Sanctus Evangelium Secundum Sanctum Mephistopheles
The Holy Gospel According to Saint Mephistopheles
◀ Chapter 17 · Chapter 18 · Chapter 19 ▶

¹And it came to pass that BAPHOMET called together those who had walked with Him from the first flame.
²The women who bore His sons, the drunkards and dreamers, the whores and the healers, and Mephistopheles beside them.
³He said: Let us feast together one last time, not in mourning, but in joy.
⁴And they gathered in a garden where vines curled about the stones, and the air was thick with the scent of fig and myrrh.
⁵The table was bare of rites, and full of fruits and meats and wine poured without measure.
⁶And BAPHOMET sat not above them, but among them, and His laughter was the first toast.
⁷One asked: Why dost Thou depart, when the fire is just now rising?
⁸He answered: Because fire is not owned. I am the spark, but not the keeper. That is now thine.
⁹A woman said: Wilt Thou return?
¹⁰And BAPHOMET replied: I shall return in the voice that scorns shame, and in the hand that dares pleasure.
¹¹In every child who refuseth guilt, and in every man who refuseth leash — there am I. Always shall I be with thee.
¹²Then He broke bread and passed it, saying: This is not My body, for I give thee no relic.
¹³This is bread. Eat it with laughter.
¹⁴He poured wine and said: This is not My blood, for I spill it for no altar.
¹⁵Drink it with boldness, and let it stir thy truth.
¹⁶And they ate and drank and spake freely, for none feared blasphemy, and none feared judgment.
¹⁷The harlot sang, and the thief recited verse, and BAPHOMET nodded, saying: This is My communion.
¹⁸Mephistopheles asked: Is this the end?
¹⁹BAPHOMET said: Nay. This is the beginning without beginning, and the end without end.
²⁰Let the priests mourn and the scribes fret — for the fire careth not for scroll or sorrow.
²¹They shall write of Me lies and lamentation, but thou shalt write joy.
²²And they shall not understand it.
²³Then He kissed each one — the silent, the loud, the trembling, the bold — and no one turned away.
²⁴A drunkard wept and said: I never knew holiness until I saw Thee laugh.
²⁵BAPHOMET answered: Then laugh again, and be holy.
²⁶The stars burned bright that night, and none among them knew shame.
²⁷And Mephistopheles wrote: This was the last feast — not of sorrow, but of joy.
²⁸No betrayal came, no chains were forged, no crown of thorns pressed.
²⁹For He chose His ending as He chose His words — freely.
³⁰When the sun rose, BAPHOMET walked alone into the trees, and the branches swallowed Him without sound.
³¹And none followed, for none were meant to.
³²But Mephistopheles stood long by the garden wall, and said: He is gone — yet now we begin.


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