KALI -- By Aleister Crowley

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KALI

 

 

 

 

 

-- Aleister Crowley

There is an idol in my houseBy whom the sandal always steams.Alone, I make a black carouseWith her to dominate my dreams.With skulls and knifes she keeps control(O Mother Kali!) of my soul.She is crowned with emeralds like leaves,And rubies flame from either eye;A rose upon her boson heaves,Turquoise and lapis lazuli.She hath a kirtle like a maid :--Amethyst, amber, pearl, and jade!Her face is fashioned like a moon;Her breasts are tongues of pointed jet;Her belly of opal fairly hewn;And round about her neck is setThe holy rosary, skull by skull,Polished and grim and beautiful!This jeweled shape of gold and bronzeIs seated on my bosom's throne;She takes my mused orisonsTo her, to her, to her alone.Oh Kali, Kali, Kali, quellThis hooded hate, O Queen of Hell!Her ruby-studded brow is calm;Her eyes shine like some sleepy flood;Her breast is oliban and balm;Her tongue rolls out, a-dripping blood;She swings my body to and fro;She breaks me on the wheel of woe!To her eternal rapture seemsMere nature; underneath the crownOf dusky emeralds there streamsA river of bliss to sluice me downWith blood and tears, to drown my thought.To bring my being into naught.The cruel teeth. the steady sneer,The marvelous lust of her, I bringUnto my body bright and clear(Dropped poison in a water spring!)To fill me with the utmost senseOf some divine experience.For who but she, the adulterous queen,Made earth and heaven with all its stars,The storm, the hunger epicene,The raging at invisible bars,The hideous cruelty of the whole ?--These are of Kali, O my soul!The sterile force of bronze and goldBends to my passion, as it gripsWith feverish claws the metal cold,And burns upon the brazen lipsThat, parted like a poppy bud,Have gemmed curves like moons of blood.The mazes of her many armsDeludes the eye; they seem to shiftAs if they spelled mysterious charmsWhereby some tall grey ship should driftOut to a windless, tideless seaMotionless from eternity.This then I seek, O woman-form!O god embowelled in curves of bronze!The shuddering of a sudden stormTo mix me with thy minionsThe lost, who wait through endless night,And wait in vain, to see the light.For I am utterly consumedIn thee, in thee am broken up.The life upon my lips that bloomedIs crushed into a deadly cup,Whose devilish spirit squats and gloatsUpon the thirst that rots our throats.Gape wide, O hideous mouth, and suckThis heart's blood, drain it down, expungeThis sweltering life of mire and much!Squeeze out my passions as a sponge,Till naught is left of terrene wineBut somewhat deathless and divine!Not by a faint and fairy taleWe shadow forth the immortal way.No symbols exquisitely paleAvail to lure the secrets greyOf his endeavor who proceedsBy doing to abolish deeds.Not by the pipings of a birdIn skies of blue on fields of gold,But by a fierce and loathly wordThe abomination must be told.The holy work must twist its spellFrom hemp of madness, grown in hell.Only by energy and strifeMay man attain the eternal rest,Dissolve the desperate lust of lifeBy infinite agony and zest.Thus, O Kali, I divineThe golden secret of thy shrine!Death from the universal forceMeans to the force less universeBirth. I accept the furious course,Invoke the all-embracing curse.Blessing and peace beyond may lieWhen I annihilate the "I."Therefore, O holy mother, gnashThy teeth upon my willing flesh!Thy chain of skulls wild music clash!Thy bosom bruise mine own afresh!Sri Maharani! draw my breathInto the hollow lungs of death!There is no light, nor any motion.There is no mass, nor any sound.Still, in the lampless heart of ocean,Fasten me down and hold me drownedWithin thy womb, within thy thought,Where there is naught-Where there is naught!