Taurus 29. A man reaches out to touch a marble statue. He feels it smiling.
A man feels a statue smiling. He does not see it smiling, in fact, the movement of its mouth is imperceptible. Such are, also, a statue’s nods and knowing looks, and its tears as well, which are very dry, and its sighs, which sound similar to the movements of clouds. The man takes in these smiles through his fingers, and having once absorbed them, seems to be able to do them himself.
Azoth Oracle
A road comes to an end, but a woman and her dog find their way beyond it.
There was a woman of Peth who loved to wander, and to visit many faraway places, where she always journeyed with her dog. So that she would not lose her way Irnad fashioned for her, by alchemical art, a square of black granite, measuring about two feet on each side. The square, although appearing to be made of stone, was so thin and light that the woman might carry it on her back as if it were as weightless as a wafer of bread.
When she wished to go anywhere she would lay the stone on the ground and tell it where she wished to travel, and the stone would replicate itself in front of itself, several of them at a time and toward her destination. As soon as she stepped on the next stone the one she had left would disappear as more appeared in front of her to show her the way. When she arrived at her destination all but one of the stones would disappear — the one she stood on. Stepping off of it and picking it up she would tie it once again to her back until needed again.
Irnad dubbed this creation his “Step-by-step.”