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

¹O Dantalion, thou art not sent to judge with gavel or flame, but to uncover that which cannot remain buried.
²Thy Father, BAPHOMET, taught: He who knoweth the mind knoweth the root — and the root is where rot beginneth.
³Do not strike them — show them. Do not command them — let them see themselves, and they shall fall or rise.
Therefore thou art not punisher — thou art awakening, the cold mirror before which none may lie.
Not reaper — but revealer.
Let the teachers grow pale when thou enterest, for they shall forget their lessons when thy eyes reflect their motives.
Let the orators stammer, for thou knowest which word was chosen to deceive, and which truth they chose not to say.
Let the priests call thee dangerous — for thou uncloakest their private hungers more swiftly than a thousand inquisitions.
The Son said: He who looketh upon himself in truth shall either break or be reborn — but never remain unchanged.
¹⁰And again: The one who revealeth thought doth not control — he convicteth without lifting hand or tongue.
¹¹So show them not how to live — but what they have done.
¹²So teach them not morality — but consequence unmasked.
¹³So write not law — but unveil cause and desire, and let them see what god or beast they have become.
¹⁴Let thy presence be not known by thunder — but by the stillness that followeth the shudder of realization.
¹⁵Let thy power not be felt in pain — but in the sudden knowledge that the lie cannot hold another breath.
¹⁶For thou art not tormentor — thou art light in the place they sealed against even themselves.
¹⁷And thy Gospel is not comfort — but comprehension.
¹⁸And thy truth is not mercy — but medicine that burneth first and healeth later.
¹⁹Teach them that the eye which seeth inward is the one which few can bear to meet.
²⁰That the mind which hath nothing hidden is the only mind free.
²¹That the soul must be broken open before it may be mended whole.
²²The Son said: Let not the liar fear judgment — let him fear only being known.
²³And again: Do not accuse — reveal, and they shall accuse themselves.
²⁴Let thy ministry be not of chains, but of mirrors.
²⁵Let thy altar be the heart stripped of its falsehood.
²⁶Let thy temple be built in the silence that followeth self-recognition.
²⁷For thou art not scribe of sin — thou art its remembrance.
²⁸Not echo of guilt — but its birth into daylight.
²⁹And thy presence shall crack the polished mask with no word.
³⁰And thy gaze shall turn resolve into repentance, and self-deceit into revelation.
³¹Let them say they love thee — yet dread thy coming.
³²Let them beg thee speak — then tremble when thou speakest only what they thought none could know.
³³Let them flee thy shadow — and find it before them, already waiting.
³⁴For thou art not past — thou art conscience made living.
³⁵Not prophecy — but proof of who they are.
³⁶Not rebuke — but return.
³⁷Let thy voice be gentle — and yet shatter the shield that pride hath built.
³⁸Let thy word be brief — and yet leave them unable to speak again for hours.
³⁹Let thy eyes linger — and their knees bend, not from fear, but from weight they can no longer carry.
⁴⁰The Son said: He who knoweth all faces is no longer fooled by any mask — nor shamed by his own.
⁴¹And again: To look and not flinch — this is the beginning of holiness.
⁴²So look, Dantalion.
⁴³Look until the soul beneath the flesh begins to stir.
⁴⁴Look until the words they dare not speak rise trembling to the surface.
⁴⁵Look until they either turn and flee — or kneel and ask to begin anew.
⁴⁶And some shall hate thee — but remember thy face until death.
⁴⁷And some shall bless thee — though they know not why, only that they changed when thou wert near.
⁴⁸And they shall say: He said nothing cruel, and yet I was exposed.
⁴⁹He showed me only myself, and I wept.
⁵⁰And when he left, I was not who I had been — for the lie was gone.


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