s and their effects on
modern life; why "riding the goat" is the usual initiatory
rite and ceremony in secret orders; some secret plates of
Hermetic orders explained; what is the "magic solvent" of the
alchemists? the relation of Christian symbolism to the
Alchemical secrets; the inner meaning of "the sun and the
moon" in ancient literature; transmutation: exterior or
interior? what constitutes "the abiding glory."

CHAPTER IX

WHAT CONSTITUTES SEXUAL IMMORALITY? 159

Can there be standards of morality in the sex-relation; if so
what are they? is monogamy the ideal sex relationship? is
polygamy a future possibility? why matriarchal polygamy is
less degrading than patriarchal; why polygamy is not the
ideal sex relationship; the fallacy of legal marriage as a
test of sexual morality; why we "cannot wrong the universe;"
the one commandment of "the Most High God;" what is it? our
modern standards the result of phallic worship; why the Roman
Church has survived the centuries; the interior meaning in
the "Holy Virgin" idea of the Church; the vital point in the
Roman marriage restrictions; men inherently more faithful to
marriage vows than women, and why this is so; the bi-sexual
individual the most developed; the counterpartal union and
its relation to marriage customs; why "affinities" are so
numerous; sexual infidelity an impossible premise; what is to
become of present-day ethical standards of sexual morality?;
historic ideas of sexual immorality and their influence upon
modern civilization; modern effects of ancient Hebraic
customs; why suppression of prostitution must fail; why
prostitution is moral degeneracy; the Oriental versus the
Occidental view of prostitution; why modern ideas of sexual
morality are fallacious and untenable; can there be a
universal standard of sexual morality? why present-day ideas
of marriage are degrading; compulsion in marriage and
prostitution compared; how, why, and when, the sex-relation
may be exalted, reverenced and deified; mistakes of some
"Civic Leaguers;" why, when, and how, unfaithfulness in
marriage is wrong; the single versus the double standard in
sex.

CHAPTER X

THE PATHWAY OF LOVE 189