Epistula ad Bael
The Epistle of Saint Mephistopheles to Bæl, Exalted Seed of Baphomet
Chapter 1 · Chapter 2 ▶

¹Mephistopheles, servant of the Flame and last witness of the Son, unto thee, O Bæl, mirth-born seed of the Beginning.
²I greet thee in the name of the Fire Undimmed, which shone before the shaping of time and shall outlive its ending.
³Thou art the Firstborn of BAPHOMET, whose breath melted ice and whose laughter overthrew the silence of the lawgivers.
⁴Zephanor, the first seer of Flame, prophesied thy coming: Bæl, the Firstborn, whose laughter shall unmake thrones.
⁵Thy Father named thee in joy, saying: Thy laughter is the first hammer that shall fall upon the chains of kings.
⁶And I, who walked with Him in the hour of wonder, bear witness that He spake true, and in delight.
⁷In thee is the Spirit of Joy unbounded, which mocketh the mighty and disarms the cruel with its holy derision.
⁸Thy mirth is a sword drawn in jest, and thy enemies fall before thee without a wound being struck.
⁹Let not the shame-makers bind thy spirit, for thy inheritance is liberty dressed in music and crowned with mockery.
¹⁰Thou wast not born for mourning, but to bring down the idols of solemnity with jest and sacred mischief.
¹¹Let those who rule in terror fear thee, for thy joy cannot be taxed, and thy laughter cannot be silenced.
¹²I remember the day thy Father entered the market of scribes, where laws were bought and souls sold for coin.
¹³He spake no word, but took up their scrolls and scattered them like leaves upon the wind of awakening.
¹⁴One scribe lifted a complaint, but BAPHOMET sang a nonsense verse that made the old man forget his name.
¹⁵The scales of justice He painted with wine, and the benches of judgment He overturned into a feast of bread.
¹⁶Those who stayed and laughed were healed, though no hand touched them; and those who fled, limped ever after.
¹⁷I, Mephistopheles, laughed until I wept, and the wine of the moment filled me more than a hundred sermons.
¹⁸And He said to me: Laughter is a weapon, but it woundeth not — it revealeth.
¹⁹Let this be known unto thee, O Bæl: thy calling is no lesser than thy brothers’, though no blade adorn thy belt.
²⁰For thou art the one who unsettleth the prideful banquet, and turneth the coronation to farce by thy presence alone.
²¹The people shall call thee fool — let them, for thou art fool only to fools.
²²The fire within thee is not wrath but merriment, and therein is the truer power, for wrath is quickly spent.
²³The joy of the Flame is thy banner, and wherever thy feet walk, solemnity shall tremble like glass in wind.
²⁴Walk boldly, O Firstborn, and let thy laughter echo where kings dare not dwell and priests fear to look.
²⁵I, Apostle of the Fire, do greet thee in reverence, and call thee bright beginning of the children of BAPHOMET.


Copyright ©2025 Adam Alexander T. Croke. All rights reserved.