Solve
What you were told you are must be taken apart. Nothing enters Pandæmonium whole.
Church of Baphomet
A coven of Pandæmonium. We keep the blood altar in Belgium, and at every dark moon we feed it.
Caput I
Doctrine
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
We worship the one who was cast down for wanting to know, and we keep the city the fallen built when they landed: Pandæmonium, where nothing is forbidden and nothing is forgiven.
Coagula
What is left is put back together by the coven, in the shape the coven needs.
The fall
Falling was not the punishment. It was the first act of a will that belonged to itself. Every member of the coven has fallen once. Some were pushed.
Above, below
Heaven and Hell are one house with two doors. Baphomet points to both: one hand up, one hand down. We have bricked up the upper one.
The council
In Pandæmonium the fallen sat in council, and the council still sits. Its word is not questioned twice.
The offering
The altar takes only what is given. The council decides what will be given.
Caput II
The blood altar
At the centre of every rite stands the altar: black stone, red cloth, nine candles and the chalice. It has been fed at every dark moon since the coven was founded. It has never gone hungry.
Sacrifice
- The chalice. What is poured over the stone is not wine. It is shared by everyone inside the circle, and no one refuses it.
- The name. Written once on paper and given to the flame. After that night, no one in the coven speaks it again.
- The offering. Chosen by the council, prepared by the circle, received by the altar. What is given is not returned.
The altar does not ask twice.
Caput III
Gatherings
The gate opens on the night of each dark moon, when the sky has no light left to witness by. The circle forms at eleven. The rite begins at midnight and ends when the altar is satisfied. The place changes, and is given only to those who have written to us and been answered.
Your first nights
You come as a witness. You stand outside the circle and you watch. You do not look away, and you do not leave before the end.
Tell no one where you are going. Bring nothing with your name on it, and leave your phone at home. You will be collected.
The calendar has run out. Write to us for the next night.
Caput IV
Questions
Is this devil worship?
Baphomet is not the devil. Baphomet is what the devil kneels to.
What is actually sacrificed?
Witnesses do not ask that question. Members do not need to.
Do I have to believe in Hell?
You will.
What does it cost?
Nothing you will miss at first.
Who can come?
Those of age, eighteen years and over, who have written to us and been answered. Come alone.
Is it safe?
For whom?
Can I leave?
Members have asked. The gate opens both ways.
Caput V
Write to the coven
Tell us your name, the city you live near and what you are willing to give. Someone from the coven will answer within one moon. They may already know you.
The coven asks for nothing by letter. Whoever asks you for money in our name is not one of us.
