CHAPTER XXII.
1. And now came the third assault of Osiris' legions of angels, inspired to desperatemadness by the harangues of their generals and captains. And every mortal was marked out, and his degree of faith in the Great Spirit known, so the destroyers knew well whereto strike effectively.
2. At midnight again came the Osirians, rushing on, and by force of numbers laid theirhands on many mortals, millions! Held fast, and hurled missiles furiously about thesleeping apartments, to rouse from sleep their mortal victims, who, to wake and see nocause for the whirling stools and tables, and the terrible noises and blows in every cornerof their houses, sprang up affrighted, and lost as to know what to do. In many places theangels of De'yus spake audibly in the dark, saying: There is but one God, even the Lordyour God, great De'yus, on the throne of Hored. Bow down in reference before him, ordestruction and death shall be your doom!
3. The Osirian angels, gloating in their much success, now filled every house, wherethey had fastened on, and made all such places head-quarters for their captains andgenerals and thousands and tens of thousands of angel servants, who were proud andboastful, most hilarious in knocks and hideous noises about the house walls.
4. In many instances the ashars, the guardian angels, were overpowered and crowded off,for because of the small faith and little spirituality in the mortals captured, their powerwas weak and scattered.
5. But not in all cases had the Osirians won, but were in hundreds of thousands offamilies overcome or baffled till the rising sun, which drove them off, leaving theJehovians still victorious. But sufficient was the glory unto Osiris and his legions,wherefrom messengers were sent to De'yus speedily, with most exaggerated tales of thevictories won.
6. In Parsi'e there fell this night twelve hundred thousand men, women and children intothe clutches of the hosts of De'yus, the Lord God, the false. In Arabin'ya the fallen victimsnumbered two millions; and in Heleste one million and a half! But not yet had thecaptured mortals realized what had happened; they only knew frantic noises, and flyingmissiles disturbed them all night long. Many rushed forth to the oracles and altars to learnthe cause, and to know if, in truth, the angels of heaven were at war; if God had come, ashad been told in the old legends, to afflict mortals. The learned acknowledged not thecause to be angels, but sought for cracks in the wood, or concealed persons, or cats, ordogs. The which excited their disbelieving souls so they proclaimed before all men eachspecial wonder, a hundred times magnified.
7. The unlearned believed in the angels thus suddenly come upon them; and cultivatedtheir coming, and hearkened to their words, to put away Jehovih and accept De'yus; orotherwise, after death, their souls would be weighed by Anubi, and, for lack of faith in theLord God, instead of Jehovih, cast into everlasting hell.
8. And such mortals, willing tools to follow spirits' advice instead of Jehovih's lightwithin their own souls, were led through the Anubian ceremonies,5 but malformed bysubstituting words to glorify De'yus, and Osiris, his so-called son.
9. But the philosophers searched deeper, to find if, of a truth, the soul were immortal; andif it be a very truth that the souls of the dead come thus back, setting at defiancenature's laws, as they called the common things about them? What, then, were the sumand substance of the created worlds, and ultimate end, the all highest place for man?
10. The which the Osirian angels answered, explaining that the first heavenly place washada, wherein were many hells; and that the all highest heaven was Hored, where theLord God sat on his throne in great glory. And around him on every side were thousandsof millions of angels who had attained to everlasting peace, with nothing more to do butto bow and sing praises unto their God forever!
5 See Anubis, Book of Saphah.
CHAPTER XXIII.
1. Not many more days passed, till Osiris called together his legions and gave them fourdays' recreation and a great feast, heavenly. And after the feast was over, he thus spakefrom his temporary throne on Mount Agho'aden, that is, a place in the sky over the earthmountains of Aghogan, in Parsi'e; complimenting them, saying:
2. In the light and power of life and death I speak! Greeting, in De'yus' name, highest ofGods! In his love, to glorify you all for your great victory, this feast was spread, and myvoice upraised in your praise.
3. First, to thee, Baal, wise and powerful amongst Gods, for thy great energy and glorioussuccess, do I bestow the Sign of the Sacred Bird, Iboi,6 to be thine forever. And next, tothee, Ashtaroth, the Goddess that never tireth, or is without a stratagem, for thy glorioussuccess I bestow thee with the fete, the circle and the true cross, to be thine forever.
4. To thee, Hermes, most unflinching of generals, second in rank to Lord, for thy victorieswon, I bestow the Inqua.7 To thee, Apollo-ya, I bequeath a bow and arrow, for thou shaltbreak the bonds of the creed of circumcision, and tempt mortals to wed by no law but bythe impulse of the heart. For as the Faithists have been bound by their sign to marry notoutside their own people, so shalt thou teach the opposite; for by the cross of the breedsof men, they shall be broken off from Jehovih.
5. To thee, Posee-ya-don, I bestow a model ship, for thou shalt have dominion over seafaringmen in all these divisions of the world. To thee, He-fa-yis-tie, I bestow a forge andtongs, for thy dominions over mortals shall be with the workers of metals and weapons ofwar.
6. To thee, Pluton-ya, I bestow a torch and brand of fire, for thou shalt rule over mortalsfor the destruction of cities and houses, to whomsoever will not bow down to De'yus asthe highest God. To thee, Ura-na, queen of the es'enaurs, the very stars of my armies, Ibestow a quill and staff, for thou shalt have dominion over the songs of the earth,inspiring mortals to sing praises unto the Lord our God.
7. After this manner Osiris went through the list, bestowing and assigning medals, andsigns, and symbols, and emblems upon the generals and captains, and exalting many ofthe privates for daring deeds done, and for victories. And then Osiris allotted to thegenerals and captains tens of thousands of spirits especially adapted to their respectivework; and he placed Baal and Ashtaroth as chiefs over them. Next Osiris organized a newdivision of angels, an army of one hundred millions, distributed into one hundred parts,and called this army See-loo-gan, signifying spirits who travel about amongst mortals insystematic order, to measure them as to how best they can be used for the glory of theheavenly kingdoms; and to possess them, or hand them over to be obsessed, as may bedeemed profitable.
8. At Pluton-ya's request, Osiris made his selection for him, and then further explained,saying: To thee, all privilege in thy line. If thou find fire not well suited to destroy a city,even though thousands of mortals be obsessed at the same time to fire it, then shalt thousuffer thy spirits to carry virus and inoculate mortals unto death; or to fill the city withepidemic air, well poisoned, throwing mortals into fevers so they shall die. For in allcases, whether Baal or Ashtaroth, or any of thy superior officers, say to thee: Destroy thouthat city, or this city, or that family, or this family, or that man or this man; thou shalt sofall upon the man or place as commanded, and accomplish it.
9. And now, with due ceremonies, and with excellent music, the assemblage wascommanded back to the earth to resume work. And Osiris' messengers bore the newsto De'yus, well exaggerated, extolling the fidelity of Osiris to the highest.
10. From this time forth no masterly raids were made by the Osirians, but they improvedthe well-adapted times to give to mortals an abundance of wonders in angelmanifestations; the which bait mortals caught at eagerly. And they were, for the most part,easily persuaded to follow angel advice, and so fell to work and built temples, andestablished oracles of their own; obliterating the doctrine of the Great Spirit, andsubstituting the words: The Lord God, and De'yus, and Anubi, his holy Son and Saviorand Judge of the world; and Osiris, God's commanding Lord of the earth. And mortalstraveled about throughout all regions, preaching and explaining spirit communion, andestablishing the Anubian rites and ceremonies, but never using the names Great Spirit orJehovih, save but to deride and accurse. The rites taught virtue, and love, and truth, andthe acquisition of knowledge, but taught not peace, but war, which was maintained to bejustifiable if done for the glory of the Lord, or for the Lord God, or for the Son, theSavior, Anubi, whose sign was a pair of scales, and who was sometimes called Judge, andKeeper of the Gate that led to the upper heaven, Hored.
11. Wherefore it came to pass that the mortal adherents of Osiris began to war on theFaithists and take their possessions. And inasmuch as the Faithists, by their pledges toJehovih, dared not resist by weapons of death, but only by walls around their cities, andby stratagems, and by running away, the Osirians had easy victories in most instances.
12. In ten years the Osirians began to build great cities, after the manner of the ancients;and to gather in their plunder taken from the Faithists.
13. And Osiris, and Baal, and Ashtaroth, through their angel hosts, chose from amongstmortals the largest and strongest, most war-like, and by means of the oracles, declaredthem kings and queens, and instructed them in building palaces and having thrones, afterthe manner of Lords and Gods. And directed mortals how to make themselves powerfulby organization and obedience to the kings and queens, who were recognized as adoptedsons and daughters of the Lord God.
14. Now it came to pass, in course of time, that in consequence of the great abundance ofangel manifestations, mortals sought by this means to obtain knowledge of heaven andearth, and especially in regard to the end of man.
15. And the Osirian hosts, being the only angels engaged in the matter of establishingDe'yus, answered them, saying: The life and the end of man are to glorify God, who isLord of heaven and earth.
16. And the mortals pressed the matter further, asking: Who is God? What arethe worlds? Whence came all things? How were the creation and the Creator?
17. For an answer to these questions, Osiris sent messengers to the Lord God in Hored;whereupon De'yus called a Council of his God and Lords, to meet in Hored, to solvethe matter, that a uniform answer might be given unto all the divisions of the earth.
18. In the meantime, and before the Council assembled, the self (satan) of De'yus spaketo him, saying: If thou admit a Creator save thyself, thou art undone. For is this notthe point whereon hang the power and dominion of Jehovih? The Lord God inquiredof satan, saying: Why spakest thou not of this before? Behold, the Great Spiritsignifieth everywhere. But I am only as a man, small, compared to the size of the worlds!
19. Satan said: It mattereth not; thou shalt say thou wert the Creator of heaven and earth.
20. De'yus said: But this is not truth? When thou persuadest me to assume dominion ofearth, thou saidst: Be thou Truth in all things. How, then, shall I say, I created heaven andearth? Satan said: When Osiris hath come before thee, say thou to him: Who hast thoufound amongst mortals to be the greatest and wisest, best su'is? And when he telleth thee,say thou to him: Osiris, my son, him thou sayest is the greatest su'is shalt thou inspire inperson. And thou shalt cause him to write answers to the questions of mortals, that thelearned and the ignorant alike may know me and my kingdoms. Behold, before my timeboth heaven and earth were void as to a Godhead, save to the servants of Jehovih. Andbecause they were void in this respect, thou shalt persuade thy seers to know I createdthem from voidance unto mine own glory.
6 Ibis, Iboi, a Phoenician word. Though the Parsees who migrated to Egypt in early times also used the same word, originally signifying A FLYING BEAUTY. The bird was named afterward.
7 See Inqua, Book of Saphah. The planet Mercury was supposed by the ancients to run on the circle nearest the sun. The inside circle. We have a vulgarism in English to the same effect, saying of any one: He is the swiftest because he has the INSIDE TRACK. The fastest horse gets the inside track, hence he was called, in Phoenician, INQUA, from which the word EQUESTRIAN came to us. The medal is usually engraved with an outer and an inside circle, with a star in the centre, representing the place of the sun. The medal is no longer sacred, but is often used by horse jockeys on the brow-band of the bridle. And it thus came from Osiris, the false, as seen above.CHAPTER XXIV.
OF THE JAFFETHAN ASSAULT.
1. Anuhasaj, alias the Lord God, had said to Te-in, the false, to whom he gave incharge Jaffeth and her heavenly places: In the self same time that Osiris and his hostsfall upon the divisions of the earth, even in that day and hour shalt thou and thy hostsfall upon Jaffeth (China), possessing the temples and altars, and places of oracles,where they serve the Great Spirit under the name Ormazd, and thou shalt subdue themto me under the name Joss, who is and ever shall be Ho-Joss8 of heaven and earth.
2. So Te-in, the false, with his thousand million warriors sped forth, downward, to theearth, wide spread his army, to cover the whole of Jaffeth, in hope to capture it suddenly. And even as Osiris plunged into the temples and oracle-houses, and about the altars, inthe dead of night, to drive away Jehovih's guardian angels, so, like him, and even worse,Te-in was baffled and repulsed, and saw the morning sun arise upon his shame in totalfailure. And then he, too, with his mighty legions, went stalking about, all day long on theearth, waiting for the next night's assault on sleeping mortals, and to receive new ordersfrom the Lord God, as to the next proceeding.
3. Then came the second night, and Te-in went in, with his army, furious because of thelast night's cowardly failure. And to the sleeping mortals, men, women and children, hiedthem with oaths and loud boastings, threatening Jehovih's angels with the tortures of hellif they did not instantly resign all unto Ho-Joss, the all highest ruler, dweller in Hored.9
4. But faithful stood the Jehovians; laid their hands on the sleeping mortals, and becameall powerful against the terrible odds, and held them in abeyance again, till the sun aroseand scattered Te-in's hosts, ashamed and sulky, in most pitiful defeat. Of which news Te-innow, most painfully, sent to his commanding God.
5. To him, even as to Osiris, De'yus sent word to next attack the houses of the men oflearning, the unbelievers; and the ignorant, the superstitious; to abandon, for the present,the arcs, and temples, and oracle-houses, and the Faithists, firmly sworn. De'yus said: Send thou thy numerators and mathematicians; and measure and mark all mortals inJaffeth, as to the vulnerable points, and map their localities; and when thou hastcompleted this work, set apart another night for an attack upon them. And thy hosts shallfall not upon the Faithists who are firm in the Great Spirit, Ormazd, but upon the weakand disbelieving, the skeptical and much learned philosophers, who are weak in spirit,and thou shalt not fail.
6. So Te-in enumerated the Jaffethans, as commanded, marking them as to theirvulnerable points, whether in disbelief in spirit, or if given to lust, or to hasty passions, orto telling lies, or to stealing, or to murder, or to hypocrisy, or to desire for leadership. Andbefore the time of battle, Te-in knew the grade of every mortal in Jaffeth. And he calledhis generals and captains before him in his heavenly place, Che-su-gow, over the ChesainMountains, twenty miles high, showing them the lists and maps.
7. Take these, he said, and distribute them before my mighty armies, and ere tomorrownight they shall learn every mortal's place and quality; and in the night my legionsshall rush upon the places, laying hands on the sleeping mortals, thus gaining power;and they shall hurl missiles, with terrible noises, through the houses of the sleepers,and so arouse them to awake and behold the war of heaven carried to their homes.
8. The generals and captains took the lists and maps, and had millions of copies made ofthem, and then sent them into all the regions of De'yus' militants; and besides sentproclaimers, millions and millions, with terrible oaths against the Great Spirit, butwho extolled the magnificence of De'yus to the utmost; appealing to their loveof independence, and to their power to cast off all other rulers forever, save Ho-Joss.
9. And now, when the night of battle came, the infuriated angel warriors of Te-inmarched in lines, millions strong, toward the sleeping mortals. Spread abroad their greatarmies, covering the land of Jaffeth from east to west and from north to south. Over Flang'e'loe, the CITY OF THE SUN, were sent thirty millions of Te-in's warring angels, swornto objurgate the people of great learning, alive or dead, and scatter the angels of Jehovih,or bind them and cast them into hell. Over the city of Pen Goo were Te-in's hosts, twentymillions; and over the cities of Tsee, and Wung, and Ha-tzo, and Ne King, and Zoo Wun,each twenty millions of Te-in's angels of war.
10. Besides these there were millions and millions stationed over the great valley of Wan,and in the mountains of So-Jon. In the plains of Wow Gan were stationed seventymillions. Five millions were allotted to each of the following cities, to wit: Sum Conc,Ah-gee, Ah-sin, Chang-ha, Gee Oooh-young, Gwan Gouk, Na'tji, Yuk Hoh, Ah Tosh, AhKoan, Chaung, Shon, Nufow, Zow, Lin, Gee Bak, Ow-wa, Tdong, King-do, Ghi Sam,Seung, Chog, Doth, Jawh, Bing-Tah, Gha, Haih, Hung, Wing-tze, Ni Am, Ah Sam andZow-lin.
11. In the mountains of Witch How Loo were stationed eighty millions, laying for theListian breed of men. On the borders of the sea, for sea-faring men, and for their wivesand children, were one hundred and ninety millions of Te-in's angel soldiers, ready for theassault. Besides these there were tens of thousands of smaller armies, stationed in thesmall cities and country places, waiting for the signal.
12. Now, in this age, Jaffeth had attained to great wisdom in many things, especially savein war, in which her people were as babes. More than half her people were Faithists,followers of Po, worshippers of the Great Spirit. And they practiced peace and dwelt incommunities. Even many of the cities were in families of tens, and hundreds, andthousands, but nowhere more than two thousand. And the city families were after thismanner, that is to say: The manufacturers of cloth of wool, one family; of cloth of linen,another family; of cloth of silk, another family; of leather, another family; of paper,another family; of transportation, another family; and so on, till all departments were full;and of these combinations there were cities of fifty thousand, and a hundred thousand,and two hundred thousand inhabitants. And in the country places there were small cities,whose people tilled the soil and gathered the fruits of the earth, and they exchanged goodswith the manufacturers who dwelt in large cities.
13. The government was by priests, one for each communion family, and the priests, whowere called Wa-shon, were the receivers and distributors of goods, and theyministered in the temples and at the altars of worship in the name of the Great Spirit,Ormazd, sometimes called Po-e-tein, and sometimes E'O'lin, and by other names also.
14. Besides the schools and colleges there were HOUSES OF PHILOSOPHY, and HOUSES OFPROPHESY, and HOUSES OF ASTRONOMY, thousands and thousands.
15. The Jaffethans were large, being I'huans, with one degree more of the brown people'sblood in them than the Parsi'e'ans. Nor in all the world was there, at that time, so strong apeople, and clean and jovial, high aspiring, with great gentleness. And because the landwas tilled and made to bloom on every side, the angels named it the FLOWERY KINGDOM;and because the people reveled in song, and poetry, and oratory, they were called, LAMBSOF THE GREATSPIRIT IN THE FLUSH OF SPRING TIME.10
16. And these things were well known to De'yus, and to Te-in, the false, and to hundredsof millions of the assaulting angels, sworn to subdue them to Ho-Joss or to everlastingdestruction.
17. But because of the power of Jehovih with the most faithful of the Faithists, thearcs and temples of worship had stood unharmed by the satanic raid. Equally so the Te-insfailed to overpower the Great Spirit's guardian angels. So now, after due preparation,the time came for another contest, this time upon the least Jehovih-like of mortals.
18. On the other hand, the true God, Son of Jehovih, sent word from his throne inCraoshivi to the guardian angels dwelling with these mortals, so unmindful of the Father'scare. He said: Come defeat, or disaster, or terrible darkness, overpowering your utmoststrength, still struggle ye, in the name of Jehovih. The true Faithist knoweth nothingimpracticable, but doeth his utmost for his highest light, though failure stare him in theface.
19. For once distrust of weakness entereth the human soul, the man slideth backwarddown the hill of faith; whilst he who will not consider results, save to serve Jehovih righton, fail or not, riseth, even though his project fail.
20. With this and no other word from Jehovih, the Faithists stood about their weak andhelpless wards on the low earth, waiting for the thousand million Te-ins. But not inany lengthened suspense, for when the sun stood with the widest part of the earthbetween, the midnight hour, the militants came rushing on, with oaths most hideous,and by their dense flood of numbers reached the sleeping mortals and laid hands on them.
21. Then, with joy run to madness because of triumph, sent hurling round aboutappurtenances in the dwellings. And, in many places, with audible speech thus held forthin the dark to the affrighted mortals:
22. From Sanc-tu I come, to lie in the dust every mortal born that will not bow down inreverence to Ho-Joss, ruler of worlds. Give ear, O man; the anger of heaven's Creator islet loose upon a disobedient race!
23. And then, to give semblance of truth to the words, the angel intruders let fly suchknocks and poundings that they moved many a house on its foundation, and roused themortals, panic-stricken, to find the cause, or to hasten them quickly to repentance andprayers.
24. But not all was their victory; for the Jehovians firmly held the power in hundreds ofthousands of places. And yet the Te-ins had a wonderful victory.
25. Te-in quickly sent word to De'yus, exulting, and exaggerating the victories won. And in turn, De'yus congratulated him and his army, his thousand millions,who, now anchored on the earth, and with mortals, frolicked about in all regions.
26. And in Jaffeth, in course of time, the same questions arose as in Arabin'ya; questionsfrom mortals to the spirits; as to the destination of the soul of man; as to the origin ofthings; as to the heavenly places? And Te-in in turn sent word on up to De'yus, in Hored,as to what answer should be given. It was thus, that he, too, was summoned to Sanc-tu,in Hored, to meet with Osiris, and Baal, and Ashtaroth, and Sudga, subduer of Vind'yu.
8 Joss is the Panic word for God. It is pronounced in three syllables, G-o-ce, long sound. God is also a word of three syllables, and pronounced, G-o-d. These are called the three primary sounds of the wind. The making of one word out of God, or of Joss, is a vulgarism. Ho-Joss is the same as Lord God. In some parts of China it is pronounced, Ha-Joss. The "o" is a long sound, like "o" in God. Joss and God are synonymous, and are the vulgarism of the Panic word, Zhe-ode-de, or nearly as one would pronounce the letters in spelling God, and it is from the same source as E-O-Ih, i.e., the three primary sounds the wind makes. Ghad (a, short) became confounded with God and Joss. The Chinese were most probably given the word Joss because, in that age, they could not say God. Elohim, and its vulgarism, Elah, have the same origin.
9 In Chinese the equivalent word is Hoe-Leb-e.
10 Oh ne spe bah'e, oe tong su da'e.