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.
⁴Therefore thou art not punisher — thou art awakening, the cold mirror before which none may lie.
⁵Not reaper — but revealer.
⁶Let the teachers grow pale when thou enterest, for they shall forget their lessons when thy eyes reflect their motives.
⁷Let the orators stammer, for thou knowest which word was chosen to deceive, and which truth they chose not to say.
⁸Let the priests call thee dangerous — for thou uncloakest their private hungers more swiftly than a thousand inquisitions.
⁹The 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.
Copyright ©2025 Adam Alexander T. Croke. All rights reserved.