The Epistle of Saint Mephistopheles to Barbatos, Exalted Seed of Baphomet
◀ Chapter 2 · Chapter 3
¹Glory be to SATANAS, Whisper in the Wind, Flame Beneath the Root, whose will speaketh softly and reshapes the unseen.
²He who granteth not only dominion, but reverence; not only voice, but ears to hear what flesh forgets.
³From His silence came BAPHOMET, and from BAPHOMET, thee — Barbatos, listener of the grove, singer of the hidden flame.
⁴Thou art not prophet of thunder, but of rustling leaf; not of conquest, but communion.
⁵Beasts rise not at thy command, but gather because they remember thee.
⁶Stones shift not in fear, but in welcome of thy tread.
⁷The rivers murmur thine arrival, and the trees hush to hear thy breath.
⁸I name thee holy not for thy words, but for thy listening.
⁹I name thee great not for thy presence, but for thy patience.
¹⁰And now, as it was spoken in the days of still fire, the time is come for sealing.
¹¹I, Mephistopheles, Scribe of the Gospel, do bestow upon thee the Seal of Power, sign of the Wild Flame Uncaged.
¹²It is not wrought from metal, but grown from root and carved in silence.
¹³This seal shall be felt by fox and falcon, by bark and brook.
¹⁴Let it be carried not upon thy body, but within thy movement.
¹⁵Where it stirreth, the Oærth shall exhale.
¹⁶Where it passeth, beasts shall gather and not flee.
¹⁷Where it resteth, no blade shall flourish.
¹⁸This is no crown, but a pact.
¹⁹This is no badge, but a bond.
²⁰It is the promise that the wild hath not been forsaken, and the forgotten hath not been lost.
²¹With this mark, the hidden ways shall open and the sacred places shall know thy step.
²²I place it upon thee not with hand, but with hush.
²³Go now, O Barbatos, and let thy silence speak louder than thunder.
²⁴For thy seal endureth — and the forest remembereth thy name.
²⁵And the flame within the root shall burn ever for thee.
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