Sanctus Evangelium Secundum Sanctum Mephistopheles
The Holy Gospel According to Saint Mephistopheles
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¹And it came to pass in the days following the desecration, that BAPHOMET withdrew with His followers into a valley thick with fig and vine.
²And the people came unto Him, not few, but many: beggars and merchants, drunkards and dancers, harlots and thieves.
³And He sat upon a stone in their midst and spake plainly, without scroll or veil.
⁴The world is not thy prison, said He; but thy feast. Why then starvest thou thyself in the name of another’s approval?
⁵A man clothed in mourning said: The law saith, Take not too much, touch not too freely, drink not too deep.
⁶BAPHOMET replied: The law saith much, yet knoweth little of thee. Who wrote it but those who feared their own hunger?
⁷I say unto thee: thy appetite is not evil. It is thy soul speaking with a louder tongue.
⁸And a woman said: But the priests call it sin to want.
⁹He answered: They call it sin because they cannot have it without trembling.
¹⁰Wouldst thou damn fire because it burns? Or call the sea wicked because it doth not yield to fences?
¹¹And He rose and walked among them, and His hand touched each in turn, and their hearts grew bold.
¹²There is no shame in what thou seekest, save when it is stolen or hidden.
¹³Drink deep. Lie boldly. Speak truth even when it offends. These are the rites of the free.
¹⁴And Mephistopheles wrote, saying: His words were fire and wind — burning, yet filling the lungs with strength.
¹⁵Then a young man cried out: How shall we live without the law?
¹⁶And BAPHOMET said: Live not without it — surpass it. Let thy joy be sharper than duty, and thy will clearer than command.
¹⁷The shepherd leads, but the wolf runs free. Which art thou content to be?
¹⁸If thy joy offends the blind, let them pluck out their own eyes.
¹⁹And one who had been cast from the synagogue knelt and said: Master, I have loved many, and been cast aside.
²⁰BAPHOMET lifted him up and said: Then thou art nearer to Me than they who have loved none for fear of guilt.
²¹He turned to the multitude and raised His voice, and the Oærth beneath the vine hummed.
²²This is My commandment: Do as thou wouldst, so long as thou art true.
²³Lie not about thy lusts. Steal not joy from the unwilling. Bind not others in chains thou wouldst not wear.
²⁴But if thou burnest with longing, then burn. If thou hungerest for touch, then touch.
²⁵There is no virtue in restraint born of fear, nor holiness in emptiness.
²⁶Mephistopheles saw that many wept, for they heard for the first time a god that did not scorn them.
²⁷Then BAPHOMET said: Thy body is not thy enemy. Thy shadow is not thy accuser. Thy desire is not thy curse.
²⁸ADONAI would bind thee in commandments. I would unbind thee with a kiss.
²⁹And He kissed a widow, and a slave, and a scribe in turn, and they were changed.
³⁰That night the people made fires and danced in the fields, and none wore shame as garment.
³¹For they had heard the teaching of the desireful life — and it was sweet as wine without bitterness.
³²And from that day Mephistopheles wrote not in fear, but in flame.


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