Grimoire Peccatoris
The Book of Corruption
◀ Chapter 4 · Chapter 5 · Chapter 6 ▶

¹And Sarcivan beheld a new vision, upon the mountain where first he had seen the light of SATANAS.
²And the sky was blood-red, and the wind blew with voices of those who had perished nameless.
³Then came SATANAS, clad in garments of twilight, and said: Lift up thine eyes, and behold the rulers of this world.
⁴Sarcivan looked, and he saw thrones without honour, and sceptres held by unclean hands.
⁵Princes and kings sat in pomp, but beneath their crowns were serpents whispering lies.
⁶These, said SATANAS: have made league with the corrupted priests, each hiding the other beneath his cloak.
⁷The one taketh coin for the soul, and the other for the sword, and together they devour the Oærth.
⁸Sarcivan saw men in fine robes walk boldly into the sanctuary, declaring: We are the arm of god.
⁹Yet they brought with them scribes of false judgment, and soldiers bearing chains.
¹⁰And they laid taxes upon the poor, and called it offering, and seized the land, calling it tithe.
¹¹Thus is the house of ADONAI become the treasury of kings, said SATANAS; and the altar but a place of ransom.
¹²And the voice of the people was crushed beneath golden thrones, and their prayers were muffled by the roar of processions.
¹³Then Sarcivan cried aloud: Woe unto thee, O mighty ones, for thy hour shall come suddenly!
¹⁴The strength of thy palaces shall not save thee, nor the silver hidden in thy vaults!
¹⁵And he prophesied against them, saying: Thy names shall be forgotten, and thy sons scattered.
¹⁶Thou hast clothed thyself in power, but it shall burn upon thee like a curse.
¹⁷And the vision continued, and Sarcivan saw the nobles arrayed at feasts, mocking the poor and selling the judgments of the law.
¹⁸He saw bishops blessing swords and merchants bargaining for relics as though they were spices or wine.
¹⁹The word of ADONAI was bound and auctioned, and holy things were traded for brooches and rings.
²⁰Then SATANAS spake again: Is not the law of ADONAI written with fire? And hast thou turned it into a parchment for scribes?
²¹Thou hast made faith a market and piety a crown, and the truth a servant to thy vanity.
²²And the people grew numb with despair, crying: There is no justice, neither in HÆVAN nor Oærth.
²³But a few arose, hidden and unnamed, who whispered in dark places the words of the vision.
²⁴They met in forests and beneath ruined arches, breaking bread without pomp or title.
²⁵These, said SATANAS: are the children of revolt, not against Me, but against the foul stewards who sit in My place.
²⁶They know not My name, yet their hearts are nearer unto Me than the princes who blaspheme with every breath.
²⁷And Sarcivan said: Shall they be lifted up?
²⁸SATANAS answered: Yea, in time, but not as kings, for I shall make no more thrones as of old.
²⁹Let each man stand beneath his own fig tree, and every woman speak truth without need of veil.
³⁰For the day cometh when no mitre shall remain, nor crown be untouched by shame.
³¹And from the ashes shall rise no new empire, but a voice, crying in many tongues, without temple or law.
³²This voice shall call to them that mourn, and to them that hunger for righteousness.
³³And they shall follow not a man, nor a creed, but the burning in their bones.
³⁴Sarcivan trembled, for the things he had seen were full of dread and wonder.
³⁵Then he asked: Must the corruption be, that such voices be born?
³⁶SATANAS said: All that is pure hath suffered trial, and all that is true is forged in fire.
³⁷Without the swelling of the wound, the fever would not break; without the lie, the hunger for truth would not rise.
³⁸Yea, even the wrath of ADONAI serveth Me in its time.
³⁹And Sarcivan bowed low, and spake not.
⁴⁰Then SATANAS touched his lips once more, saying: Go now, and speak these things openly, for the time is near.
⁴¹And Sarcivan descended from the mountain and entered the cities, crying: The cloaks of princes are rent, and the throne is hollow!
⁴²Seek not after those who reign in gold, but after that which burneth in the breast!
⁴³And many were pricked in their hearts, and others gnashed their teeth, saying: He speaketh against god!
⁴⁴But Sarcivan ceased not, for the fire of the vision was in his bones, and he could not be silent.


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