ASHTAROTH

Damned be the godwho calleth himself the One!

And damned be all thosewho bend their knees before him!

Damned be those and their god,damned to the end of time!

PROLOGUE

Behold, darkness covereth the earth,and the stench of Zabaoth filleth the air!

He is the god of slavery,and wherever he putteth his feet,there everybody will lose his freedom.

He is the enemy of life,and wherever he ruleth,there he forces the flesh to decay.

He is the prince of ugliness,and wherever his sight falleth upon,there beauty veileth itself.

Beware,because Zabaoth and his herd wander about the land;and they will not tolerate anybody which doeth notwander with them!

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But the day will come, when Ashtaroth will cross the abyss ofcenturies and the reign of darkness will tremble of her.

I

ORIGO

From the dust of the earth man rose.

And man subdued the earth, upon which he set his foot. Hesubdued each living creature and each dead rock.

And man recognised the gods, and he recognised theirstrength, so that he bowed himself under their will. Thus thegods ruled over man, and their power was great.

The mightiest among all gods however was Belet-ili, the GreatMother, the creatress of life. Man thanked her for the gifts,which he received and which had risen from her womb.

And like Belet ruled the earth, so Ereshkigal ruled theunderworld. Hither she took the souls of all mortals, whoselifetime had ended.Great was the power of the. Because all that which was bornby the Great Mother, would once be devoured by the DarkGoddess.

The most beautiful and most splendid among all goddesseshowever was Ashtaroth. She possessed the sublime beauty ofthe crescent, which illuminates the night with its light.And the fire of passion made her body shine so splendid thatall mortal men were consumed by desire for her.

Red was the colour of her soul, red like the fire, red like theblood, red like the colour of life.She was the mistress of love and force, of life and battle.

The followers of Ashtaroth were numerous among the mortals,because all, which loved life, worshipped her. In each city onthe earth huge temples were built for her. There the mortalssacrificed her their offerings and indulged in the desires offlesh.The largest and most magnificent one among those templeshad been built in the city of Helal. Because the city wasinhabited by a strong and splendid people. Liberty andfriendship unto all strangers were considered the highestvirtues. Therefore tradebloomed in the city. Many merchants journeyed from farawayto Helal to exchange their goods. Thus the city abounded in itsprosperity, and the crescent of Ashtaroth shone benevolent.Nowhere could be seen more splendour and extravagance thanin Helal. Every street was decorated with precious stones.There was no citizen who had to work, because more than onedozen of slaves served each of them. Thus man lived luckyunder the reign of Ashtaroth. Thankfully they praised theirgoddess and offered her generous sacrifices.

But the abundance of Helal provoked the envy of the people,which groaned under the burden of their daily work on thefields and in the villages.Also Belet-ili, the Great Mother, was displeased by watchingthe selfishness of this city and its goddess.Thus she spake unto Ashtaroth, the mistress of Helal: »Thoushalt not seduce the people of this city against the divineorder! Thou hast made them forget the venerable customs oftheir mothers and hast made them disregard the laws of nature.Instead of the fertility of the womb they honour the fertility ofthe gold. Thou hast made them desecrate their holy gender, inorder to serve their desires, instead of producing new life out

of it. Remember thy female nature! Since it is thy destinationlike the destination of all women which serve thee to matewith a man and to create new life by his seed.«"But Ashtaroth spake with abhorrence: »Never I will soil myimmaculate body with pregnancy! Contemptuously I lookdown on those women with their bulging bellies, which giveaway their female grace degrading themselves into mothers.«On this defamation Belet was overcome by great anger. Shecalled all the supreme mothers of the country to send theirsons against thecity Helal and to force down Ashtaroth.But she seized shield and spear and fearless faced heropponents.Whereupon many of the attacking warriors admired thebraveryand the undiminished pride of the juvenile goddess, and sothey abandoned the army of their mothers to follow her fromnow on.When Belet realised the army of warriors, which followedAshtaroth, she shrank from the battle. And so she decided, tolet Ashtaroth and those who followed her have their way. Butever since the anger against the young goddess gnawed herheart, and often she could hardly overcome her rage.A deep hostility remained forever between the two goddesses,though their conflict was never decided in a battle.

II

STRAGES

Untold were the years, which passed. Thus the SupremeGoddess Belet-ili became tired and ponderous. And also herstrength began to shrink. The mortals lost the confidence inher power and the fear of the secret knowledge of herpriestesses.

Also the male Gods saw, how weak the Great Mother hadbecome.And when they realised their own strength, they began todoubt about the legitimacy of Belet's reign.Then Anu, which was their leader, spake unto his sons:»From the beginning of time the Great Mother hath ruled overthe earth.But I ask you this question:Whereupon are the foundations of her power built?Is it a sword which makes her invincible in the battle?Is it an army, which no enemy can resist?Or is not it only false magic without true power?Are not there only old wives' stories to frighten smallchildren?Behold, in our hands are sword and shield! This is the truepower, which is able to force any enemy onto his knees.Thus let us put and end to the reign of old women! Plague andleprosy gnaw at their power. Their weak limbs were not ableto lift ever a sword, and their magic lost its strength.Never again woman shall rule over man! Raise your swordsand smash the reign of women by vigorous strokes!«

Enthusiastically the gods followed their leader. Thus theywent unto the temple of the Great Mother to overthrow herthrone.When Belet saw the army of the Gods approaching, she wentoutside accompanied by the mightiest of her priestesses toregard those, who raised their arms against her.The gods however stopped, as they noticed the angry face oftheir mistress.And the high-priestess of Belet raised her voice against those,who had followed Anu, and she said: »Why do ye comemarching with clinking arms unto the temple of your mother?Have ye forgotten the respect for the supreme goddess, whosesons ye are, in your boundlessly high spirits? Stand back, orthe spell of the Great Mother will come upon you!«So the gods stopped. Only one among them, which was calledChusor, stepped forth. Because he was the blacksmith of thegods, who had forged their weapons. And he was neitherafraid of magic nor of witchcraft, but nothing than the powerof steel. Thus Belet spake her curse upon him. And no soonerher words had ended, when Chusor gasped for breath, becausethe air in his lungs had become poison. Dreadful cramps shookhis limbs, so that he struck around in savage rage, whereby heshattered his heel with his own hammer. The strength of thepoison was not able to kill him, but the gash at his foot neverhealed up, which is why he is called the Limping God sincethen.

When Anu saw, how Belet stroke his son by her curse, heraged in anger. He brandished his sword against thepriestesses of the Great Mother and smote all of them, sincethey placed themselves protecting before their goddess. Alsothe other gods rushed into the battle. And together they

destroyed the huge temple, until none of the stones it wasmade of remained on its place.Thus Belet, the greatest one of all goddesses, was overthrown.And she was forced to submit to Anu who ruled the earth inplace of her.

And also Ereshkigal was driven out from her reign in theunderworld. Then she seeked refuge in the darkness of thenight, where she restless roams about together with herdisciples.

Only Ashtaroth prevailed still upon her throne. And thoughshe had always been despised by Belet and her daughters, shenevertheless defended the power of the old goddesses againstAnu and his sons.

Since Anu was afraid of the warfare of Ashtaroth, he sentAssur, the strongest warrior among all his sons, against her.But Ashtaroth was well aware that Assur was superior to herin strength. Therefore she mounted Baldium, her black steed,which she had once stolen from the underworld, and faced thedivine warrior in the battle riding upon its back.With all his mighty strength Assur brandished his sword gainstAshtaroth. But her dark steed broke like a desert storm uponhim, so that he did not hit his opponent with none of hisblows. As hard as he tried, she always escaped him upon herblack steed of hell, before he was able to reach her with hisarm. And in such a way the rage of the martial god increasedeach time, whenever Ashtaroth slipped away again and hersharp tongue mocked at him.Driven by his superhuman rage he pursued the riding goddess,until finally he strengthless sank unto the ground.Thus easily Ashtaroth could overcome the god deprived of his

strength. Defeated and bound she took him unto Helal

In great dismay Anu heard about the disgraceful defeat of hisson Assur. Thereupon he gathered the whole army of the gods,for his son the invincible warlord Marduk to go to war againstAshtaroth at its head.But Ashtaroth, who saw the army approaching from far away,seized her bow and sent her deadly arrows against herenemies.Many of those, who followed Marduk, were pierced by them,until finally the leader of the gods commanded his army tostop.And so he besieged the city Helal for twohundred and sixteendays and twohundred and sixteen nights. And each time thecrescent of the moon diminished in the heaven, the fortune ofwar turned towards Marduk. But when the crescent grew inpower and size, so also grew the power of its goddessAshtaroth, and her warriors drove the aggressors far awayfrom the walls of the city.

Meanwhile Ashtaroth sent for the imprisoned Assur in hisdungeon and he was brought unto her throne. Thus shebewitched him by all her power of seduction, so that he wasblinded by her beauty and forgat his anger against her. Andwhen he promised Ashtaroth never to raise his sword againsther again, she sent him back unto Marduk, his lord.So Assur went back before his brother and begged him fortheir friendship's sake to put an end to the senseless battle.Meanwhile Marduk was so pleased by the return of hisbeloved brother that eagerly he granted his wish.And so Marduk met with Ashtaroth, and he was bewitched byher

grace as well, so that he immediately forgat his enmity againsther.Whereupon the gods made peace with Ashtaroth and all othergoddesses, whereas those honoured Anu as the new lord of thegods.

Now since the sight of Belet did no more weigh suspiciouslyupon her, Ashtaroth became ever greater and mightier, untilher power was in no way inferior than the power of Anu andMarduk. There was no city, which did not build a temple forher. At any place on the earth she was worshipped.The most beautiful maidens and the noblest youngsters weresacrificed to her and she raised them from the transientnetherworld.And in their enormous temple houses the mortals honouredAshtaroth by the sensual ecstasy of their bodies. And theyhonoured the graceful hierodules and temple servants sharingthe delights of their pleasure with them. Because all thatprepared pleasures and benefit for them was sacred to them.Great was the prosperity among the humans during those days.And the mighty priestesses and priests of Ashtaroth watchedover the welfare of those, which honoured the goddess.

It came to pass four centuries after Anu had achieved the ruleamong the gods, when there rose a mighty empire amonghumans.From Memphis and Thebes the power of the emperor reachedout for the world. Menes was the name of the emperor, and hewas blessed by the gods whose son he was. So a new agedawned among humans, the age of the great kings and theirempires uniting many nations under their reign.

III

ZABAOTH

More than one millennium had passed, since Menes hadestablished the empire of Memphis and Thebes. The empirehad become larger.Without number were the warriors fighting for its armies andwithout number were the slaves building its monuments.

In those days it came to pass, that one of the slave nationsrevolted against the emperor. But the ruler struck down therebellion of the slaves and drove the rebellious people out ofthe city of Memphis.Driven by hunger and thirst the nation of the slaves wanderedthrough the deserts seeking refuge with a mountain calledHoreb.

Upon that mountain however there lived a sinister god namedZabaoth. And all weak ones and miserable ones hid out withhim, the most contemptuous one of all gods. Because hecajoled them by sticky, sugary words. And they licked up thefermented saliva running from his mouth.Since his disciples consisted only of weak ones and sick ones,he looked jealousy at the other gods envying them because oftheir glamour and splendour Particularly the beauty ofAshtaroth tormented his impure thoughts. And because of hisperverse inclinations he only felt drawn to his own gender,while he hated the purity of women from the deepness of hissoul.

When Zabaoth saw that nation of slaves, which seeked refugewith him, the greed in his eyes lit up, and he planned tosubjugate this nation under his will.Thus he raised his voice and spake unto the nation of theslaves: »I am Zabaoth, the lord of the mountain. What is thematter that leadeth you unto me?«And the slaves answered him: »Justice it is what we aresearching for.«And thus Zabaoth demanded: »Submit to me and I willprovide justice for you!«But the slaves replied: »Once before we submitted. Because itwas the lord of Memphis and Thebes who kept us in slaveryand against whom we rebelled. Now we long for vengeancefor the injustice we suffered.«Thereupon the god of the mountain spake unto them:»Listen to the words of Zabaoth!Those who follow me shall no longer suffer from injustice. Iwill be your lord, and I will be the lord of those, whichsubjugated you.There shall be no more masters and slaves among humans, andall humans shall be equal.«With great pleasure the slaves listened to the words of the god.And eagerly they were ready to subdue to him.But Zabaoth did not have in mind to liberate the slaves but hewanted to enslave also those who were free. In his reign allshould be equal, but not equal in liberty, but equal in slavery.But none of those, which followed him, realised the iniquity ofZabaoth. Because it is not liberty which is the desire of theslaves, but the envy that there should not be anybody beingless enslaved than themselves.Envy is the strongest drive of the slaves. And Zabaothsatisfied their envy by promising to destroy those, whichcaused the envy of the slaves.

Thus Zabaoth spake unto the nation of the slaves:»Ye are the people, which I chose. Therefore ye shall establisha convenant with me. Submit to the laws, which I impose uponyou, and ye shall receive your righteous pay.But not in your lifetime ye shall receive your pay, but in yourdeath!Therefore ye shall adore death and despise life!Despise the pleasures and delights of life, because they willdiminish the pleasures and delights, which are to await youafter death!Despise everything that so far was considered as sacred,because I will rename to you, what shall be sacred! Humilityshall be called pride from now on and weakness shall be calledstrength from now on. The strength however ye shall callweakness. Also slavery ye shall call liberty and liberty ye shallcall crime. Yea, ye shall despise everything, which so far wasconsidered as sacred.And despise Marduk and Ashtaroth, because I shall be youronly god! Ye shall not have any other gods beside me whoenrage my jealousy!Despise all, who are not like ye are, because ye shall becomeone single herd, and I shall be your shepherd! There shall notbe anybody who stands out from the herd. Extinguisheveryone, which doeth not want to be like the herd is!And also despise the women! Subdue them, and do not listento their words! Because they seduce you to the desires offlesh, which will corrupt you. They are an image of the harlotAshtaroth, who doeth not submit in humility to man and whodefiles the earth by her depravity.Therefore ye shall circumcise your gender as a mark of theconvenant and as a token of your contempt for all desires ofthe flesh, which Ashtaroth uses to seduce you.

Respect the laws, which I impose upon you, then my goodwillshall always be with you! Never again ye shall be worried,because I will determine your fate.«And thus the nation of the slaves established a convenant withZabaoth. No longer was Zabaoth only the god of a mountain,where weak ones and persecuted ones seeked refuge, now hehad become the god of a whole nation.

And Zabaoth made the nation of the slaves his army. And hemade them a mighty army.Then he sent his five warlords towards the rising sun toconquer the land he wanted to rule.Great were the skills of the warlords of Zabaoth, so that soonthe cities fell, which they stormed with their troops.The greatest among the warlords however was Belial. Andtherefore great power was granted him by Zabaoth, his lord.So Belial did not want to creep any longer in the dust beforehis lord and to be in service of his will. Thus Belial rose upagainst his god.He gained all his army, in order to overthrow the throne ofZabaoth.Dreadful was the battle of the two opponents. But finally thefour other warlords of Zabaoth broke the power of Belial. Andthus he was thrown from the face of the earth down into therealm of the underworld.Here he lurks about ever since in expectation of the day, whenthe reign of Zabaoth begins to falter and when he shall rise upagain, in order to grab the earth again from the rule ofZabaoth.

IV

ISABELL

In that time there was a city, which was called Sidon. Loyalservants of Ashtaroth were the people of Sidon, and so the citywas a source of wealth and prosperity.But the abundance of Sidon soon excited the greed of Ithobal,the warlord of Tyros. And thus the war fleet of Ithobalinvaded Sidon.And Ithobal did not stop even before the temple of Ashtaroth,but he proclaimed himself priest of the goddess, robbed hershrines and violated the temple maids, whose beauty pleasedhim. Thereupon he crowned himself king of Tyros and Sidonand praised himself on his power.His people however despised him, since he had committed asacrilege against Ashtaroth. Thus he went unto Atalana, thehigh-priestess of the temple, threatened her life and forced herto bless him in the name of her goddess. Now, since hissupremacy was secured, he returned unto Tyros and enjoyedhis abundance.

Ithobal collected numerous women in his palace. And soon adaughter was born him, whom he called Isabell. And since heloved her more than anything else, he determined her to be thesuccessor of his reign.

When Isabell completed three years of age, he sent heraccompanied by the most courageous of his warriors untoSidon, where the high-priestess of Ashtaroth should give herblessing unto her.

And Atalana blessed her according to her father's will. But atthe same time she consecrated the soul of the little girl to hergoddess, so that she became one being with Ashtaroth.And Isabell became one will and one thought with Ashtaroth,and the goddess looked out of her eyes and spake out of hermouth.Then the high-priestess sent Isabell back to Tyros unto herfather.And when he noticed the transformation, which had occurredwith Isabell, he began to lament, and his heart was filled withpain for the lost love for his daughter.

Also Isabell’s mother noticed her transformation and thedreariness, which had come upon her husband. Thus she wentunto Sidon to ask the high-priestess Atalana to take the spellfrom her daughter.Atalana however seduced the mother of Isabell by the beautyof her immaculate body, so that she became inflamed withlove for her.Together the two women devoted themselves to the passion oftheir desires and cursed Ithobal and his reign.Their dissipation became more and more unrestrained, untilfinally the high priestess sacrificed the life of her love uponthe altar in order to satisfy their both desires.When Ithobal heard about the death of his wife, his drearinessbecame even deeper. And each time he saw his daughter hisheart got filled with fear, and he felt the curse of Ashtaroth,which weighed heavily upon him.Although he proclaimed his son Belizar as his successor, hewas neither able to do any harm unto Isabell nor to expel herfrom his palace. Thus he was tormented at night by terriblenightmares and during the day he locked himself in hischamber in order to escape

the eyes of his daughter.Disease and weakness came upon his body, decay and ruinupon his power.Thus Ashtaroth punished those, which had committedsacrilege against her.

Meanwhile the power of the Dark God Zabaoth grew in thesouth.And thus he noticed the sacred city of Helal. The prosperityand liberty of their inhabitants however gnawed painfully athis corrupted soul and filled the hearts of those who followedhim with envy.Thus Zabaoth sent his spies unto Helal to report him on thesacred city of Ashtaroth.Excessively the people of Helal devoted themselves to allpleasures. And they permitted no restraints of their desires.In their innocent joy of life the women mated with theirbrethren and sons and the men with their sisters and daughters.Even with the animals of the house the people of the cityshared their desires. Because Birsha, their queen, was abenevolent woman, which granted them any liberty, and therewas no law, which she abused to subdue her people.But not only sensual pleasures but also trade and prosperitybloomed in the city. Helal had become a delight in the eyes ofits goddess and an oasis of life for the people of the desert,which came from anywhere.In hospitality the envoys of Zabaoth were welcome in the city.Since they were controlled by filthy and impure thoughtshowever, they were overcome with abhorrence seeing how theinhabitants of Helal devoted themselves to the sensualpleasures. Because where the beautiful and pure soul only seesthe beautiful and pure things, the ugly and disgusting soul onlysees the ugly and disgusting things.

They were blind for the attractions and the arts of seduction ofthe lovely daughters of Helal, because only their own genderpleases the eyes of the slaves of Zabaoth. They veil theirwomen, lest they need see any female. And only in darknessthey share their beds with them to force them to bare. Theydespise their own daughters, and they separate them from theirsons, whom alone they love. But where in this way nature isoffended, there it looks in insane greed out of the eyes ofthose, which have sinned against it. Therefore they feel disgustat what they see, because it is disgust which they feel atthemselves.And thus the beauty and splendour of the saxred city provokedthe abhorrence and disgust of the spies of Zabaoth. Driven byfear and horror they hurried back unto their god in order toreport with filthy words on Ashtaroth's reign over Helal.When Zabaoth heard the reports of his spies, he was overcomewith furious rage, because he did not bear seeing humans infortune and freedom. In slavery he wanted them to be. On dustthey should crawl before him and fearful beg for his mercy. Inthe eternity of death but not in sensual pleasures of life theyshould search for their fortune.And thus Zabaoth heaved a furious rumble, which shook theearth, and his rotten breath blew far over the land. Then he letthe whole terrible force of his hate befall the holy city ofHelal. With brimstoneand fire he suffocated it. Horrible was the misery, which thecruel god poured upon the people of Helal. And not even oneof the inhabitants of the city escaped from the furious rage ofZabaoth.And when he finally had satisfied his greed for destruction, hecommanded his people to erase all disciples of Ashtaroth inthe whole land, so that they should disappear forever from theface of the earth.

But soon Ashtaroth realised the cruel crime, which Zabaothcommitted against those, which worshipped her. Andthereupon she was overcome with demand for vengeance,vengeance for the death of their servants and vengeance forthe offence of her divine power.And thus Ashtaroth proclaimed:»Damned be Zabaoth!And damned be all those who follow him!To the end of time there shall be war between Ashtaroth andZabaoth!And there shall be no peace as long as even one of the slavesof the most miserable one of the gods contaminates the air ofthe earth by his impure breath!«This was the beginning of the Great War, which hath lasted tothe present day and which shall never come to an end, until thelast slave of Zabaoth shall be erased.

Then Ashtaroth sent for her prophet Isabell who meanwhilewas twelve years old to come unto the temple of Sidon.And Ashtaroth spake unto her: »Go unto Sebaste, unto the citywhere King Ahab rules over the reign of Zabaoth, and fulfilyour destiny!«Thereupon Isabell left her father's reign to go southward,where Zabaoth enslaved the mortals.Thirty and six days and thirty and six nights she wanderedthrough the desert. Thirty and six days the sun sapped theenergy of her young body, and thirty and six nights thecoldness made her limbs tremble.

However it came to pass in the selfsame day that King Ahabreturned home from a war campaign. And there he saw theshape of Isabell, which crossed his path.

When he noticed the weakness and exhaustion of the smallgirl, he commanded his warriors to water and feed her. Andsince she touched his heart, he took her unto Sebaste.But when they passed through the gates of the city, Isabelllooked around, and surprised she asked the king of Sebaste:»Tell me, Ahab, where are the free citizens of thy city? Onlyslaves I am able to see instead.«Ashamed the king was not able to answer her.Thereupon Isabell asked the king of Sebaste: »Tell me, Ahab,where are the women in thy city? Only veiled ghosts I am ableto see instead.«Again the king was such ashamed that he was not able toanswer her.Thereupon Isabell asked the king of Sebaste: »Tell me, Ahab,where are the gods in thy city? Only Zabaoth, the mostmiserable one of them I am able to see instead.«And this time either the king was not able to answer herbecause of his shame.Thus they finally reached the palace Sebaste, where Isabellrecovered from her onerous journey.However the next morning when she was called unto Ahab tohave breakfast with him, the priests of Zabaoth wereovercome with indignation and shouted: »What is the heathenharlot from Sidon doing at the table of the king? Take thisshameless creature unto the rooms which are reserved forwomen!«Then young Isabell seized her dagger and pierced the heart ofthe high-priest, so that his life perished away, before he couldcontaminate the air of the palace any further by his venomouswords.Thereupon the other priests started yelling furiously andthreatened the king with the wrath of Zabaoth.

But Isabell said: »Listen, Ahab! Crush those venomous wormsof Zabaoth, which infiltrate your city like rotting ulcers! Trustin my words, because I speak in behalf of Ashtaroth! Do notbe afraid of the wrath of the most miserable one of the gods!Because he will not dare to turn against thee as long asAshtaroth's hand protects thee.«And Ahab realised the power of the goddess which spake fromthe mouth of the little girl. And when she offered him to cleanthe city from the filth, so that it would shine with newglamour, he let her have her way.Immediately Isabell had the flock of Zabaoth's priestsbeheaded, which offended her goddess, and had their headsplanted upon high poles, which she put up around the palace.Then she went unto the shrines of the city and swept away thefilth of Zabaoth, so that they could become sacred places againpleasing the eyes of Ashtaroth.Since cowardice ruled the insidious hearts of the priests andprophets of Zabaoth, they were not able to oppose the wrath ofIsabell. And thus they attempted to escape the mightyprophetess in order to save their miserable lives, which theycalled their own.But only one of them managed to escape, because hiscowardice and iniquity exceeded even that of the others. Eliaswas his name. And he hid in the mountains while the souls ofhis companions rose in the smoke of the sacrificial fires untilBaldium, the black steed of hell, devoured them forAshtaroth's pleasure.Thus Zabaoth had been driven out of his own land. He had losthis own people to Ashtaroth, and that loss weighed heavilyupon his soul.

Since the dark god did not dare to approach the power ofAshtaroth which watched over Sebaste, he satisfied his anger

harassing the inhabitants of the land, which surrounded thecity. The last drop of water he stole from them, so that theircattle and their fields began to wither.But Ahab, the king of the land, took compassion on thepeople, and thus he turned unto Isabell for advice, in order toimplore the aid of her goddess.The prophetess however rejected him and said: »Strength andpride is what Ashtaroth demands, not weakness and humility.Upright ye shall come unto Ashtaroth, not crawling likeslaves. She doeth not want to hear your entreaties and wails.For that miserable slave god your whining may be goodenough, but not for her. Take your swords and fight! Thenwhen ye return with unbroken pride, Ashtaroth will listen untoyou with pleasure.«Then in his desperation Ahab sent the priests of Marduk untoElias in order to offer peace unto Zabaoth. But the insidiousElias incited the people against Marduk, so that theyslaughtered all his priests.When Isabell heard the news about the iniquity of this crime,she was seized with anger. Thereupon she broke the spell ofZabaoth and forced the rain to fall by the power of hergoddess. And she sent out the warriors of Sebaste to arrestElias. But the prophet of the sinister god fled and took refugein the shack of an old widow, whom he brought to heel by evilthreats.

Then when the people of Sebaste realised that Isabell savedthem all from the plague of the famine, they came unto theprophetess in great numbers to listen to the words she taughtthem.And thus they demanded: »Give us the laws of Ashtaroth!Because we want to live in such a way that it pleaseth thegoddess.«

But Isabell answered them:»Only one law I will give you.Ye shall not tolerate any law, soit readeth. Because where the law ruleth there liberty can notbe. And it is liberty ye shall strive for. It may be true that noreward awaiteth you and no punishment threateth you, butliberty itself will be your reward, and its loss will be yourpunishment.«Thereupon the people who had come unto her demanded: »Sotell us the greatest of all virtues!«And Isabell answered them: »Pride.«Thereupon they asked the prophetess: »And which is thegreatest of all sins?«And Isabell answered them: »Humility. Because the humblesinneth against himself.«After Isabell had spoken in such a way, she looked over thecircle of those who surrounded her. To her big surprise shecould not find even one weapon amongst them, neither asword nor a dagger.Thus Isabell said unto them: »Who are ye, unto whom Iaddress my words? Free citizens I supposed you to be, butonly slaves I can see.«Passionately the citizens of Sebaste contradicted her anddeclared their freedom from the bondage of the emperor ofMemphis and Thebes, they had escaped once.Isabell however said unto them: »It is true that ye have slippedoff the chains, but know this, free can only be who bearetharms. Look, it is the blade of steel, by which ye recognise thefree man as well as the free woman! Never ye shall take it off,as long as ye do not stay at your own home. And even duringyour sleep there shall always be a dagger close to you. Manturneth into a slave and woman into a wife, when there is noblade at his or her side. I tell you this, so that ye protect yourliberty. Because it is the highest good ye can possess.«

These were the words which the prophetess of Ashtarothspake unto the humans.

The years passed, and not even one of the vindictiveprophecies predicted by the priests of Zabaoth came true. Thereign of Ahab spread to a size which had never been achievedby any of his predecessors.Disappointed by the cowardice of his god Elias meanwhilehatched out his sinister plans. He incited the enemies of theking against him, and in one of the battles between the army ofSebaste and that of its enemies Ahab was finally murderedfrom behind by an insidious arrow.But even the death of the king could not satisfy thevindictiveness of the perfidious Elias. So he spake his curseupon Ahab's son, which had taken the place of his father. Andsoon he was seized by a lingering illness, until he finallyperished.

But the sinister activities of Elias could not be hidden fromIsabell, because she looked with the eyes of her goddess. Andso she discovered the criminal prophet and all the corruptscum of his fellowship, which accompanied him.Then Isabell said: »Cursed be Elias, the corrupter of hispeople! The wrath of Ashtaroth shall come upon him like astorm! The forces of nature shall pulverise his corrupt bodyinto dust! And nothing of him shall remain for those who oncefollowed him!«No sooner had Isabell completed her words than the heavendarkened above Elias and his followers. Then a mightytornado came upon them and swept their sinister leader out oftheir midst. He was torn apart alive by the force of the storm,so that the whirling clouds turned red by his blood.

And the shreds of his flesh were scattered in all directions ofthe wind, lest his followers found even a trace of his, howevermuch they seeked for him.Thus the curse of Isabell came true. And thus the revenge ofAshtaroth, her goddess, was carried out.For many years the prophetess Isabell stood by the kings ofSebaste. But however much she tried her magic powers, shecould not defeat the power of time, which started to leave itsmark on the immaculate beauty of her body. Therefore sheasked Ashtaroth to keep away the lingering senility from her.And Ashtaroth spake unto her: »Thou shalt not worry!Because decay shall never ruin the perfect shape of thy body.In everlasting youth thou shalt live on in the memory of man.«And when Isabell prepared her departure from the mortals, herenemies supposed the time to be favourable to revolt againstthe kingdom.One of them was Jehos, which served the king as captain andwho became his traitor. Since Jehos however was ruled bycowardice like all the slaves of Zabaoth, he waited until theking was weakened by a wound after a battle. Then he andthose who had conspired together with him fell upon theirhelpless lord and murdered him insidiously.After that outrage Jehos went unto the city of Isabell to take itby storm. But pitiful his army failed against the power of theprophetess and her warriors.But then he remembered treachery, which always had been themightiest of his weapons. And finally he managed to corrupttwo of Isabell's advisers, so that they pushed the prophetessfrom behind and threw her from the wall, whence she lookeddown on the army of Jehos.Thus big excitement arose among the people who witnessedthis outrage, because it was true that Isabell had fallen down,but none could find a trace of her corpse. Thus her fate

remained forever uncertain, and there was none who could sayhow Ashtaroth had taken her prophetess away.

Now Zabaoth had reconquered the control over his reign. Butsoon decline and decay came upon the land of Sebaste, sincethe hand of Ashtaroth did not watch over it. And barelyZabaoth could prevent his reign from being smashed by theforces of the enemies.

V

PROELIUM

While the years passed, Zabaoth's arrogance becameboundless. He denied all the other gods and declared war onthem. In his lack of restraint he even claimed to be the lordand creator of the world.When he now saw his power threatened by Ashtaroth, heturned eastward to the land of the Aryans. It was ruled by themighty god Mithras, a son of Anu, the Supreme God. Into thisland Zabaoth sent his prophet Zarathustra. Since Zarathustrawas great at wisdom and skill, he managed to incite the peopleand to shake the power of Mithras, and so a fierce battlebetween Mithras and Zabaoth was inflamed. But the sinistergod soon gained victory over his opponent by the help of hisprophet Zarathustra. Mithras however, who was defeated, wasbanned from the land of the Aryans.Meanwhile Belial, the apostate warlord of Zabaoth, followedthe trail of his former master. Because the enmity betweenthem continued unchanged. And wherever Zabaoth went torule, there Belial wanted to smite his reign.

For a long time Marduk, who meanwhile was the mightiest ofthe gods, had shewed patience to Zabaoth. Now however,since the Dark God had become more and more excessive inhis greed for power and had driven out even the gloriousMithras from his traditional reign, the patience of Marduk wasfinally exhausted. And thus he established a convenant withAshtaroth, who was the strongest warrior among the gods afterAssur to punish Zabaoth for his arrogance. Together theycalled the mighty nation of Babylon to arms.

Thereupon the warriors of Babylon invaded the land ofZabaoth. And they smashed the reign of the sinister god. Theycleaned the temples, which were soiled by Zabaoth's filth. Thehugest of the temples however was demolished, since theunholy cult stuck to it like leprosy. Then they took the slavesof Zabaoth as prisoners unto Babylon. Because they hadproven to be unworthy of their liberty.They had been slaves in Memphis and Thebes, and they hadremained slaves in their own land, then they should also beslaves in future.Broken was the power of Zabaoth, his reign was destroyed, hispriests in prison. Again he had become the most miserable ofthe gods. Darkness was taken away from humans, liberty andfortune had returned to them.

And Marduk rewarded the nation of Babylon for their feat andput it in place of the reign of Memphis and Thebes, whichfinally had lost its former strength after many millenniums ofpower.But the reign of Babylon lasted briefly. Because anotherempire began to rise, which was going to rule over the wholeearth. Its rise took centuries, but its rule should takemillenniums.The City was the head of the empire. And its mighty armscovered all parts of the world. It was an empire of humans andnot of gods.Although the gods were paid reference, obedience was shewedto humans.All kings on the earth had to submit to the invincible legionsof the City. And there was no land, which did not pay itstribute to the City.This was the age of the City, and its years were counted fromthe day, the City had been founded.

VI

CREPUSCULUM

The whole earth was ruled by the City. And also the slaves ofZabaoth had to bow to its power. The legions of the City wereinvincible and neither humans nor gods were able to opposethem.

Also Zabaoth, who had been ostracised by all gods, realisedthe strength of the City. And he saw the splendid temples,which had been built for the other gods. His heart was eatenup with envy and greed. And the realisation of his own miserymade him suffer. He was farther away than ever from thepower he craved for. All his prophets had failed and all hisarmies were defeated.Thus the idea entered his mind to procreate himself a son. Hewanted to send him unto the humans to do what his prophetshad not been able to do.However since he only felt affection to his own gender, he haddisgust at all women, so that he was not able to touch any ofthem.Therefore untouched a woman should conceive his son.Thus he chose the most miserable among all women from thepeople of the slaves, which served him. She had neither pridenor honour, because she let it happen that Zabaoth implantedhis corrupt seed into her in an unnatural way. Maria she wascalled, the Whore of Zabaoth.Thus the fruit of damnation grew in her dishonoured body.And the stars predicted the havoc which was about to comeupon the earth.

Therefore the scholars said unto the king who ruled the land,where the Whore of Zabaoth lived: »Behold, the star of evil isabout to touch the star of power! The Corrupter of Mankindwill be born in thy reign. Darkness will come upon the earth,and all hope will be extinguished.«Thus the king was overcome by great fear. He sent hiswarriors to search for the bringer of evil.Meanwhile Maria, the Whore of Zabaoth hid at a dark andsecluded place to bear the son of the sinister god. And thus thewarriors of the king were not able to find her. Many new-bornchildren were killed by them it in their overeagerness, but thescion of damnation escaped their sword.And thus Christos, the Corrupter of Mankind was spitted outby the womb of the Whore of Zabaoth, whereupon thecalamity took its course.

While Christos grew up in secret, Zabaoth sent a pioneer forhis son.And thus the sinister spirit of Elias was reborn. From distantpast he returned to incite the people again, to condemn theking and to proclaim the arrival of the Corrupter.And Elias spake unto the humans, which had come unto him,in order to listen to his words:»Bend your knees and submit! Because the son of Zabaothhath come. He will throw the kings of the earth from theirgolden thrones and break the wicked power of the City.Cursed shall be all who doeth not crawl in the dust before him,when he establisheth the reign of Zabaoth!«However when Antipas, the king, heard those words, he hadElias to be arrested and thrown in the dungeon of his palace.

Also Ashtaroth had noticed the return of Elias. Therefore shesent the daughter of the king, which served her, down into thedungeon to examine the prophet of Zabaoth.When Elias saw the shape of the girl, he spake unto her:»Leave me, female, lest thy indecent sight insulteth my eyes!«But Ashtaroth's envoys answered him: »Why doest thou coverthy eyes, Elias, since thou already knowest me? Once Idestroyed thee. And now that thou returned, I will destroy theea second time. But this time it shall be forever.«Thus Elias recognised his opponent, which had returned likehim.Whereupon he was overcome by fear and horror, so that hefell on the knees and called on his lord. But he did not hearhim. Because where Ashtaroth ruleth, there he hath no poweranymore. Then the daughter of the king returned unto Antipas,which was known as her father. And since he was consumedwith desire for her beauty, she said unto him: »If thou grantestme only one wish, I will dance for thee, so that thou canstenjoy the grace of my body.«Without hesitation the king consented, and so she pleased himwith her dance. And after the last of seven veils, which hadcovered the bare shape of her body, had slipped down, shewent unto her father to request the head of the prophet inreward.And since Antipas was a man of honour, which always kepthis word, he had to fulfil her wish, although he was afraid ofthe wrath of Zabaoth.Thereupon the daughter of the king was brought the head ofElias, which had been cut off his body. And she raised it to herlips sucking and devouring the soul of the dead prophet out ofhis mouth, lest anything of him remained, which could everreturn.

When Christos heard about the fate of his pioneer, he realisedthe power of his enemies. And thus he decided to bring aboutthe reign of Zabaoth not by power of force but by the power ofseduction.With words coated by sugar he lured the humans. And thusthey flocked unto him from everywhere to sip the honey juicefrom his mouth.He denied life, and he sweetened death and the sick ones andweak ones came to hear about the sweetness of death.Satisfied Christos, the Corrupter, looked down on theirweakness. Because weak and miserable he wanted them, andweak and miserable should become the strong ones too.Therefore Christos spake unto them:»Ye shall become like sheep, and I will be your shepherd. Yeshall be one herd, and the spirit of the herd shall fill you. Yeshall call the spirit of the herd love, and ye shall call sin, whatso far was called love.Beware of those, which do not want to be, how ye are!Because wolves they are, which want to rob the lambs of theherd. Therefore kill those wolves! Kill them all, which do notwant to become like sheep as ye do! Because it is not thethroat of the wolf to be the determination of the sheep, but theslaughterhouse of the shepherd.Blessed are the sheep, which are not afraid of theslaughterhouse: for their salvation shall be peaceful and sweet.Behold, ye are the sheep and I am the saviour! Therefore donot fear death, but expect joyfully the salvation!«Many had been seduced by the Corrupter and his honeyedwords.But there were also several amongst the slaves of Zabaoth,which supposed themselves to be betrayed by their god. Theyhad expected the sword, but they had only received words.

Therefore their anger turned toward Christos, and they seizedhim and handed him over to the judge, which was in charge ofthe land in the name of the City. And when he recognised theCorrupter of Mankind, he had him to be nailed to the cross tobreak the power of Zabaoth on the earth.Thus the Dark God had to watch, while his son was judged byhuman hand. Severely he was hit in his heart by that defeat.And beaten he withdrew unto the mountain called Horeb,where once he lived.

The one who had been supposed to bring the darkness uponthe earth had died, but his evil spirit survived. And thus theseed of corruption came up. Like leprosy it spread overhumans.So hard the emperors of the City tried, they could not get theabominable disease under control, which had seized the earth.

And finally after many years had passed the emperor himselfcame down with that disease and his soul darkened. He threwhimself down on his knees before the cross, where theCorrupter had been executed and humiliated himself beforeZabaoth.He had the gods be driven out of the City and had their holytemples be destroyed. Thus Marduk and Assur, who were themightiest gods in that time, perished at that saddest day.Belet however who had once ruled as the Great Mother overthe earth, had to submit to the power of the sinister god. AndMaria, the Whore of Zabaoth, accepted her as her slave.Also Chusor, the Limping God, was not able to escape thelegions of the City. Thus he was chained, in order to servefrom now on the power of Zabaoth as slave. But a bad servanthe was. Because only negligent he did his craft, since hishands were tied by chains.

Meanwhile the emperor built a temple for his sinister god,where since then Kephos resideth, the high-priest of Zabaoth.The remaining gods escaped southward, where the legions ofthe City were unable to get at them. Because the corruptionwhich had come upon the City by Zabaoth had weakened theempire. Thus it fell to pieces, and its legions had no strengthanymore.

When Zabaoth saw the corruption, which had come upon theearth, his abominable soul got filled with satisfaction. But histriumph was still not perfect, as long as the last one of the oldgods was not defeated and destroyed.Therefore he sent Mahound, the most dreadful of his prophets,unto the humans. Unto Jahilia he sent him, unto the city ofliberty and trade. Because here it was where Ashtaroth ruled,the mightiestamongst Zabaoth's opponents. And here it was also, where theHound of Zabaoth proclaimed his corruptive doctrine.He spake about the power of Zabaoth, about slavery andsubjection.And Subjection he also called his doctrine.He denied Ashtaroth and her power. But the people of Jahilialaughed at him and his god. So he defamed the goddess withimpertinent words and defiled her temples and shrines.The people of Jahilia did not leave the sacrilege against theirgoddess unpunished. They killed all those, which hadfollowed Mahound and drove the impertinent prophet out ofthe city.Thereupon Mahound and those of his corrupt flock who hadstill remained seeked refuge in the city of Jathrib to continuetheir sinister work here. The hearts of the people of Jathribwere weak, so that they could easily be lured by the words of

Mahound. They believed the calumny and arrogance ofZabaoth and bend their knees before him to implore his mercy.Satisfied Mahound looked down on their gullibility. But envyand jealousy came upon him, whenever he turned his eyesunto Jahilia.Because the glamour of the city shined splendid, while Jathribfaded at the sight of its bright appearance.Thus he crawled many times together with his miserablefollowers unto Jahilia to satisfy his greedy eyes at thesplendour of that city.However he did not risk to approach it since he was afraid ofthe strength of Ashtaroth.Like vermin the slaves of Zabaoth lurked around the mightywalls of Jahilia. And like annoying parasites they pounced onthe caravans, which left the city or moved towards it.Thus the people of Jahilia sent out their mighty army to chaseaway the vermin, which had turned into a plague. But by eviliniquity the slaves of Zabaoth overcame the honourable armyof Jahilia.And thus the most dreadful of all battles broke out betweenZabaoth and Anu, the lord of the remaining gods. It was abattle without mercy or compassion. Because the fate ofmankind and the earth should be decided.Frantic by the savage rapture of their blindness the slaves ofZabaoth fought against their opponents, because eagerly theylonged for their own death, which Mahound had sweetenedthem.And the gods threw themselves with all their war power intothe battle, and Zabaoth went with all his armies against them.And thus it came to pass that the luck of war turned againstAnu and his gods, because Marduk and Assur were not withthem any more. The slaves of Zabaoth however gloated insight of their victory.

And thus the army of the sinister god marched unto the gatesof Jahilia, the beaten city.

Now when Ashtaroth realised the calamity of the defeat, andwhen she saw that no more hope existed on the earth, shecalled for the last ones of her disciples.And Ashtaroth said unto them:»This is the darkest of all days, because this is the day ofZabaoth. My power is broken, and my temples are desecratedand destroyed. But my war will not be over as long as there isonly one of you preserving the memory of mine.«Thereupon she chose one amongst her disciples, whose soulwas cold but unbroken and thirsty for battle. And she ignitedher fire in his soul, so that it filled him with agony.Then she said unto him:»Thou shalt be the Sentinel, which liveth in the darkness toguard the flame. And if memory extinguisheth amongsthumans, then thou shalt be the last one, guarding the spark,which can ignite the fire of my power again.But it is a hard destiny, which I impose upon thee. Because theflame will live off thy soul eternally, but the fire will never fillthee. What flareth up will also extinguish. Thou however artthe Sentinel. Therefore thou shalt never flare up. Guard theflame of memory, and carry it on unto those who will comeafter thee!«Then Ashtaroth turned unto the others of her disciples and saidunto them:»Fight against that god, who calleth himself the one, whereverye encounter him and his corrupt tokens! And even with yourlast breath ye shall curse his name!«After she had thus completed her words, she turned into theshape of a cat. And when Mahound and the flock of his

warriors stormed the temple of the goddess, she escaped hishenchmen as a black shadow.And she seeked refuge in the abyss of the underworld, thereign of Belial, the Destroyer.

In that selfsame hour however, when Zabaoth achieved hisgreatest triumph and the whole mankind crawled to his feet,the full moon darkened. The age of deepest desperation hadbegun, and darkness covered the earth.

VII

CALIGO

This is the Age of Darkness. Because Zabaoth ruleth the earth,and all hope hath gone.His yoke weigheth heavily upon humans, and the world hathbecome a place of desperation.Decay and oblivion have come upon the empire of the City.And the former greatness of human fadeth in memory.

But the sinister god was still obsessed by the hate againstAshtaroth. Therefore he condemned the whole female genderto lowest slavery. Because his filthy spirit abhorred the purityof female seeing Ashtaroth in it. And he dishonoured theirbeauty having them veiling themselves with ugly rags.

Meanwhile humans disagreed about the words of Zabaoth.And those which followed Mahound fought against those,which followed Christos. And even those disagreed withthemselves. Thus humans tore each other apart without anysense, so that the misery increased. Because they had inheritedthe intolerance of Zabaoth, and the misery did not frightenthem any longer, since only darkness and sorrow ruled theearth.At the same time however it pleased Zabaoth to tormenthumans with disease and putrefaction. And when thousandsperished, he enjoyed watching his slaves crawling unto himand imploring his mercy trying to stop him from his atrocities.

Yea, this is the Age of Darkness. This is the reign that pleasethZabaoth.

But Belial the Destroyer rose from the abyss of theunderworld Belial and he had the power to defy the lord of theearth. Although he did not stand comparison with the strengthof Zabaoth, he always remained the thorn in the flesh of hisformer master.Now that the forces of the underworld were the last onesrebelling against the omnipotence of Zabaoth, also Ereshkigal,the forgotten goddess of that reign, established a convenantwith them. Thus Belial gained the power of magic and theblack arts by her.

When now in those dark years the misery of humans turnedout more and more atrocious, they longed back for the age ofthe old gods.And they loosened the chains of Chusor, who had once beenone of those gods, but now served only as a slave of Zabaoth.When he thereupon felt again the freedom of his hands aftermore than thousand years, he gave humans the weapon ofthunder and the power of thousandfold scripture.And thus the reign of Zabaoth was overcome by great unrest.And many humans freed themselves from his yoke.Thereupon the sinister god looked out for those, which shookhis reign. And so he noticed the activities of Belial and hisallies.Thereupon Zabaoth called for two of his slaves andcommanded them to forge him a hammer, which shouldshatter all servants of his opponents.And thus they created the Hammer of Damnation bringing fearand terror upon the earth.Terribly the hammer raged among the maids of Ashtaroth andthose of Ereshkigal, and even Belial trembled under its mighty

strokes. Wherever the hammer of Zabaoth hit, it ignitedtorches of human flesh, and the cries of the victims echoedover the earth.

Yea, this is the Age of Darkness. This is the reign that pleasethZabaoth.

The greatest amongst the maids of Ashtaroth in that time wasCountess Elizabeth. Her father and her brother however weredevoted slaves of Zabaoth. And thus they forced Elizabeth tosubmit to a husband.But she turned him into her own slave bewitching him withthe charm of her beauty. And when he nevertheless became anuisance to her, she got rid of him and recovered her liberty.Meanwhile she built a temple for Ashtaroth hidden secretly ina cave. Thither she took all daughters of the slaves of Zabaoth,she could get hold of to sacrifice them to her own desire and tothe pleasure of her goddess. And she gained eternal youth,while she bathed in the blood of the slaughtered virgins.But the king of the land heard about that temple of Ashtaroth.And thus he gave the Hammer of Damnation unto one of hisservants and sent him unto Elizabeth.Cruelly the hammer unfolded its power:The temple of Elizabeth was shattered and her servant wasbeheaded. The fingers of the maids of the temple were tornfrom their hands, then they were burned alive in the fireElizabeth herself was put in chains and thrown into her owndungeon. Thus the slaves of Zabaoth wanted to humiliate herby eternal grief.

Yea, this is the Age of Darkness. This is the reign that pleasethZabaoth.

But the final triumph was not granted the slaves of Zabaoth,because Elizabeth left her mortal body, and Ashtaroth took hersoul away.This came to pass at the twenty-first day of the eighth moon.Therefore remember Elizabeth, the maid of Ashtaroth, at thatday!

Meanwhile the reign of Zabaoth lasteth up to the present day.But the Dark God was not able to preserve the size of hisformer power. Because humans longed for liberty, and therewere many among them who slipped of his yoke.But the power of Zabaoth is still not broken. And his corruptspirit liveth on even in those, which think to be free of hisspell.

VIII

MALEHUDA

There came the time, when a new prophet should speak untoman. There came the time of Malehuda.

And thus it came to pass that a man crossed the abyss of themillenniums. And he walked on paths, which had not beenwalked for such a long time. He was a stranger to humans, andthey were strangers to him.

And a woman saw him coming unto her. But she was filledwith deep sadness, because a dark demon obsessed her spirit.Humility was the name of the demon, and he wrapped the soulof the woman in darkness.When that man however came unto her, the woman becameafraid, and she wanted to turn away to flee from him.But that man said unto her: »Do not run away, because thoucanst not escape of that which maketh thee fear!«So the woman stopped, because confusion had overcome thedemon, which obsessed her.And that man commanded the demon: »Drive out of thiswoman, tormentor of humans! Crawl back unto Zabaoth, thymaster, the lord of filth and all evil demons!«Thereupon the demon tormented the soul of the woman withall the strength of his abomination. Because he did not want togive away any more, whom he had taken possession of. But hewas not able to resist the strength of that man. And thus hefinally crawled out of the bosom of the woman and was blownaway by a gust of wind.

The woman however was overcome by joy and relief, becauseher pride had been freed from its demonic chains. Her eyeswere filled with tears of joy, and gratefully she sagged at theknees before that man.But the man stepped back frightened and shouted: » Do notkneel before me! Because thou art no wife any more, but awoman. The reflection of Ashtaroth is in thee. I however amnothing.«Thereupon the woman asked him: »Hast thou not driven thedark demon out of my soul? Who art thou that thou art able todo so?«And that man said: »I am the wolf, which breaketh into theherd to rob the sheep. But the sheep I rob will become wolvesthemselves.«But the woman did not understand his words, and so she said:»But if I am asked, who it was, who drove the demon out ofmy soul, what shall I answer?«And that man said: »Tell them that Malehuda hath come! Andtell them, that he hath come to ignite the flame in thedarkness!«Then that man, which was Malehuda, went his way. Becausethere was a lot of work to be done. The woman howeverhastened to tell the people about Malehuda.

Malehuda realised the darkness, which covered the world.Wherever he turned his eyes, he only saw dreariness andugliness. Because Zabaoth still had great power over themortals.And thus Malehuda entered the city, which was in hisway, and said unto the people:»Oh, slaves of Zabaoth, what have ye done to the beauty ofthe earth?What once was great and splendid hath become small and uglyby your mediocrity.

Ye have taken away the charm from life, when you broughtvoid and uniformity upon the world. Ye called it peace, but itwas the peace of death.Ye have taken away the strength of the strong ones to turnthem into sheep of your herd.Ye have taken away the grace of the female gender andsubdued it to the slavery of men to please a god who onlyknoweth the unnatural love to his own gender.How can call you that god the One, who offendeth nature byall his deeds and laws?«Amongst the people who heard the words of Malehuda, therewas also a priest of Zabaoth. And he asked him: »In whosename thou speakest, which blasphemest god, the Almighty? «And Malehuda answered him: »I speak in the name of theearth, and I speak in the name of Ashtaroth, my goddess.«So the priest of Zabaoth asked: »How canst thou speak in thename of a goddess, while there is only one god? Because onlyone god may have created heaven and earth. So there can alsobe only one creator and god.«But Malehuda answered him:»Uncreated is the earth. And uncreated is man.Behold, from the dust of the earth man was born, like the earthwas born from the dust of the stars.«Thereupon the priest of Zabaoth laughed and said: »So tell me,who created the stars from whose dust the earth was born!«But Malehuda said:»If everything needeth a creator, by whom it was created, thenwho created the creator?Behold, there is no omnipotence! And even that god, whoboasteth about it, doeth not possess enough power to rule overme.«Thereupon the priest of Zabaoth became outraged andshouted:

»How canst thou venture to place thyself higher than god?«But Malehuda told him: »Be quiet, miserable slave of thy god!Because the humility of slave speaketh out of thy mouth.«Thereupon the priest of Zabaoth crept away to report to theothers of his corrupt guild on Malehuda.

When Malehuda walked through the streets of the city, he wasovercome by great surprise, because nowhere he could see awoman.Only men and ghosts came into his sight.Then a sudden discovery came to him, and he tore away theveil of one of the ghosts, which it was disguised with. And,behold, there appeared a woman, which had hidden herselfunder the dark robe.But the people, which saw this, became outraged at theshamelessness of that sight.So Malehuda said:»Be quiet, sinners against nature!Because ye shall know: The woman, which veileth her body,insulteth herself and her beauty.«Thereupon the outraged people became silent, and Malehudacontinued his way.

Since Malehuda had attracted great attention, the councillorsof the city invited him to speak in their council. And theprophet was accompanied into the building, where the wisestmen of the city had assembled.But when Malehuda saw them, he said:»What am I to do here at this place? Where more than threemen have assembled without any woman, there is no place forme. Because where those, which prefer their own gender wantto be alone, there I have no business.«And thus he turned away and left the council of the city.

Since Malehuda had enraged the priests of Zabaoth and thecouncillors of the city, they sent armed warriors to arrest him.And when they seized him, they locked him into the dungeonof the city. But when Malehuda saw that there were threeother men besides him in his dungeon, he said unto the guard,which had led him:»Take me unto another place! A man shall only toleratewomen in the room where he intendeth to rest, because else heinsulteth Ashtaroth.«But the guard ignored his words and locked the door behindhim.Thereupon Malehuda kept awake until it gat dark. And whenthe men, which were locked up together with him, had fallenasleep, he slew them before they could awake again. Then hewent to bed.

When Malehuda was taken unto the court of the city at thefollowing morning, the judge spake unto him: »Thou hastsinned against Zabaoth, and thou hast murdered three men.Doest thou not know the law, which thou hast to obey?«But Malehuda answered him:»What doeth your law mean to me? Ye made this law, so alsoobey it! I however did not make a law, so I will not obey anylaw either.«Thereupon the judge said: »The law applies to all andeverybody.And there is nobody excluded from the law.«Thus Malehuda answered:»Cursed be the law! Because where the law is, there libertycannot be. If man required law, then it would be given him bynature and would not need to be forced upon him.And cursed again be the law! Because it is the evil creation of

darkness. By the iron clamp of law life itself was choked todeath.«Thereupon the judge pronounced his sentence upon Malehuda:»Since thou doest not shew respect for me and the law, Icommand thee to meet death, before tomorrow's day breaks.«But Malehuda answered unto him: »I obey neither thycommands nor the commands of any man. Because thou artnothing that I am not also. So why should I obey thee?«Thereupon the judge had him taken back into the dungeon byarmed warriors, where he should await the hour of his death.

But in the night, when Malehuda waited in the dungeon,suddenly a man came unto him. He had never seen him before,but nevertheless he recognised him. Because it was theSentinel of Ashtaroth.And the Sentinel asked him: »Art thou the prophet ofAshtaroth?«And Malehuda answered him: »To speak for Ashtaroth, Icrossed the abyss of time.«Thus the Sentinel examined him and recognised him. And thushe said unto Malehuda: »Follow me, and do not worry!Because those, which kept thee imprisoned, are not longeralive.«Thereupon they left the dungeon, where Malehuda had been inprison. And the Sentinel led Malehuda unto those, which hadfollowed his words.

Thereupon the servants of Ashtaroth came unto Malehuda andsaid unto him: »Shew us the goddess, so that we can see herwith our eyes!«And Malehuda answered them:»The power of Zabaoth is still too great to permit thatAshtaroth could shew herself to you.

But ye shall know: In each woman the image of Ashtaroth isreflected, the more similar, the more she is a fighter and themore different, the more she becometh a mother.«This and much more Malehuda said unto those, whichfollowed him.

Once there came a woman and a man unto Malehuda andasked for his blessing to the bond they wanted to entertogether.So Malehuda said unto them:»Unholy is the bond between a man and a woman! Becausesingle man is born, and single he will die. Why should not helive single too?«Thereupon they said one to another: »Thus let us separatewoman from man!«But then Malehuda was seized with anger and shouted:»Do ye also want to sin against nature like the slaves ofZabaoth do?Behold: Where the genders are separated, there Ashtaroth isoffended. And cursed shall be all who offend Ashtaroth andsin against nature!«This and much more Malehuda said unto those, whichfollowed him.

Finally there came the day when Malehuda gathered all, whichfollowed him in order to speak for the last time unto them.And he said unto them:»I did, what I was told to do. From now on it is up to you towage the war.Therefore do not forget the name of the enemy! Zabaoth he iscalled.

And he is the god of darkness. Because everything of him isfilthy and corrupt. Every morning ye wake up, ye shall cursethe name of Zabaoth!By the mark of damnation ye shall recognise the mostmiserable slaves of his. Because they have mutilated their owngender to seal the convenant with their abominable master.Do not rest until the last one of his slaves is erased from theearth and his name is effaced from human memory!«This and much more Malehuda said unto those, whichfollowed him.Then he departed, and they did not know, whither he went.

IX

APOCALYPSIS

This is the day to come, the Day of the Final Battle.This is the day, when the fate of the earth will be decided.

Listen, mortals, seven signs are to herald the approach of theFinal Battle!Then a star will rise in the heaven, and humans will befrightened at its sight.And this is to be the first sign.Then the rays of the sun will blind humans and scorch theirskin.And this is to be the second sign.Then the plants and animals on the earth will perish, andnothing will remain for the humans on the earth to satisfy theirhunger.And this is to be the third sign.Then the fire in all furnaces will be extinguished.And this is to be the forth sign.Then a flood will befall and drown the humans at the coasts ofthe sea.And this is to be the fifth sign.Then man will rise up against man.And this is to be the sixth sign.Then the reigns of the earth will fall apart.And this is to be the seventh sign.Then, when the signs are completed, Zabaoth will look downon the earth. He will see that time hath come, and he will senddown the last one of his prophets, in order to restore hispower.

But in the selfsame day the son of Belial, the Destroyer, willbe born by a human female. And he will become the head of amighty army.With this army he will march against the slaves of Zabaoth,and his fist will shatter the last prophet. The slaves of Zabaothhowever will swim in a sea of blood.Then the sinister god himself will rush to their aid. AndChristos, his son, who is called the Corrupter of Mankind, willbe with him. The whole army of his father will accompanyhim. And Maria, the Whore of Zabaoth, will stand behind him.Then the forces of Belial will assemble, in order to fightagainst them. The Destroyer himself will lead them, andEreshkigal will accompany him.And when the mighty armies meet, the Final Battle will break.And the fate of humans and gods will be decided.Behold, at this hour Ashtaroth will rush into the battle uponher black steed to pierce the slaves of Zabaoth by her fieryarrows. The splendour of her untouchable beauty willilluminate the battlefield.And her enemies will be paralysed at the sight of her sublimeappearance, while she brings death and destruction into theirranks.

So let me tell you about the triumph of the goddess Ashtaroth!She will break the power of Zabaoth, and Baldium, herterrifying steed, will devour the soul of the sinister god, lest heever returneth.His name will be extinguished forever, and nobody among themortals will ever remember him.And like him his Whore and her son will be erased from theface of the earth, lest they can ever again unfold their corruptinfluence.

Then even that woman who once was called the Great Motherwill be able to free herself again. And she will acknowledgethe greatness of her former opponent Ashtaroth.Meanwhile Chusor, the former blacksmith of the gods, will bereleased from his chains. In liberty he will reach out for thestars of the infinite heaven.And Ashtaroth will establish her empire on the earth, whichwill be called Gehenna. The heaven above will turn red by fireand blood.Because it will be the reign of lust and passion, passion, whichknoweth neither mercy nor compassion. Here the proudwarriors of Ashtaroth will enjoy the agonies of the slaves,which once served the sinister god. Because from then on theywill only serve the desires of their new masters.The temples and altars will abound in their blood, and theircries of pain will fill the air like lovely music. Ashtaroth willlisten to their melodiousness and feast her eyes on the sight ofthe sacrifices.Joy and high spirits will fill the earth in the sunlight, while thenights will be illuminated by the fire of licentious orgies,where humans will satisfy their lascivious desires.No law will enslave human, because liberty will triumph overthe corrupt power of ethics and morals.Thus man will regain his former strength. Filled with prideand strength he will overcome all boundaries of nature.And Ashtaroth will make the beauty of the earth shine andbring the reign of ugliness to an end, whose horrible clawshave imprisoned the earth for such a long time.Then Helal, the city of Ashtaroth, will be rebuilt. It will be theflower of the cities , like the female gender is the flower ofmankind.It will be the head of the empire Gehenna, and henceAshtaroth will rule over the earth.

Thus the fire of life will burn and erase the last marks of thecorrupt activity of the Dark God.And those, which crawled to the feet of Zabaoth, the mostmiserable of the gods, will remain in their misery, which theyhat chosen themselves in the limitedness of their thinking.Therefore love life and remain loyal to it! Despise death anddo not let it seduce you with its sweetish odour of decay!Do not fear the ferocity and cruelty of Ashtaroth! Because it isthe ferocity and cruelty of predator. Likewise ye shall becomepredators, and hot blood shall pulsate in your veins.This is what Ashtaroth wants, the goddess of life, the mistressof passion and everlasting fight.

This was written down by a vassal of the goddess.

In eternal worship of Ashtaroth,whose beauty illuminateth the earth,

and whose name will live longer than time.