COUNCIL OF GODS [19]

British Library
Four Zoas Manuscript
Page 21

Four Zoas, Night I, PAGE 21 [19], (E 310)  
"Then those in Great Eternity met in the Council of God
As one Man for contracting their Exalted Senses

They behold Multitude or Expanding they behold as one
As One Man all the Universal family & that one Man 
They call Jesus the Christ & they in him & he in them            
Live in Perfect harmony in Eden the land of life
Consulting as One Man above the Mountain of Snowdon Sublime

For messengers from Beulah come in tears & darkning clouds
Saying Shiloh is in ruins our brother is sick Albion He 
Whom thou lovest is sick he wanders from his house of Eternity   
The daughters of Beulah terrified have closd the Gate of the Tongue
Luvah & Urizen contend in war around the holy tent

So spoke the Ambassadors from Beulah & with solemn mourning 
They were introducd to the divine presence & they kneeled down
In Conways Vale thus recounting the Wars of Death Eternal  

The Eternal Man wept in the holy tent Our Brother in Eternity
Even Albion whom thou lovest wept in pain his family
Slept round on hills & valleys in the regions of his love
But Urizen awoke & Luvah woke & thus conferrd

Thou Luvah said the Prince of Light behold our sons & daughters  
Reposd on beds. let them sleep on. do thou alone depart
Into thy wished Kingdom where in Majesty & Power
We may erect a throne. deep in the North I place my lot
Thou in the South listen attentive. In silent of this night
I will infold the Eternal tent in clouds opake while thou       
Siezing the chariots of the morning. Go outfleeting ride
Afar into the Zenith high bending thy furious course
Southward with half the tents of men inclosd in clouds
Will lay my scepter on Jerusalem the Emanation
On all her sons & on thy sons O Luvah & on mine  
Till dawn was wont to wake them then my trumpet sounding loud
Ravishd away in night my strong command shall be obeyd
For I have placd my centinels in stations each tenth man
Is bought & sold & in dim night my Word shall be their law"
 

The crisis created by the alteration of consciousness initiated by the instinctual functioning of the mind is not unnoticed by the mind as a whole. The Universal Family identified as Jesus the Christ draw together to confront the threat. In Beulah the sickness had originated; from Beulah come the signals that two other Zoas had become involved in destroying the precarious balance of mental functioning. 

The Eternal Man, the everlasting Word, is the one Man who weeps over the departure of Albion, the Divine Humanity, from his house in Eternity. Measures must be taken to restrict the spread of Eternal Death. Thus was the holy tent drawn up and the gate of the tongue closed.

The fracture which Tharmas and Enion created provided an opening for Urizen and Luvah to vie for control of the mind. Urizen (reason) proposes to move into Urthona's domain - the intuitive imaginative area. He plans to gain control of Albion's emanation Jerusalem, further damaging Albion's ability to recover. He aims to establish his rule of law to replace consensus as the mode of operation. He seeks the cooperation of Luvah (emotions) who will take over the territory abandoned by Urizen. 

The conflict of forces contending for control:

British Museum
Young's Night Thoughts
Sketch for Night IX, page 34

British Museum
Young's Night Thoughts
Watercolor for Night IX, page 34