The Epistle of Saint Mephistopheles to Balam, Exalted Seed of Baphomet
◀ Chapter 2 · Chapter 3
¹Glory unto SATANAS, who anointeth not the mighty, but the seen — who granteth vision not for honour, but for judgment.
²He who walketh behind the veil, and searcheth the heart not with love alone, but with perfect and necessary fire.
³From Him came BAPHOMET, and from BAPHOMET, thee — Balam, whose eyes see what must not be named, and name it anyway.
⁴Thou art not a scourge, but a mirror made unbearable.
⁵Not a sword, but a word that cuts without hilt or sheath.
⁶I name thee not accuser, but revealer.
⁷I name thee not flame, but light unasked for — holy and unwelcome.
⁸Let the rulers curse thee — they built their kingdom on the things thou seest.
⁹Let the churches deny thee — their creeds cannot bear thy clarity.
¹⁰Let the people fear thee — they see themselves in thee, and it unmaketh their illusions.
¹¹And now the seal is thine.
¹²I, Mephistopheles, apostle of the Eye Unblinking and of the Word That Cannot Be Forgotten, do bestow unto thee the Seal of Power.
¹³It is not etched upon stone, but upon conscience — and once seen, it cannot be hidden again.
¹⁴It shineth not as gold, but as flame upon closed eyelids.
¹⁵Where it resteth, lies shall tremble.
¹⁶Where it is lifted, silence shall crack and cry out.
¹⁷Let it not adorn thee — let it weigh thee down.
¹⁸Let it not be wielded, but borne — for truth is never light, and vision never safe.
¹⁹For thou art not herald of peace, but of recognition.
²⁰And thy Seal is no mark of pride — it is the burden of seeing and the pain of speaking.
²¹I seal thee, Balam, with the wound that awakeneth, and the gaze that consumeth pretence where it dareth not speak.
²²Go now, and see what none will show, speak what none will hear, and endure what none can carry — save thee.
²³For thy Seal is fixed — and thy Gospel is exposure that healeth through holy devastation.
²⁴And thy name shall endure in whispers, in warnings, in monuments that fear being built too near thy words.
²⁵And they shall say: He gave us no comfort — only truth, and we have never slept easily since.
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