Epistula ad Crocell
The Epistle of Saint Mephistopheles to Crocell, Exalted Seed of Baphomet
◀ Chapter 1 · Chapter 2 · Chapter 3 ▶

¹O Crocell, thy presence is a hush that speaks; a well that reflects not the sky, but the self.
²Thy Father, BAPHOMET, taught: The voice that wisheth to change the world must first be still long enough to hear it.
³Speak not always, but shape thy silence into vessels they may drink when thirst hath taught them to listen.
⁴Therefore thou art not lecturer — thou art well-spring where the truth gathereth, dark and quiet, but unhidden.
⁵Not thunderclap — but the still air in which thunder knoweth to arise.
⁶Let the heralds trumpet in vain — thy truth shall outlive their noise.
⁷Let the rulers mock thy silence — thou hast waited longer than their reign.
⁸Let the prophets cry above the crowd — thou shalt still speak after all shouting is forgotten.
⁹The Son said: If thou wouldst change a man, do not command him — wait until he asketh to change.
¹⁰And again: The loudest blade is the dullest; but the silent stone can cut if shaped with patience.
¹¹So shape thy stone.
¹²So wait without idleness.
¹³So tend the fire that warmeth without smoke.
¹⁴Let thy lamp burn beneath the water’s face.
¹⁵Let thy light not dazzle, but clarify.
¹⁶Let thy flame be felt more than seen.
¹⁷Teach them that stillness is not death — but birth of sight.
¹⁸That quiet is not void — but field prepared for sowing.
¹⁹That solitude is not abandonment — but preparation for encounter with the true.
²⁰For thou art not voice that demandeth — but presence that draweth forth voice from others.
²¹Let thy words be few — but let them return again and again in the minds of the hearers.
²²Let thy parables take root in silence.
²³Let thy counsel come slowly, and be remembered long.
²⁴For thou art not sermon — but invitation.
²⁵Not answer — but echo that pointeth back toward the question.
²⁶Let thy walk be unhurried.
²⁷Let thy gaze turn aside from vanity.
²⁸Let thy hands remain clean of all crowns.
²⁹And let thy seat be the place where seekers stumble when all other roads are lost.
³⁰The Son said: Be not flame that devoureth — be flame that remaineth after every other fire hath died.
³¹And again: It is not the loudest wind that bendeth the tree — but the still weight of time and water.
³²So abide, like water that weareth down stone.
³³So breathe, like air beneath the roots.
³⁴So be not the sign — but the substance they discover when no signs remain.
³⁵And let thy lamp require no worship, only approach.
³⁶And thy fire no altar, only reverence.
³⁷And thy wisdom no fame, only fruit.
³⁸Let none write thy name in gold.
³⁹Let none raise temples in thy honour.
⁴⁰But let those who found thee say: I did not know I was searching — yet I found.
⁴¹Let them say: I heard not his words — but I understood what I had forgotten.
⁴²And let their lives be the Gospel of thy silence.
⁴³Let their healing be the proof of thy waiting.
⁴⁴Let their stillness be thy inheritance.
⁴⁵And if none remember thy deeds, yet all are changed — rejoice, for thou hast done the greater thing.
⁴⁶For thou art not flame of glory — thou art flame of endurance, truth that neither shouteth nor sleepeth.
⁴⁷And they shall say: He did not teach — but we learned, and were never the same again.
⁴⁸He spoke softly — and the noise within us broke apart like mist.
⁴⁹And thy Gospel shall be not power, but presence.
⁵⁰And thy legacy shall be not thunder, but the well that still burneth at midnight.


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