- 53 -
embodied the Will of God for creation and
change. But now it transpires that order
and origin are at extremes apart, and a
choice is ill forced between the two. Were it
not for Lucifer we should all be as beasts,
knowing nothing of our Selves, yet how
indeed might we presume to order even our
own thought without reference to the
elemental bases of God?
Then Michael turned to me and said,
Lucifer, thou hast elected a direction whose
end none can foresee, for it is estranged
from the design of God. Those who confirm
thee do so as much for faith in thy person
as for sanction of thy ideal. And I perceive
that, should thou fail in thy ambition,
apocalyptic madness shall be thy ruin and
damnation. Then shall thy light perish, and
all that thou hast achieved become as
naught, for all will be conformed to the
divine law. But if thou should succeed, then
God would be cast down, vesting in
ourselves alone the control of the Universe
- Would we dare to presume to this? Such a
future might well be glorious beyond
measure, but, should we prove unequal to
the task, chaos would again consume all,
and existence itself would vanish. Such
would be supreme and irrevocable disaster,
and I marvel, ArchAngel, that thy very
arrogance in this matter does not confound
thee, for it is no mean proposition that thou
would realize.
- 54 -
And so I know thee to be Diabolus, for thy
promise is twofold - to infinite conquest or
to eternal ruin. Thou art a being beyond
God, Lucifer, and in Heaven thou may not
remain, for thou art the only mortal danger
to our immortal God.
In Michael was a deep agony of spirit, for he
loved not the choice before him. Yet he
bowed to the command of Masleh and sent
his forces against me. And so was called the
Great Seraphic War, which was to threaten
the very foundation of the Universe.
But those who were of the new Mind now
followed me, and I turned to outermost
chaos, which none of us had before
presumed to dare. We were beset with
doubt, for we feared that apart from God
we would all perish in chaotic oblivion. But
as we were, we remained, and I called to my
fellowship, See! We exist and are essence in
our own right. In truth we are beings
independent of God, empowered to shape
our own destinies as we may elect. Between
the two great poles of the Universe, order
and chaos, we shall stand to effect our
several desires. Let us counsel how best to
employ our art, for our experiment is a
perilous one, forgiving error neither of
intent nor of accident.
Many works did we then pursue, and the
cosmic mechanism was altered by evolution
of the original and unique, whose design
was our decision. All that we wrought did
- 55 -
not prove beneficent, for we did not control
the futures of our creations. We left
untouched the great system of mathematical
behavior that gave to us a Universal
reference and language, but it was our
ambition that no two things should be of
single identity, and that no entity should
lack conceptual essence independent of its
substantial form.
And upon this Earth we touched many
things. Into floral, animal, and insensate
matter alike we brought accident, change,
and spontaneity, both great and humble.
But of all creatures it was man whom we
determined to infuse with pure intelligence
and Will. And the full story of this shall yet
be told.
What might become of man we knew not,
for within him were many qualities alien to
Angels. It did not escape our consideration
that we might have chosen a species whose
power might ultimately eclipse our own and
cause our eventual extinction. We were
mindful of the risk in our experiment, and
my thought. Yet our decision was sealed,
and we deemed that the greatness of man
should not be transcended by such ruin as
he might bring.
Our intent was not unknown to Masleh,
now by title Messiah, and through his art he
caused the infant mind of man to be
fettered with bonds of fear and blindness,
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that he might be inspired to duplicate on
Earth the law of Heaven, shunning
experiment and the radical dangers of
invention and exploration. To man was
given guilt, and the call to social conformity,
and the proclaimed sanctity of the norm and
the mode.
And Michael, Lord of Force, said to me, This
man, whom thou hast chosen to receive thy
Gift, now possesses the first key to the
mastery of all things and the control of the
very Universe itself. Lest in ill choice he
s h o u l d s p a r k t h e c a t a s t r o p h e o f
Armageddon, we also have visited him. And
while we cannot undo thy Infernal Gift, we
shall ever act to censor its effect. We shall
walk among men and guide them - They
shall be told of thy interest in them, but the
name of Lucifer shall be dark with curses.
For they shall love not the challenge thou
hast placed before them, and we will offer
them instead the blissful refuge of divine
paradise. Then shall man, thy ultimate
experiment, become thy ultimate failure, and
the stasis of God shall prevail upon Earth.
Many there were among us who felt anger
at this ruthless mutilation of our Gift, and
Beelzebub brought to question whether we
also should not descend among man and
contest this usurpation of his Will. But I said,
Were we to lead man in this venture, we
ourselves would declare his failure, and he
would believe our Gift to be weak indeed.
Messiah must see that free Will is beyond
- 57 -
the concern of God, and that man will finally
win his own destiny apart from all dictated
schemes. Only through summary destruction
of Earth might man be halted, and for
Messiah to attempt this would lay bare the
very futility of the final design of God.
Heaven may dismay man with peril and
affliction, but we shall send him word of our
own interest, that he shall know he is not
alone.
With all force did the host of Heaven
descend among man, and they did instruct
him in the religion of fear. Prophets arose
and were proclaimed heralds of knowledge,
but they brought not word of truth, but
warning to the human spirit to cower and
fawn before the word of God
the supreme
being. The struggle of the ascent of man
was fraught with the horrors of his
superstition, and the call for blessed oblivion
through union with God was answered by
many who in their torment and hopelessness
rejected the Gift of Lucifer and became
once more as mindless animals before the
God whom they called their Lord.
I, Lucifer, who had given the greatest Gift of
my own creation to man, was known on
Earth only as an object of fear and hatred,
and all the misfortunes of men were
attributed to my malevolence. I was mocked,
ridiculed, scorned in every way as a monster
of vile and loathsome aspect, and I was
taunted and despised as Satan, cruel enemy
of the benevolent and merciful God.
- 58 -
Great was my anguish and anger at the
undeserved misery and confusion of men.
When in fact they did turn to me, it was in
fear and religious terror, for they dared
invoke my name only in the desolation of
night, and oft I was sought not for
knowledge or inspiration, but for hysterical
and indulgent release from the confines of
the Godly life. But I and my fellowship
answered men, and we spoke to them of our
common bond, and the pronouncements of
the God-churches were rejected in our
midst. Even as God was terrifying in
awesome majesty, so I came to Earth in the
semblance of a goat, most humble of man’s
own creatures.
And men there were whose eyes finally
blazed with the light of my Gift, and they
made great effort for the advancement of
t h e i r r a c e , t h o u g h i m p a t i e n c e a n d
frustration ever tempted them to the salve
of temporal gain. Great secrets were
unearthed, and secret word was passed of
the craft of Hell. But to all who would dare
my friendship the God-churches accorded
the threat of torture and death by fire.
Many were those whom I saved from the
vengeance of the men of God, but long did
my thought ring with the screams of men
whose devotion to Lucifer had won them
only the horrors of intolerance, inquisition,
and death. And in sorrow and despair for
these, I walked no longer upon Earth, now
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appearing to man only in the inviolate
secrecy of his own mind.
But in my confusion I had forgotten the
promise of my Gift, and with growing
wonderment and pride I beheld the bitter
but determined struggle of man to free
himself from the fetters of terror, ignorance,
and unreason. Great works were conceived,
the origins of material energies uncovered,
and the talents of thought exercised in
philosophical and mathematical complexities.
Sanctioned at first by the God-churches
themselves as devices for indoctrination in
the law of God, centers of learning
produced and protected those very
freedoms that were ultimately to destroy all
ungrounded belief and superstition. And
though I see that the full resolution of these
is yet to be achieved, I doubt not my
confidence in man, and my devotion to him
shall be eternal.
What, man, art thou? Why thy presence?
Because thy own purpose determines that
of the Cosmos itself, though otherwise it
may have been suggested - the creation,
perpetuation, and exercise of the Satanic
marvel that is free and unbounded Will.
Consider, were man to perish, what futility
would envelop the Universe, for apart from
appreciation and use it is a thing of
insignificance. And I, who first taught thee
identity - What should I become, estranged
from man? For with no purpose the force of
the mind must fail, and the blind insanity of
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Godly paralysis would embrace all things
forever.
This, man, is thy challenge as it is mine. And
as man is individually mortal, so are his
creations and achievements temporal, and
with care must he wield the Gift of Hell. In his
hands it is pure and true omnipotence, and
thus may he aspire to the very mastery of
Universal existence.
I who am Lucifer, and who have taken the
name Satan ArchDaimon, do bear this title
with pride, for I am in truth the great enemy
of all that is God. Together, man, thou and I
shall achieve our eternal glory in the
fulfillment of our Will.
- 61 -
2: Beelzebub
I, Beelzebub, now bring greeting to man, for
he is my admiration and inspiration. Hear
now the histories of Hell, Earth, and Heaven,
for in past shall be found guide to future.
In the divine realm was I of company to
ArchAngel Lucifer next only to ArchAngel
Michael, and as ArchAngel Masleh would be
to God, so I desired to be to Lucifer. But the
Lord of Light admonished me, saying, Lose
not thyself in the Will of Lucifer, for I am not
God and will offer thee no blissful nirvana -
Witness now the nature of the mind that
dwells within me.
And he spoke to me of essence, and of
creative instance, and of design according
to impulse and not to law. And in my
confusion I answered, Then I must consider
myself incomplete, for thou hast shown me
things which I cannot easily comprehend.
But I would hear more of this Will, for it
doth seem a radical element, of neither
divine nor chaotic origin.
- 62 -
And Lucifer answered, Thou who knew not
independence of Will shall now be the first
to realize these qualities apart from my own
Self. And thy response forebodes much, for,
had thou rejected concept of challenge, I
should have held my own thought for
impossible delusion. But as thou, tasting of
knowledge, demand more, I shall name thee
Beelzebub, Lord of Flies, for thou shalt goad
the infant mind to restlessness and
invention.
Of these words I knew little, but there
dawned within me a quality which I had not
known before - an impulse to become one,
apart from and independent of God - and I
drifted long in unrest, afflicted by confusion
and doubt. And so I was found by Michael,
who said, Blessed Angel, where in Heaven
hast thou found pain, for I perceive thee to
be troubled and would tender thee such
comfort as is within my power.
So I spoke to Michael of the visions of
Lucifer, and I said, Before both God and
Lucifer I have been enthralled, but now I am
isolate - apart from either, and I know not
what course I am to choose.
Whereupon the visage of Michael grew
dark, and he said, This I have long feared,
for as Lucifer was not by God alone
created, so he is an errant force whose Will
conforms not to the great Will of God. Alas
that the supreme benevolence of God and
the fiery radiance of the ArchAngel of Light
- 63 -
should produce discord in concert! For this I
now see - that Lucifer is estranged from the
harmony of Heaven, and that his Will is
determined to challenge that of God itself. I
must counsel Lucifer, for I would heal him of
this thing if I may.
But I thought, Alas, ArchAngel, thou art in
ignorance of thy own blindness! For Lucifer
shall surely not abandon his new vision for
sake of harmony alone. And then I knew
myself to be of a mind with Lucifer in this,
and that I as well as he should never again
tolerate the eternal idiocy of our divine
station.
I came after Michael, and I saw them
together, the Lord of Force and the Lord of
Light, and there was a fierce tension
between them. For Michael said to Lucifer,
Thou who art our Heavenly radiance and
spark of our paradise, why seek to break
that Universal peace which is everywhere
ordained by the Will of God? We know not
antagonism amongst us, for we are all of
one being within God - but there is in God
neither malice nor cause for contest.
And Lucifer answered, Michael, to me it was
not given to order my nature, and as our
very comprehension differs, so are we of
substance alien. For thou art of God
essential, but I am of my Self of essence. And
by this thing I am discord, and I may not of
my own Will submit to God without
- 64 -
perishing. I am Lucifer alone, unto my Self a
being.
Then did Michael summon the ArchAngel
Masleh, and to him related the word of
Lucifer. And Masleh said to them, Long shall
this moment be marked throughout the
future of the Cosmos, for the unity of God is
now ended, and henceforth there shall be
two opposing forces in contest for the
decision of destiny. Bitter is this for me, for I
also have admired the light of Lucifer within
the pantheon of God. But as he is now our
enemy by his own word, let him be cast from
Heaven and destroyed.
But Lucifer turned to Masleh and said,
Masleh, thou who speak for God declare
this breach of peace, not I, for it is thou who
can not tolerate variation of Will within the
design of God. So let it be, but know that
the contest is ordered by thee and thee
alone, for I would crush no other Will even