CHAPTER XXVIII.
1. On the following day the Gods departed, with due ceremonies, after the manner theycame, and returned to their kingdoms, and thence down to the earth, each one to his owndivision.
2. And each of the three Gods went to his own chosen mortal (who had power to seeand hear spiritual things). And the Gods possessed them by their presence, and inspiredthem to write the words of Anuhasaj, alias the Lord God, word for word; and theywere so written, alike and like, in the three great divisions of the earth. And copiesof them were made and filed in the libraries, and in the houses of philosophy of mortals.
3. But when these matters were thus entered, in answer to the queries of mortals, as to theorigin of man and his destiny, they were not deemed sufficient by the learned men. Manyof them said: The Lord God hath evaded our questions.
4. Then satan came to each of the three Gods who had the matter in charge, and he saidunto them: Consult with one another as to what shall be done. So Osiris sentmessengers to Te-in and to Sudga, asking them to come to Agho'aden, his heavenly place,for consultation. And, in due course of time, Te-in and Sudga came to Osiris, to histhrone, where they were received in great honor and glory. And presently Osiris' marshalscleared the place, so the interview was private, for even the marshals stood afar off.
5. Osiris said: What shall we do without a Creator in fact? I know not if my judgment bebeside itself, for it is said they that lose their reason are the last to discover it. The timewas when De'yus, our much-loved Lord God, said: Whilst ye labor on the earth for meand my kingdoms, behold, I will reciprocate in all things. Neither shall ye ask for aughtbut it shall be granted unto you.
6. Hear me then, O my brothers, in my complaint; mortals have asked us, to knowthe origin of man, and his destination; and to know the cause of good and evil. These things I submitted unto our Lord God, in Hored, to learn his will and decree.
7. Thereupon he sent messengers to me announcing a feast, on which occasion hewould answer the questions of mortals satisfactorily. Ye and I went to the feast,and De'yus hath furnished us with something, which is nothing. For mortals can alsoperceive that what the Lord God hath said is one and the same thing that was said bythe Gods through Zarathustra; and, moreover, that the questions are still unanswered.
8. De'yus is my friend, and I desire not to press him further on the subject; and so I havecalled you, to learn of you how ye managed the same issues?
9. Te-in said: Before our heavenly kingdoms were confederated, Anuhasaj professed thathe would announce himself the head and front of all created creations. Shall we say hiscourage is less? And so excuse him?
10. Sudga said: When he should have said: I created man in mine own image, behold, hehath weakly said: LET US MAKE MAN! Is it not clear, then, that he shirketh from theresponsibility, and desireth ourselves commingled in the pitiful story? Hear me, then,my brothers; I am asked how I have answered the issues with mine own division, andI say unto you, I have been in the same quandary, and have not answered them at all.
11. Te-in said: Neither have I. But that we may be justified in so doing, behold, the LordGod said unto us: I bind you not to my words, nor limit you, save that that I have spokenshall be the foundation. Now, it is clear, that if we admit that sin is in the world, we mustfind a way to justify the Lord God, whose servants we are. If he be not justified, then issin justified.
12. For mortals perceive good and evil understandingly; but to justify a good God forpermitting evil is not an easy matter. For in the breath we praise him, we must praise hisworks; of which sin is apparent; and in the same breath that we condemn sin, how shallwe glorify De'yus? For have we not proclaimed him the foundation of all things; the headand front, before creation was created? Was not this our battle-cry, to urge our angelwarriors on to overthrow Jehovih? And hath not our loud-praised Lord God said: LET USMAKE MAN! A child should have more courage than this!
13. Sudga said: It is plain we all understand these issues, and perceive, also, what isrequired of us. For since De'yus hath left us liberty to add to his doctrines, according toour own judgment, is it not well that we agree upon a doctrine, even as De'yus professedprior to the confederacy? And thus give it to mortals?
14. Osiris said: This is wisdom, O my brothers. To make our Lord God the Creator, wemust account unto him all things, both good and evil. Wherefore we shall give twomasters to man, the one being the serpent, the earth, the lowest inspirer; and the other thevoice of our Lord God.
15. Sudga said: My brother hath spoken wisely. And yet, is the term two masters thewisest term? For in declaring the Lord God the highest, we must make him master overthe earth also.
16. Te-in said: Why shall we not adopt the E’O’LINof the ancients, substituting the wordsLord God? And make a commandment over man, forbidding him hearkening to theserpent, lest he be led away from the Lord God, and throw the cause of sin upon man, forviolating the Lord God's commandment.
17. Osiris said: Most wisely spoken, my brothers. For by accusing man, through theserpent, we clear the Lord God unscathed.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE OSIRIAN BIBLE OF ARABIN’YA, AND VIND’YU, AND JAFFETH.
1. On the following day the three false Gods, Osiris and Te-in and Sudga, wrotetheir account, each in his own way. And when they were read, Osiris' stood clearerthan either of the others'; but nevertheless, Te-in's and Sudga's had much of merit. So it came to pass Osiris' account was adopted, with interpolations from the others'.
2. This, then, is the completed report, to wit:
3. These are the times of earth and heaven when created; the time the Lord Godcreated them. And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the earth, and quickenedhim through his nostrils with the breath of life, and man became a living creature.
4. And God caused mists to rise up from the waters, and spread over the earth, andrain upon it. And he caused trees and herbs to grow up out of the ground; everythingthat is pleasant for the sight and good for food. Thus out of the ground the LordGod caused man to come forth, being of the earth, of the land of Eden13 (Spe-a).
5. To dress the land and keep it pleasant, the Lord God commanded man, saying: Thisshall be thy labor, in which thou shalt be perfected unto everlasting life. Of all things inthe land of Eden mayst thou freely take and enjoy.
6. And man prospered on the earth for a long season; and he was naked and notashamed. And God planted the tree of knowledge in the land of Eden, and he said untoman: This tree have I planted; partake thou not of it, for it pertaineth to life and death.
7. And God called the name of the first man A'su (Adam). And the Lord God causedman to name all things on the earth, and in the waters, and in the air above theearth, and whatsoever man called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
8. And the Lord God caused A'su to fall into a trance; and an angel of heaven cameand stood by his side. And the Lord God drew from the flesh, and from the bones,and from the blood of A'su, and thus made woman, and brought her unto A'su.
9. And the Lord God repeated his commandment unto woman, saying: Thou shalt sojournfor a season on the earth, and cleave unto A'su, for he is thy husband, and thou art hiswife; and thou shalt partake of all things on the face of the earth, save of the tree oflife, which is of both good and evil, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
10. But because of the serpent (the earth) of the woman, she hearkened unto him, and hesaid unto the woman: I say unto thee, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt have thineeyes opened, and shalt become as a Goddess, creating offspring.
11. And the woman was more easily persuaded than man, for she had confidence in theserpent; and they partook of the fruit thereof; and, of a truth, their eyes were opened, andthey beheld their nakedness.
12. And presently they heard the Lord God walking in Eden, and they hid themselves inthe bushes. And the Lord God said: Where art thou, A'su? And A'su said: Because weheard thee walking, we hid ourselves, for we were naked.
13. The Lord God said: Who told thee thou wert naked? Hast thou eaten of the treewhereof I told thee thou shouldst not eat? A'su said: The woman thou gavest me to bewith me, led me, saying: Behold, it is good fruit; and we ate thereof.
14. The Lord God said: Woman, what hast thou done? And the woman answered, saying: The serpent beguiled me. And the Lord God said unto the serpent: Because thou hastdone this, thou art accursed, and thou shalt not rise up from the earth, but return to dustwhence thou camest.
15. Unto the woman the Lord God said: Because thou hast conceived, thou shalt havegreat sorrow; in sorrow bring forth children; thy desire shall be to thy husband, and heshall rule over thee. And I will put enmity betwixt the serpent and thine offspring; andthe flesh shall call one way, which is unto earth, but the soul of man shall call unto me,the Lord God. And though the serpent bite, yet man shall bruise him, and subdue him.
16. And God taught man to make coats of skins and be clothed. And the Lord God said: Lest man partake further, becoming as one of us, he shall go out of Eden, where I createdhim. So he drove man out of Eden backward,14 and gave him cherubims15 to hold him onevery side, to preserve unto man the tree of life, that man might not only fulfill the spirit,but the flesh also.
17. When Osiris had gone thus far, Sudga interposed, saying: If we say, Becoming as oneof us, will not man say: Behold, there are more Gods than the Lord God?
18. Te-in said: Because De'yus said: Let us make man, shall we not use US in thisinstance?
19. Osiris said: Hear me, my brothers, yet further; for I previously found a way out. For Ihave divided the Lord from God; that is to say:
20. And the Lord God said: Because man hath learned good and evil, I am as twain untohim, for I am Lord of the earth and God of heaven. And that which is on the earth is theLord's, and that which is in heaven is God's.
21. And A'su called his wife's name Eve (We-it), for she was the fountain of all men. AndEve brought forth a son, Cain, saying: I have begotten a son from the Lord. And shebrought forth another son, Abel. And the first-born was begotten in darkness, but thesecond of the light of the Lord. And the Lord had more respect unto the second, Abel,than unto the first, Cain.
22. In course of time Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offered it unto the Lord. And Abel brought for the Lord, as his offerings, the firstlings of his flocks. And Cainperceived that the Lord had more respect for his brother, and Cain was wroth, and hiscountenance fell.
23. And the Lord said unto Cain: Why art thou jealous? If thou doest well, shalt thou notbe accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at thy door.
24. But Cain would not be reconciled (because of the darkness in him), and whenhe and his brother were walking in the fields, Cain turned upon Abel and slew him.
25. God said: Behold, darkness is between men; the son begotten in darkness falleth uponhim begotten in the light. And it shall come to pass on the earth from this time forth thatthe righteous shall be persecuted by the unrighteous.
26. And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said: I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? The Lord said: The voice of thy brother's blood crieth out untome from the ground: Now art thou accursed from the earth, for it hath opened to receivethy brother's blood from thy hand. In my sight thou shalt be a fugitive and a vagabondupon the earth. And because thou hast shed blood, blood shall not cease to flow from thysons and daughters forever.
27. Cain said: O Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. For I am become thefirst foundation of all the wars on the earth; for thou hast hid thy face from me;and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth of me in them shall be slain also.
28. And the Lord said unto Cain: Whosoever slayeth thee or thine, vengeance shall beupon him seven-fold. And the Lord wrote upon Cain's forehead the word Asugasahiben,signifying, BLOOD FOR SAKE OF SELF, a mark, lest any finding him might kill him.
29. And from this time forth Cain lost the voice of the Lord, because he went off into Nod16(darkness). And Cain took a wife and begot heirs unto himself after his own manner, andthey were called Cainites, and the heirs after them were called the tribe of Cainites, whichsurvived him nine hundred and ten years, after which they were divided into six andtwenty tribes. (And the name Cain was lost. But the people survived, and are known tothis day as THE WORLD’S PEOPLE.)
30. And We-it bore another son, Seth, in place of Abel, whom Cain slew. And after thesecame the generations of men, good and evil. And the Lord God said: Behold, I createdman without sin, and I gave him warning, that he might remain holy on the face ofthe earth. But woman hearkened not to my counsel, but to the serpent, and sin cameinto the world. Therefore shall woman bring forth in pain all the generations of the earth.
31. Thus it was that the Lord God created man; in the likeness of God created he him.
32. And the sons of Cain were called tribes, even unto this day, but the sons of therighteous were sons of God; wherefore it was said of old: Behold the sons of earth and thesons of heaven.
33. And the Lord said: Shall I not accord to myself to choose what I will? For this right Igave to man also. And from that time after the sons of God were called God's chosen.
34. And it came to pass that man multiplied on the face of the earth; and the tribes weremightier than the sons of the Lord God, and the wickedness of man became great in theearth, and the desires of his heart were evil continually.
35. And the Lord God repented that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him athis heart. And the Lord God said: I will destroy man whom I have created; nor will Ispare beast nor creeping thing in the place I gave.
36. Behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the lands of the earth, and I will destroy allflesh wherein is the breath of life. But my covenant is with my chosen, who shall not bedestroyed by the flood of waters.
37. And God's sons in Noe17 took with them pairs of the living, of beasts andbirds, according to the commandments of God, to keep the seed alive on the earth.
38. And when the earth was six hundred years in Noe, the flood of waters was come uponthe earth. And for forty days and forty nights the rain fell, and the fountains of the seacame up on the lands of the earth. And man and beast alike, that drew the breath of life,died, for the land was no more.
39. But the heirs of Noe suffered not; and the ships of the arc, whither the Lord hadconcealed them, rode upon the waters. And God made a wind to pass over the earth: andthe fountains of the deep were stopped, and the rain of heaven restrained, and the ships ofthe arc borne upon dry land.
40. And the Lord God said: Behold, I will build a new earth and a new heaven. For these,my sons, have proven their faith in me. Neither will I again destroy the tribes of menbecause their hearts are set on evil. And the Lord God swore an oath by the bow of thearc, saying: This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and allflesh that is upon the earth. And by the sons of Noe was the whole earth overspread, andthe Lord blessed the earth, and said: Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat forman; even as the green herb I have given. But flesh with the life18 thereof, which is theblood thereof, shall man not eat.
41. For surely your blood of your lives will I require; of every beast will I require it; at thehand of every man's brother will I require the life of man that feedeth on living flesh andblood.
42. And whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in myimage made I man. And ye, be ye fruitful, and multiply, and bring forth abundantly in theearth, and inhabit it, for it is yours for perpetual generations.
43. Thus ended the words of Osiris. Te-in said: Because of flesh blood, thou art wise, mybrother. Sudga said: Hereon hangeth the glory of our enterprise. For man being lessrestrained than in the Divan laws, will accept the new readily.
44. After this, Osiris prepared a book of generations of men on earth; and these were thesubstance of the doctrines of De'yus and his Gods. And Osiris and Te-in and Sudgadeparted, and came down to the earth, to their mortal wards, and by virtue of theirpresence inspired they their wards to write them in mortal words, according to thelanguages in the places where they lived. And they were so written by these seers; andcopies of them were made and put on file in the libraries of the records of the kings andqueens of the earth, in Arabin'ya, Jaffeth and Shem. And these became the bible of thatday.
13 Eden, Aden, Haden, Ah-den, Jeden, are of the same meaning in the Vedic, Phoenician and Chinese languages, and are from the Panic word Spe-a, or, rather, S'pe-a; i.e., a heavenly place on earth.
14 I.e., to the east, or from his spiritual condition.
15 Kerub or Kerubim, in Hebrew, signifies GRASPED AND HELD FAST. Laws are cherubim, and so are guardian angels.
16 Nod, in Phoenician, is equivalent to M'hak in Chinese. All persons who cannot recognize conscience, that is, consciousness of right and wrong, are in Nod; that is, cannot hear the voice of the Lord.
17 Noe, one of the arcs of light in etherea.
18 In olden times some tribes of men cut flesh out of living animals and ate it raw.CHAPTER XXX.
1. Now, after the three false Gods, Osiris and Te-in and Sudga, had revealed these thingsto mortals, they sent messengers to the Lord God, praying audience with him, that theymight disclose to him what they had done. Anuhasaj, alias De'yus, therefore, appointed atime of meeting, and the Gods came before him and made their report. After whichDe'yus said:
2. In all ye have done I acquiesce; neither have ye said aught that I would not have said,save that I desired not to laud myself with mine own mouth. And thus ended the matter,as to how mortals were taught to worship the names Lord and God, and Lord God, andHo-Joss, and Joss, and De'yus, and Deity, and Dyaus, and Zeus, and various other names,according to the languages of the people of Jaffeth, and Vind'yu, and Arabin'ya, andParsi'e, and Heleste. And thousands of millions of angels of the Lord God and his Gods,who were sent down to mortals, inspired them and taught them the same things throughseers, and prophets, and magicians, and through other people, also, by dreams andvisions.
3. And mortals were taught the secret of spiritually going out of their own corporealbodies, and returning safely; and in this state they were taken subjectively to the kingdomof the Lord God, where they beheld him even as a man, sitting on a throne; and they sawthe great glory of his kingdom, and beheld the worshippers, millions of them, glorifyingDe'yus, the false Lord God. And these persons became preachers on the earth;enthusiastically stirring men up on every hand to draw the sword and spear and slingto go forth in battle, to overthrow the doctrine of the Great Spirit and establish the De'yus.
4. And it came to pass that they thus accomplished the will of the Lord God in all thesedivisions of the earth. The Jehovians, being non-resistants, were powerless before them. Kings and queens on the earth accepted these doctrines, and they marshaled their armiesin all directions to establish the Lord God, who had said unto them: As much as ye exaltme and my kingdoms, so will I exalt you. As I behold, ye are become wise and powerfulto rule over many on the earth, so will I give unto you large kingdoms in heaven.
5. And the false Lord God and his false Gods prospered in earth and heaven, as tothemselves and their kingdoms, hundreds of years, nine hundred years, and at this timethe Faithists of the earth were reduced to a small fraction of people, mostly hid away, assheep from wolves.
6. But in nine hundred and fifty years, behold, the worshippers of the Lord God, the false,began to quarrel and fight amongst themselves. Even as by blood they had establishedhim, so by blood were the kings and queens of the earth overthrowing one another.
7. Because of the warfare, schools, and colleges, and houses of philosophy, were wastedaway; the factories for spinning and weaving were destroyed, and the lands not tilled.
8. And now of the heavenly kingdoms of Anuhasaj and his Gods, this is what occurred,to wit: They had accumulated twenty-eight thousand millions of spirits, all ofwhom were servants to De'yus and his Gods. For the most part they were below gradeten, whilst three thousand millions were below grade five, which is helplessness.
9. Jehovih had so made men and angels that, whosoever had learned to abnegate self andto labor for the good of others, was already above grade fifty, and his ascension should beperpetual thereafter; whilst they that were below grade fifty, who had not put awayself (satan), should gravitate downward, toward the earth. Wherein it had come topass that the false Lord God and his false Gods were burdened with their kingdoms.
10. And though they were adorned to the utmost, having vast cities for their heavenlycapitals, with millions of attendants, and millions of musicians, who were foreverinventing new and wonderful music, and playing and singing, millions and millions inconcert, with millions of trumpeters, near and far off, to fashion echoes beautiful to theear; and though they had decorators forever inventing and changing their thousands ofmillions of flags and banners, and the ornaments for the pageantry; though they hadmillions of heavenly cities, built with heavenly precious stones and gems of splendor, andwith roadways and streets paved with heavenly diamonds and pearls; and though they hadtournaments, heavenly, and games, and rites and ceremonies, prostrations and salutations,without end, with great ships, heavenly, capable of coursing atmospherea in journeys andexcursions, ships to carry hundreds of millions of angels, whose chief occupation was tosing and chant the glory and power and dominion of De'yus and his Gods; yea, though alarge book could not contain a description of the thousandth part of their wonderful glory,yet each and every God began to see coming danger.
11. Jehovih had said: Two precipices have I left open for testing man's strength, and theyare: great prosperity and great adversity.
12. And behold, satan came upon them in the guise of a good friend. First, he went toAnuhasaj and said unto him: Thou greatest of Gods! Who is like unto thee? Behold, Icame to thee in the beginning, and told thee what to do, even to stretch forth thine hand,and heaven and earth should be thine forever, for thine own glory. And lo, it hath comeon finely! Thou hast routed Jehovih and His hosts in heaven and earth; they are as aremnant skulking away. Hear me, then, O De'yus, for I will not only praise thee for whatthou hast accomplished, but I will chide thee for thy failings.
13. De'yus said: Wherein have I failed, O satan? And satan answered, saying: Thou arttoo honest for thine own good; too pure for thine own benefit; too unsuspecting asregards thy Gods. Being thyself honest, thou hast easily attributed honesty unto others,and they have taken advantage of thee.
14. Anuhasaj said: How? Satan answered, saying: In the first, thou saidst to thy Gods: Maintain ye your schools, and colleges, and factories, and otherwise prepare the spirits ofthe dead unto resurrection. And as fast as they arrive at grade thirty, send ye them to mykingdom, that Hored may be glorified forever. But lo and behold, thy Gods used theangels as slaves, to build up the glory of their own kingdoms. They have suffered theirheavenly places of education, for the most part, to be scattered and gone. Neither havethey inspired mortals to instruction, as I warned thee at the first. And mortals have thrownaside their schools and colleges, and their places of art, and have become riotous, andgiven to gross living, and there is no resurrection in them. Which matters show thee that,soon or late, all the spirits of the earth will be of no grade at all, but as fetals and vampiresto live on mortals.
15. De'yus said: Why are mortals become gross livers? Satan answered him, saying: Behold, in thine own revelation to mortals thou saidst to them: Partake not of fish, norflesh, nor blood, for food, nor of anything that breatheth the breath of life. And now,behold what came to pass: Thy three Gods, whom thou hadst elevated and trusted, fell toand made other revelations, wherein they said: Partake of fish and flesh; for they desiredto please mortals. And lo, it hath come to pass that man not only warreth for thee, but hewarreth to the right and left, for it is in his blood, after the manner of beasts that feed onflesh. Thy Gods had no right to give this law unto man without first consulting thee, toknow thy will and pleasure.
16. Anuhasaj said: Alas, it is true. What shall I do? Satan said: Thou shalt call thy Godsbefore thee and chide them in thine own way, and command them to go down to mortalsand re-establish learning and industry, instead of war. Anuhasaj said: Even so shall theycome and receive my reprimand. They shall know of a truth that I am the Lord their God.
17. Satan went to the other false Gods, every one separately, saying unto each: Hear me,O thou wisest of Gods, who shouldst in fact be at the all highest Godhead in heaven,because of thy great wisdom and integrity. Behold, I came to thee at the first and foretoldthee how thy kingdom should become great and glorified; and even so hath it come topass. When thou puttest forth thine hand to do a thing, it is done; for thou wert born intolife different from all others, and for the highest of glories. And because of thy greatness,behold, all the Gods of heaven are jealous of thee and fear thee, all of which thou knowestof thine own knowledge. Now, whilst I accord this unto thee, I will also chide thee for thyshortness.
18. For, because thou art honest thyself, thou believest the same of others; wherefore thouart cheated and ill-used on all hands. In the first while, thou didst send thy highest gradesto the Lord God, to be his; yea, thou hast robbed thine own kingdom of its finest and bestsubjects for the glory of De'yus. And who is De'yus more than thou? Is he not a coward? for he feared to give his own doctrines to mortals; but he abridged his words till they wereworthless. And thou and thy fellow-Gods made his doctrines up in full for him! Yet thouservest him as if he were thy superior.
19. The false God said: Alas, it is true, with all my wisdom I have acted like a fool. Because I was too honest and pure for De'yus and his Gods, they have taken advantage ofme. What shall I do? Satan said: I told thee at the first, that the time should come whenthou shouldst rise to be higher than all other Gods. Behold, the time is near at handwhen thou shalt strike the blow. Thou shalt not only have thine own kingdom, but thekingdoms of thy companion Gods; and even De'yus shall be tributary unto thee and thine.
20. The false God said: What shall I do? And satan answered, saying: De'yus will scentthe danger to his kingdom, and he will summon his Gods for consultation. Be thou readywith thine answer unto him and them; not hastily, for such is the manner of the weak;but most deliberately, in high holiness of purpose, for the good of mortals and spirits.
21. Thus alike and like spake satan unto all the false Gods; and they nursed the plantedseed; held it in the light and shade to see it grow, till it became the very giant of eachone's understanding.
