Sombre Mystery, p. 203

Opening remarks
Something began to emerge out of the gulfs of Night, an evil influence crept silently to enter men’s heart. This began to bare itself before Aswapati’s search.

Shapeless thought
Then from the sombre mystery of the gulfs
And from the hollow bosom of the Mask
Something crept forth that seemed a shapeless Thought.

A dark influence, a negative vibration began to emerge from what seemed to be a hollow void.

Fatal Influence
A fatal Influence upon creatures stole
Whose lethal touch pursued the immortal spirit,
On life was laid the haunting finger of death
And overcast with error, grief and pain
The soul’s native will for truth and joy and light.

Its influence was lethal touching all things with death and error and grief and pain. It robbed the will for truth and joy and light.

A deformation
A deformation coiled that claimed to be
The being’s very turn, Nature’s true drive.

It deformed nature giving it a perverse turn as if it were natural to the being.

A perverting mind
A hostile and perverting Mind at work
In every corner ensconced of conscious life
Corrupted Truth with her own formulas;
Interceptor of the listening of the soul,
Afflicting knowledge with the hue of doubt
It captured the oracles of the occult gods,
Effaced the signposts of Life’s pilgrimage,
Cancelled the firm rock-edicts graved by Time,
And on the foundations of the cosmic Law
Erected its bronze pylons of misrule.

Its mind was hostile to Truth and corrupted it with its own distorting formulas. It clouded knowledge with doubt and diverted the oracles of the gods it misguided the pilgrim soul. The fundamental laws that sustain creation were cancelled and replaced with edicts to justify misrule.

Perverse sweetness
Even Light and Love by that cloaked danger’s spell
Turned from the brilliant nature of the gods
To fallen angels and misleading suns,
Became themselves a danger and a charm,
A perverse sweetness, heaven-born malefice:
Its power could deform divinest things.

Even heaven born energies such as love and light were turned by an adverse spell into misleading and dangerous forces. Charm and sweetness were perverted and deformed to drive the soul towards darkness and fall.

Wind of sorrow and falsehood
A wind of sorrow breathed upon the world;
All thought with falsehood was besieged, all act
Stamped with defect or with frustration’s sign,
All high attempt with failure or vain success,
But none could know the reason of his fall.

A breath of sorrow was felt and all thought was besieged with a false turn. The stamp of defect and frustration was seen and all effort ended with failure or a meaningless success. Yet the deception was thorough and none could see or know how the fall came about.

Closing Remarks
The powers of the Abyss deform and distort truth. They cast a spell as it were that perverts the will and throws doubts thereby dragging nature towards the home of Night.