the entrance of the cave, where it went out of sight.