Lib21

This is an occultist poem in two parts, written in archaic English verse, presenting a Western esoteric interpretation of Taoist philosophy — the spelling "Magick" and the framing of "Teh" (Te) as magical power strongly suggest Aleister Crowley's hand, likely drawn from his loose adaptation of the Tao Te Ching. The work treats Tao as a formless, nameless generative principle underlying heaven, earth, motion, and rest, and pairs it with Teh as the complementary force of power or virtue. Its central argument is a staged practice of spiritual negation: the seeker must progressively slay desire, then thought, then body, then external matter, then space itself, until nothing remains to obstruct union with the silent Tao. The poem distinguishes sharply between true adepts — who conceal their power and hold no aim — and bunglers who cling to and display their abilities, thereby cutting themselves off from Tao entirely. Distinctively, it frames Taoist quietism in the language of occult attainment, casting the dissolution of self not as mere philosophical acceptance but as an active magical assault on successive layers of existence. The endpoint is not personal enlightenment but annihilation: the adept "vanisheth" into Tao and becomes its hidden motive force, lordless yet underlying all things.

Lib21

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