Kniha Cnosti

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Contents I

Creation

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1 Universe

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2 Life

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3 Creatures

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4 The doubt

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5 The meeting

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6 The question

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7 Love

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8 The decision

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II

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Prehistory

1 Oanylone

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2 Work

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3 L’acédie

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4 Sins

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5 The King of Sin

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6 The Punishment

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7 The Exodus

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8 Paganism

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III

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The eclipse

1 The Moon

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2 Fog

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3 The plain

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4 Galleries

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1

5 The Peak

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6 The Sun

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7 The Paradise

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8 The ressurection

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IV

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End of time

1 The dream

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2 The castle

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3 The Church

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4 The divine judgement

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5 Questions

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Part I

Creation

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Chapter 1 Universe In the beginning, there was only God. There was neither matter yet, nor energy, nor movement. There was not even the vacuum, as that which separates the world from the stars, because even the vacuum is something. Nothing. That is not even defined as the absence of any thing because, when one says something that is missing, we are aware of the possibility of that other thing’s existence. Nothingness, it is when even the idea of existence is impossible. Except for God. But God is higher than all, including nothing. He does not have a beginning nor an end. He is thus the Infinite one and the Eternal. He is Perfection, on which nothing can take hold, nothing can act, and nothing can interfere. It is for Him no more than a simple thought so that something passes from nothing to Existence and another simple thought so that that thing turns over Existence to Nothing. All is thus possible for Him and everything that is thus owes Him its existence.

God is the Raw material from which all is created. Matter, energy, the movement and time are themselves composed of Him. All that exists, as well as nothing itself, belonged to Him from the beginning. He is also the Creator of all things. It is Him that creates all that exists and gives it its form and its contents. He is finally Most High, because He is the cause even of the existence of all things, including nothing.

So God knows all, because knowledge itself even belonged to Him, is created by Him and finds its cause in Him. One must say thus that He is omniscient. Moreover, He is everywhere because, as far one goes, one is always in Him. God is thus qualified the omnipresent one. Lastly, He can act everywhere because, being everywhere and knowing all, there is no thing and no absence of anything that can block His action.

God thought and a tiny point appeared. Thus, by the creation of this single tiny point, God both created and thereafter dispersed nothing. Henceforth, It would be composed of the Existence and the vacuum, but no more of nothing. God decided to name this tiny point “Universe� and exploded in it a myriad of stars, which populated the vacuum. Never since have they ceased to sparkle from within the celestial firmament.

Then God created the two movements: the heavy things would go to the bottom and the light things upwards. He also created the four elements. Heaviest was the ground. Then water, the wind and fire came. He laid out them in the hierarchical order of their gravity. The ground was thus in the centre. It was covered by the water, which was itself covered by the air. Lastly, lightest from the elements, fire, came to cover the whole.

This matter ball, God named it "World." So that movement was done, God undertook to demolish the hierarchical order of the elements. He placed fire in the centre of the ground and water in the sky, above the air. The elements moved, alternating order and disorder, systematically turning over disorder to the order. God enjoyed seeing how His creation was driven to correspond to the hierarchical order of their gravity.

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Chapter 2 Life God was perfect; His creation was imperfect. He was conscious of Himself; His creation did not think. He chose what He did; His creation only adapted to its circumstances. He was able to create; His creation only did what was necessary to survive. He wanted to love His creation and be loved by it in return; His creation was unable to love.

God then joined together the love that He had in Him. He made of it the spirit, which could not be touched, or seen, or felt, or tasted, or heard, because it was different from the matter. The spirit contained the Intelligence, made up of the reason and the feelings. God put there more of Himself: the capacity to choose and to feel. God associated the matter with the spirit, so that this last could exist in harmony with the world, and named the whole “Life.�

But life was imperfect. Although created by God and component of Him, it was not Him entirely. Its capacity to choose was partial, because its knowledge and its capacity were not unlimited. Its capacity to feel was truncated, because it was made up of matter, neutral and impersonal. But God wanted to love the life, and wanted that the life should love Him in return.

In order for God and life to love each other, it was necessary that the latter constantly endeavor to approach the divine perfection. Because life was unable to equal this perfection, the Most High thus created the third movement: the higher things would go towards God. Thus, the matter of which the life was made up, being a heavy thing, was possessed of the world, because it went downwards. But, as it was also made up of spirit, which was a higher thing, it would tend towards the divine perfection.

And on the world, life took a multitude of forms, from smallest to the largest. The plants filled themselves with the light of stars, thus covering the world with a layer of greenery. The animals rambled or fluttered between the plants. Whereas God seemed motionless, the life appeared to be in ceaseless movement. Indeed, God, being eternal, was not subject to this perpetual need for mobility, as the life, which must be unceasing in activity. He thus appeared to be motionless. But it was this uninterrupted action that God liked over all to observe in His creation.

But God had not conceived the movement of the life like an infinite force and, so that it continues, it was necessary that the animal eats the plant, that the predator devours the prey, and that the corpses of animals should rot away to nourish the plants. Thus, death formed an integral part of life. But, so that death should not destroy His creatures, God divided each species into two complementary forms, which were called masculine and feminine. Both were equal and were to seek each other and unite, and thus to perpetuate the life.

Thus, of the life God created time, when death succeeds the life, the life succeeds death, and the offspring follows his parents. In the same way, water joined the sky to go down on the ground and to feed the rivers, and fire left the volcanoes to feed the ground, which accumulated to nourish fire in its center. The entire world was plain in a perpetual motion of life, whereas God appeared motionless, escaping the constraints of time.

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Chapter 3 Creatures A certain group of creatures, only a small part of the life, decided to traverse the world in order to discover other species, animal as well as vegetable. All took their belongings on their backs and traversed the world, led by the thirst for discovery that had caused them to make this decision.

In this manner, they surveyed the world. They climbed green hills and gigantic mountains. They crossed ravines, drank from rivers, and rested in meadows. They sampled all that the life had to offer, moreover, in beauty and ease. Thus, they tasted of honey and fruits. They were intoxicated by the scent of the flowers.

They admired the aurora borealis and the rainbows.

God, in His infinite perfection, had made life a wonder, a delight for those that could taste it. But not all the creatures could appreciate this gift with its right value. Thus, the small group was surprised each time it met new species. Each group of them was equipped with talents that made them unique. Thus, the small group could admire how God had equipped the life with an infinite variety of richness. Every new species they discovered was an occasion for them to admire again the characteristics of all creation.

Thus, they met cows, placidly grazing on grass, giving milk to their young. Further, they passed close to a plain covered with wheat, undulating under the breeze, and crossed the path of many sheep, soft and white, which gazed at them peacefully. Continuing to walk on throughout the world, they heard the merry song of the birds. Raising their eyes to the sky, they observed them to circle under the soft clouds the color of cream, whereas the solar star illuminated the azure sky.

They stopped to taste various vegetables, all different in form, scent, and flavor. During their meal, they could hear the galloping of several horses whose manes flew in the wind. Further, they approached a lake and came upon fish playing and chasing each other through the water. Not far from the shore had taken root a forest of gigantic oaks whose outstretched branches were like a gigantic dome of green sheets.

Further, they came to a cornfield whose ears were gorged by the sun. Some pigs were there, nourishing themselves. But all these creatures did not surprise the small group merely by the variety of their natures, but also by a more disconcerting common aspect.

Indeed, all creatures thought themselves to be the preferred species of God. Each advanced their own special talent as the reason for their special favor. The cows praised their many offspring, the sheep their wool, the birds their wings, the horses their speed, the fish their possession of the seas, the largest territory of the world, the oaks their unequaled longevity, the corn, the fruits and the vegetables their varied tastes and scents, the pig its might. . .

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Chapter 4 The doubt The small group decided to stop for a moment. They were installed on a green hill, where beautiful flowers grew, and from which the bees came to gather nectar. A light breeze swept by, lightly curving the grass. The birds sang. The stars came to light the creatures while they set aside their possessions and sat down in a circle.

Their collective mood was gloomy, because they all pondered the same question.

All the species that they had met were equipped with a particular talent. The cows, creatures that grazed grass placidly, had a large family. The sheep had soft and bulky wool. The wings of the birds were used to traverse the world while flying. The horses, noble and impetuous animals, galloped at the speed of lightning.

The fish were the masters of the vast oceans. The pigs were powerful and savage.

Even the plants were equipped with single talents. The oaks were equipped with a longevity rivaled only by their grand size. The corn multiplied tremendously, covering broad territories. The corn had its ears, gorged with life. The fruits had a delicious sweetened taste and the vegetables also their appetizing scents. And the small group of creatures questioned themselves. But why didn’t their species have any particular talent?

Admittedly, the creatures of the small group had hands, but their force did not equal that of the pig.

Admittedly, they had legs, but they also did carry them as far as the birds or as quickly as the horses. Admittedly, they could procreate, but not so rapidly as the cows or the corn. Admittedly, some were bearded, but this was quite small comfort compared with the bulky wool of the sheep.

Admittedly, they were full with life and health, but much less so than the corn, fruits and vegetables. And they did not even dare to compare themselves with the longevity and the size of the oaks. All these creatures, animal and vegetable, had serious arguments to make, such as they made it, that they were preferred by God. Their talents were singular. Then, the small group tried to discover a talent that was specific to their species.

Its species was held upright. But what advantage did that gave him? “None”, in concert all the members of the group answered. Their hands were used to build tools, but what was this to compensate for the lack of claws or other bodily adaptations? Thus, their stomach was so weak that they had to cook the meat to eat it.

And their eyes were not so very piercing, compared to the cats or the owls, that it was necessary for them to light the darkness. Their fur was not very thick, which required them to seek shelter when the rain, snow, or hail fell, or when the wind blew too extremely.

Making this disaster report, the creatures of the small group began to cry. They were convinced that God disliked their species, that He scorned them, that they were the dregs of His creation. A heavy silence had settled, whereas all were looked at mutually, each one seeking in the look of the others an answer to its questions. But these glances did not carry any answer. They were just oozing tears.

But one of them had remained apart from the group. It looked towards the stars. All the members of the group neglected it, regarding it as weak in spirit. It often answered them “Happy are the poor in spirit. . . ,” but could not add to this counterpart. However, of all of them, it was the only one to wonder what God wished, instead of complaining about its fate. This man was called Oane.

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Chapter 5 The meeting God looked at the small group of creatures that were crying, and was moved. They felt abandoned by Him, because they were not equipped with unique talents. They had even come to believe that He hated them, whereas He loved each one of His creations with a perfect love. They belonged to Him, and to hate them would have been to hate a part of Himself. He had created the universe, the world, and all life to be able to love them, and He did.

By and with this love, God had equipped each species of creatures with talents so that they might each find their special place in His creation. But this splendid gift remained invisible to the eyes of this small group of creatures. These human ones of which the group was composed were inhabited by doubt, remaining blind to His love. Their tears were sincere but unjust. They only asked to be loved of Him, but did not see that He did love them already.

The other sorts of creatures were already conscious of their gifts, but had not understood the reason for them. They all thought to be the only ones being thus rewarded. Some thought that only force and power were gifts of God. Others made the same error with speed, their many offspring, longevity, wool, the capacity to fly, or the territory that had been allocated to them by Him. They thus considered themselves alone favored of Him and believed themselves to be His preferred.

But this human that was called Oane carried in himself the germ of the talent that God had given to humanity. Gradually, he gained consciousness of the true love that God carried to His creation. He began to understand that each component of creation was loved by God, but did not know yet why. Then he spent his time looking at the stars, hoping to find the Most High, but he did not know anything of God’s omnipresence.

Then, God decided that time had come to provide true place in the universe to the species in which could be found a creature who understood love, the only true meaning of life. He thought then that His creatures must prove the love that they have for Him. For this purpose, He decided to join together all the creatures of the world in one single place and ask them what life was. What He would do with them would depend on their answers.

So, with only one thought of God, all the creatures of the whole world knew about the divine convocation.

Without waiting, they were set on their way. There was a gigantic green plain on a green continent. It was there that the whole world was going to meet to hear the divine question. It was there that the fate of the universe was going to be decided.

It took many years to join together so many creatures. Not all survived this long voyage, but none intended to turn back. God had suffused in them the irrepressible desire to come to join the great meeting of all creation.

They crossed the deepest seas and highest mountains, the glaciers, deserts and so many of the other difficult places. They nonetheless continued to live, die, eat and procreate, but all that while never ceasing to advance.

And finally came the fateful day where all creation was joined together.

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Chapter 6 The question It was the greatest gathering of the creatures that ever took place.

They were several billion to have met on the same stretch of plain. They were gathered there without the least animosity. The wolves waited near the sheep, the dogs near the cats, the eagles near the mice, and the lions near the gazelles. Even the plants were represented. Thus, the oaks, fir trees, poplars, olive-trees, apple trees, date palms and other trees formed the most gigantic forest that has ever been. The flowers, the vegetables, the fruits, the wheat and the corn were also present. The gigantic plain was a true sanctuary for all life, because they all waited patiently for God to come to them.

Then the thunder rumbled, the clouds parted, and a soft light with its origins in space lit the sky. A great silence fell over the gathered creatures. Celestial gleam, a serious voice, penetrating, but soft and serene was next heard. The voice made itself understood thus: “Listen to me, you that I conceived, because I am your God. Without Me, you would not exist and to Me you owe all fidelity.”

God added: “A number among you have claimed to be My preferred, but never have I hitherto expressed favor towards any of you above any other. The time approaches that I will change this. The time comes that I make a choice among My creatures. The time comes that I will name a species among you “My children”. To make this choice, I will ask you a single question.”

God thus asked them: “You live thanks to Me, because I am your creator. You nourish yourselves, you reproduce, you raise your offspring. But you do not know why you live. According to you, what purpose have I given to life?”

The majority of the creatures could only answer. They looked one at the other, hoping to find in their neighbors the answer to this quite strange question. One could observe a fish remain happy, knowing nothing to say. A horse rubbed the ground with his shoes. An oak curved, hopelessly seeking the response in his roots.

And even a dove scrape the head in a sign of reflection.

But one of them advanced. It seemed sure of itself and its answer. All the other species opened the passage to him and, soon, a space emerged around it. It raised its eyes toward God, but its glance was full with competence. It answered: “You made the creatures animated by the need to nourish themselves. You made the strong able to devour the weak ones. Without question, it is thus a question of ensuring the domination of the strong over the weak!”

It added: “I want of proof that I am the last representative of my species. Only the strongest survived among mine! If You name me “Your child”, I will be able to show You who, of all creatures, must dominate the world.”

It waited until God congratulated it for its answer, but in vain, because He did not answer it.

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Chapter 7 Love God did not answer the creature that had defended the domination of the strong over the weak.

He turned to another group of creatures. It was precisely that group composed of the mankind, which had traversed the world. God knew that this group was believed rejected by Him. These humans thought of being deprived of any talent. They believed themselves to be the deviants of creation because of their alleged inferiority. But, among them, the human one, which carried the name of Oane, held, though without being sure, the answer to the question raised by the Most High.

Because Oane doubted, he often looked at the stars, hoping to see God. He loved God with a sincere love, but did not know if that were the true direction of all life. It wanted to give its answer well, but its group regarded it as weak spirited and nobody wanted to let it speak. But God was omniscient. He had listened to the group of humans complaining. But especially, He had perceived the love and the doubt in the heart of Oane.

Then, from the sky, a ray of light shone forth and alighted upon Oane. All the creatures were amazed, admiring the soft light, which haloed the human one. They moved aside then, leaving it alone to face God. He contemplated his illumined body with a glance full of curiosity. Then it turned to the members of its group.

For the first time of its life, it could not see in their glance contempt but only the respect.

And God asked him: “And you, the human one, don’t you have any answer for Me? I convened all My creation here to find that which will give the right answer to My question. You came and you did not answer.

Then, now, I summon you to do it!”. Then, Oane, terrified by the severe tone of its creator, raised its eyes towards Him and, hesitantly said: “But, Oh Most High, I do not know if my answer is right. . . ” And God ordered to him: “Speak it to me and I will answer you!”

Then, Oane answered: “You made certain Your creatures would draw nourishment from each other and provide nourishment to each other. It is necessary for them to drive out and kill to nourish themselves. In the same way, it is necessary for them to fight to defend their lives. But there is none completely strong nor any entirely weak. Nobody is always higher nor always lower than the others. We all are plain in the life and we are all Your humble servants. Because You are our creator.”

“Therefore You gave talents to all Your creatures, each more beautiful than the last. Each one of them has its place in Your creation. Their talents makes it possible for each one of them to find that place. So, there is no creature preferred of You, Oh Most High. You similarly love us all in the same way and we all must ourselves love You in return. Because, without You, we would not exist. You created us while nothing obliged You to do so and we must love You to thank You for this gesture.”

“We are certainly connected with the matter, certainly subjected to its laws, but our goal is to tend towards You, the Spirit Eternal and Perfect. Therefore, in my opinion, the purpose You gave to life is love.” Then God said: “Human, since you are the only one to have understood love, I make your kind My children. Thus, you know that the talent of your species is its capacity to love Me and to love each other. The other species can love only themselves."

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Chapter 8 The decision All the other creatures were surprised by this decision of God to make the humans His children. They did not understand love and could not conceive that the Most High God should grant such importance to it. They began to whisper among themselves, hoping that one of them could explain to the others this divine choice.

But God turned His voice in the direction of these creatures who had not been able to give Him the answer.

He said to them: “You who did not know to answer me, yet who claimed to be My preferred creatures. Your spirits will no more be of the higher things. They will not tend any more towards Me. As you will henceforth be subject to the humans, your nature will consist strictly of the material. I deprive you of the language. You will bleat, moo, growl, neigh, meow or bark until the end of time!”

Then, God turned His voice in the direction of the creature who had affirmed the domination of the strong over the weak. He said to him: “Since you are so sure of your choice, I leave you the occasion to prove it. You will preserve your spirit, but your body will be made of shadow. Thus, you will live, alone, among the human ones, until I deliver you of your sorrow. Thus, nobody will see you and nobody will name you, because I decided Myself not to see or name you.”

God turned then His voice in direction of Oane and said to him: “I have made your species My children.

I now make your spirits of My heart. They are different from the spirits of the other species in that they will henceforth be the only ones to remain of higher nature, tending towards My divine perfection. Thus, I divide time into seven parts, called “days,” so that with each seventh day you will meet to honor your father: Me.” “But it will still be necessary that, each day, you and your kind work to perpetuate your species. Except for that which I did not name, I have made all the creatures subject to you. Thus, you will nurture these others some, without any encouragement from them that you should do so. This capacity you have to nurture yourselves and other species, I name it “work”. But, so that you never forget that this capacity is a gift from Me, thus rewarding you for Oane’s good answer, work will be hard, difficult, abrasive and tiring. Yet do not feel sorrow over the suffering that it causes you, because, in truth, it is a good and beautiful gift which I give you.”

“So that you replace, in succeeding generations, those whose life finishes, I give you another gift still more beautiful. This love which I await from you, I also enable you to direct it towards yourselves, in a couple.

Mutual tenderness and desire will be the components of this pure feeling, befitting the blend in you of spirit and matter. Procreation will be the goal of it. But only the love that I will have blessed will be able to make permissible this act of the flesh, so that your species continues in My love.”

Then, God created two stars above the world. One, radiating light, was called “the sun.” The other, shining coldly, was named “the moon.” God explained to Oane: “See that your fidelity is that of the children towards their parents or I would be as severe as any parent towards its children. Therefore, when each one of you dies, I will judge its spirit, according to the life that it lived. The sun will flood each day the world with its light, proof of My love for My creation. Those among you that I will send to it will live an eternity of happiness. But between each day, the moon will take over. And those among you who will be thrown there will know nothing but torment any more."

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Part II

Prehistory

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Chapter 1 Oanylone The human ones were from then on the children of God. As a consequence they were now endowed with a soul, which would be judged at the end of times according to their practice of virtue. Moreover, it required that they now dedicate themselves to work to ensure their subsistence. The other creatures of creation, excluding only that one which the Most High had not named, were made subordinate to them. The human ones could thus cultivate them and raise them to be nourishment.

God did not intervene any more in the world, letting His children live and thrive. He had given to the creature that He had not named freedom to try them so that they must choose between the way of the virtue and that of the sin. Being omniscient, He knew already how would be their future, but He wanted them to prove reliable, without judging them in advance.

Oane, he who had correctly answered God, had now passed from the simple status of spirit of the community to leadership of it. He did not balk at the task. He led them throughout the world to a place favorable to their prosperity. During these years, they crossed deserts, mountains and plains throughout the whole world. Oane became increasingly weakened throughout this journey, but he never gave up.

Finally, the day came where they found a valley favorable for their establishment. It had a lake, which seemed plentiful with fish. Vast spaces were favorable towards growing crops and raising cattle. The surrounding forests would provide wood. There was even an orchard, where many fruit trees grew. The valley was just at the foot of a mountain, from which minerals, such as gold, iron or coal, could be extracted.

Oane was pleased that his search had finally come to an end. He was admiring the valley when he suddenly collapsed. All were crowded around him to come to his assistance. Some tried to hold him in an almost seated position, but it was clear to all present that he lived his last moments. But, in spite of the tragedy of the event, while all were frightened, Oane beamed a smile full with serenity.

He said: “Do not fear, because my death is only my passage to join God. I reached the place that God reserved for me in the world and achieved what He wanted from me. Death is not for me the loss of my life but the passage towards another, and much better. It will be the same for you if you can live in the virtue. Then, your tears are not of sadness but of joy, because the Most High gives to me the most beautiful of gifts. Love Him, and He will love you. Adore Him and He will bless you. Live in the virtue and He will draw you to His side.”

Then, he gave his last breath. And all looked around, from one to the other, not truly understanding this serenity that was still evident on the face of their guide. They buried his body in the middle of the valley, where they would live henceforth. They made the oath that, each week, they would meet around his tomb, so that he could accompany them and guide them when they would pay homage to God. But none understood the love that Oane had for God which allowed him to accept death with so much serenity. Still, nobody wanted to speak the least reproach towards him who had made so much for them. In homage to his life in the service of human and God, they decided to name the city that they were going to build Oanylone, “the city of Oane”.

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Chapter 2 Work Over time, the men and women became increasingly numerous, maintaining their love for God and rejecting into the darkness the Creature Without Name. This one nourished each day a little more its bitterness and its anger towards these people so beloved of God, who had taken from him his place as ruler of Creation. The men and the women lived carefree while, in the darkness, their enemy prepared his revenge.

God had ordered the men and the women to work to ensure their survival. This hard labor thus moved them away from apathy. And the men and the women could be inventive, because God had conceived them thus. They collected what He had placed for them in nature. They learned to organize these resources to ensure their survival and their life became better.

They took the wheat that grew in nature and cultivated it in their fields. The miller transformed wheat into flour in his mill. The baker cooked it in his furnace to make the bread. They took the corn that grew in nature and cultivated it also in their fields. They took the vegetables that grew in nature and cultivated them in their kitchen gardens. They gathered the fruits that were in certain trees and took nourishment from them.

The pleasure brought by vegetables and fruits made them more pleasant to be around.

In the seas, rivers and lakes, they caught fish and their intelligence was increased. They invented the boat and the fish were still more in their hands. Sometimes, some of them awoke one morning under a boat. They thanked God for this gift then. They raised cows, pigs and sheep in their pasture, taking care of these creatures that had been entrusted to them by God. They nourished them and these creatures became fatter.

The butcher prepared the meat starting with the carcasses of these creatures. For that, they invented the knife, an instrument making it possible to separate the flesh into pieces. The meat that they drew nourished them, and they felt especially stronger after having consumed some. From the cows they also took milk, soft nectar without equal.

They sheared the sheep and took wool of it. They recovered the skin of it to make leather. They bound wool and leather to make of them clothing, which protected them from the wind and ensured the decency of their appearance. Nature giving them access to all that they could hope for, they had to invent the barrel, where they could store the fruits of their labor.

To protect themselves when the windows of the sky opened, they created for themselves houses and lived there. They arranged inside them beds, candles, tables, chairs. . . and all that could improve the comfort of their lives. For that, the miner took the stone and iron in the mines. And the logger cut the wood of the trees.

To facilitate this work, the blacksmith melded iron and wood to forge tools of them, such as the axes or the knives.

Sometimes, God contributed to this age of happiness through giving to those who were pleased with the world some food that they did not have to produce. Sometimes, also, He encouraged them while making them more charismatic, stronger, or more intelligent. And Sunday, before the meal, they met in the middle of their city, around the tomb of Oane, to pray together to He that liked them so much. Indeed, they did not have Priests yet, because they did not have need of them, being in direct communion with God.

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Chapter 3 L’acÊdie The community of men and women became more beautiful and refined.

Thus, they learned how to produce wine starting from the grape, after long years spent trying to comprehend the subtleties and the refinement of such a drink. They also discovered how to brew beer starting from the barley and hops. For this they invented furnaces of impressive size. They had to learn how to work in concert in order to arrive at such results. But they did not doubt that the activity was worth the effort of it.

Moreover, arts and sciences were then conceived to raise them still more towards God. They learned how to compose music, the songs becoming increasingly beautiful and the instruments that accompanied them better and better conceived. They discovered plants that treated wounds and diseases, so that their health allowed them to serve and glorify God longer. They invented writing, which enabled them to preserve all their knowledge for the generations to come.

God was satisfied. His children had cultivated themselves in the place that He had given them. But He knew that this beautiful spring was going to see the flowers of virtue fading, because the Creature Without Name ruminated still on its rage and its anger. Lying low in the darkness, it waited the moment to prove to the Most High that the answer that Oane had given was not the best. It continued in its error, denying the force of love and persisting to conceive the domination of the weak by the strong as the purpose of life.

But all the inventions that the human ones had created made their labor less hard. They had less and less work to do and more and more fruits to be collected. Where before it took a full month for them to raise and harvest wheat, they now could gain the same amount in only a third of the time. Whereas they before could only catch one fish every two days, they had one per day henceforth of them, and sometimes two. Where it was necessary for them formerly to work each day to cultivate vegetables, it did not remain to them any more from now on but to harvest them.

And the principal one of sciences did not exist yet, as Theology was unknown to these humans. Not having Priests, there was nobody yet to devote themselves entirely to God. Not having a crowned text, there was nothing to study. The human faith was yet primitive, in that it did not yet have any intermediary between man and God. But this apparent purity of their love for God was precisely what was going to lead them to their loss.

The human ones became intoxicated by the gentleness of their lives. It seemed to them so easy and so pleasant that they did not understand any more the desire to devote their life to work. Each pleasure gave the opportunity to them to neglect their labor. They liked the world, but they liked it for itself, not because God had given it to them, by His love for them. They were diverted little by little from their love of God. Thus did the humans involuntarily discover the first sin. It later bore the name of apathy. This sin consisted of being diverted from divine love, to give itself over to the material life by neglecting the spiritual life, to be concerned with the present without thought for what God had designed us for. This one sin was going to bring the other sins, thus leading the human ones to their loss. It reached its height when Sunday was not occupied any more with the prayer, but with sheer idleness.

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Chapter 4 Sins The human ones had discovered the apathy. They had scorned the love of God. They preferred the material things that He had created to God Himself. They had taken great enjoyment with a portion of the divine, forgetting that they must love the whole. Oane was not there any more to guide them, he who had been the only one to truly understand the love of the Most High. Now, without their guide, the human ones could no longer differentiate between the virtue and the sin.

Some were then reflected to eat more than hunger required it of them, taking there a pleasure that grew over time. The sweetened taste of fruit, the savor of meat and the intoxication of alcohol overtook the simple pleasures of the life. There was no more the least place in their pleasure for the soft scent of the flowers, nor for the beauty of the landscapes. They came to such a point that even the many fruits of their own labor were not enough any more to fill their desires.

At this point in time greed broke the bonds that linked the men and the women. Each one kept for themselves the fruits of their own labor and refused to share it. The strong produced more, ate more, drank more, and became stronger still. The weak ones produced less, ate less, drank less, and weakened. The community of men and women divided because of their immoderate taste for the material things that led them to avarice.

Then, the man and the woman developed pride. The strong started to scorn the weak ones, which could not be nourished as much as they wished it. Like the Creature Without Name, they thought now that the role of the strong was to dominate the weak. The Creature Without Name thus saw that the hour of its revenge had come. It then went forth in the darkness and approached those that were thus scorned. It asked them: “Why let these others make you thus, why not to reverse the roles?�

And the weak started to envy the strong. The strong, satisfied with their situation, did not see the weak ones wondering why they were less gifted than the strong. The Creature Without Name gloated in joy, because it felt the hour of its glory arrive. It murmured in the ears of the weak and poked their desire. Anger thundered in the heart of weak, which revolted internally against this injustice. It asked them why they bound this feeling in their spirit and did not let it be expressed?

Then, man and woman struck their brothers and sisters. Taking knife and axe in hand, each one struck the other in a storm of violence and destruction. They had just invented war, which reached its paroxysm when each one started to burn the house and to devastate the fields of the other. The Creature Without Name came again close to those whom had listened to it and said to them that violence and hatred would henceforth enable them to dominate their neighbors.

The man then took the woman and the woman took the man. The strong misused the weak and the weak one suffered the strong. All were linked in a bestial orgy of indecent assault and violence. Their mixed bodies reflected the flames of the houses that burned. Food was devoured and drink was guzzled down. The whispers encouraged the indecent gestures. A true orgy of vice took place. And no more thought was given to the love of God.

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Chapter 5 The King of Sin That lasted for weeks and then months. Human vice did not have any more limits. Also, at that time, none had the least intention to work. Violence and indecent assault were their daily bread. The granaries were thrown down and all fought to recover food products as much as possible. They did not want anything more but to be given up with their excessive lust for material things.

All were wary of each other. The least pretext was good enough to start again their symphony of violence.

When one, pushed by greediness, envied foods that the other had and tried to steal it for himself, the other, full of avarice, answered by violence. Nobody any more spoke any words that were not threats or insults.

The men and the women did not look any more towards the stars. Sin had taken control of their lives. They had forgotten even the existence of God and did not feel any more His love. They liked nothing any more but the unhealthy pleasures of sin. Without Oane to remind them, virtue was forgotten and the vice was high on the pedestal of their hateful lives.

Their only outside communication was with the creature that God had not given a name. It gloated in happiness, thinking that it had finally shown the Most High that its answer was the truth and that the answer of Oane was false. According to it, the strong were to dominate the weak ones and the weak ones to submit themselves always. It denied the power of the love and hated Oane for the purity of his faith.

It was the only one to have remembered that he had been buried in the center of the city. In defiance, it went on his tomb and uncovered the tombstone. It unearthed the corpse of Oane and danced one whole night, trampling his body, and singing its joy of having destroyed his work. All around it, the city was in flames, whereas the humans fought, were violated, committed suicide and were tortured mutually. The hour of its triumph seemed to have come.

It went in the mines to recover that which it needed to forge its crown as ruler of Creation. This crown was made of gold, silver, diamond, ruby, emeralds and all that one could find that was valuable in the world. Its weight testified to pride and hatred towards the men and the women whom the creature had corrupted. And this one was the only one raising eyes to the sky, but only to show its smile of triumph towards God, of whom it awaited an admission of failure.

Then God desired to give a great lesson to these humans, who had betrayed Him. The sky went black above the community and the winds blew with great force. He said to them: “Whereas I gave you my love, you were diverted from Me, preferring to listen to the words of the creature to which I did not give a name. You preferred rather to give yourselves up to material pleasures than to return grace to me.”

It added: “I created for you a place called Hell, which I laid out in the moon, where the worst among you will know an eternity of torments to punish them their sins. In seven days, your city will be absorbed in the flames. And those that will have remained there will pass eternity in Hell. However, I am magnanimous, and those among you who will be able to make penitence will pass eternity in the sun, in Paradise.”

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Chapter 6 The Punishment The human ones had been given up as well with the sin as God had decided to punish them. But the majority of them did not understand that they themselves had fault in this, so much had they abandoned themselves to their vices. They had taken so much enjoyment in the pleasures of life that they trembled at the idea of any punishment or deprivation. Great numbers of them then decided to flee the cursed city of Oanylone. But the Creature Without Name found seven humans whose taste for sin was as if they truly could be the very incarnation of it.

Asmodeus had been given up in greediness, Azazel with lust, Belial with pride, Lucifer with apathy, Beelzebub with avarice, Leviathan with anger and Satan with envy. According to the councils of the Creature Without Name, they preached rebellion against God, affirming that only jealousy justified Him in His decision to punish the human ones. They added that He was weak and could never put His threat into execution. Many of the human ones listened to them with attention.

Seven other humans, however, understood well the errors they had made. Their names were Gabriel, George, Michel, Miguel, Galadrielle, Selaphiel, and Raphael. They preached humility, affirming that it was necessary to accept the punishment in order to wash away the sin. The speech of each one testified to the virtues that they had started to incarnate. Gabriel made watch of temperance, George of friendship, Michel of justice, Miguel of generosity, Galadrielle of conservation, Selaphiel of pleasure, and Raphael of conviction. Only a handful of the human ones were sensitive to their words, but the purity of the faith of each one of these was worth the vice of one hundred sinners.

The six days were terrible, the lightning tearing the sky and the thunder shaking the will of the weakest.

Multitudes of the human ones fled the city then. There only remained the vilest, which listened to the sermons of the seven incarnations of sin, and the most virtuous, which, like the seven incarnations of virtue, accepted the punishment of God. Even the Creature Without Name had prudence to escape, letting the seven corrupted ones forward its ambitions alone in their madness.

The seventh day concluded the divine sentence in a titanic cataclysm. In a deafening tremor, the ground opened under the feet of the few remaining in the city. The high flames devoured them. The buildings were broken down, the stones raining on their inhabitants, and the flames devastated all. Soon, all the city was absorbed into the bowels of the earth, not leaving any more trace of its existence.

God punished the seven incarnations of the sins. They were thrown to the moon, alive for an eternity of sufferings under the title of Prince-demons. Those whom had listened to them underwent the same terrible fate, bearing since the title of demons. Their love of vice and their hatred of God only increasing at the passage of the centuries, they took more and more unhealthy pleasure to practice their office. And their bodies reflected little by little the blackness and the beastliness of their hearts.

But God saw that the seven pure ones, and those who had followed them, had proven that the human ones were capable of repentance and of humility. He raised them to the sun and they were blessed by an eternity of happiness in Paradise. The seven pure ones were called archangels and their disciples were called angels.

They were to assist the Most High by helping the human ones, each time it would be necessary, to fight the temptation of the creature which He had not named.

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Chapter 7 The Exodus The whole city of Oanylone was thus absorbed into the bowels of the world, devoured by the flames. In order to purify the land, God spread salt on the traces of the city of the sin, so that no more life would settle and thrive there. The power of divine cataclysm covered the sky in dust for several miles around. The various groups that had fled redoubled their speed in order to escape the catastrophe, leaving behind them all vestiges of their old life. The majority cried out at what seemed to them to be an injustice. Being separated from God and His love, they did not understand the rightness of His divine decision.

Some arrived to the sea. They cut trees and made boats of them. It took them much time to complete these constructions. Indeed, they had lost the practice of the labor and it pained them to be put to work. They spent more time lounging on the beach than seeking to nourish themselves or building their ships. But the rolling clouds of dust reminded them always that they were to be working. Little by little, they took again enjoyment of the effort and, even if they did not live any more in the virtue, their debased companies did not know any more the vice of the sins that they had practiced in Oanylone.

When the boats were ready, they left to traverse the world, crossing the seas and landing on all the coasts that seemed to them favorable. Other groups of refuges fled even further inland in flight from the cataclysm.

They crossed various forests, marshes, rivers, streams, valleys, hills, mountains, ravines, glaciers and plains.

Each time they found a place favorable to their settlement, a group stopped and founded a city there.

Thus, they populated the whole world gradually, installing villages everywhere they came to. Each city organized its political system. They elected chiefs, who managed the resources of their communities. Those named guards, so that the laws of the city were respected. In order to finance this incipient hierarchy, they took gold and silver from the mines and melted them to make currency of it. This idea facilitated the exchanges between each city.

But, especially, it enabled them to exchange goods between cities. But this trade enriched some whereas it impoverished others. The cities were competing more and more between themselves for control of the resources.

What they could not have by trade, they tried to obtain by force. Thus, each city organized an army, training up soldiers, in order to fight to enrich their community and its leaders.

Then, God decided to allow them to learn the friendship, so that humans would cease killing each other. He divided the single language into a multitude of languages. The human ones were no longer able to understand the words spoken in other cities. The Most High then allowed them to be able to learn the languages that they did not know. This training required for each one to open itself to the culture of the other. Thus, they were less inclined to combat, being given understanding of the other due to efforts necessary to learn the languages from those that they wanted to attack.

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Chapter 8 Paganism The groups of humans having fled Oanylone thus had dispersed and populated the world. Their descendants had founded cities, had formed governments and had invented money, which allowed trade. But they had also invented war and, to encourage them with better knowledge instead of more fighting, God had divided the single language into a multitude of languages.

Among all these humans, a group was formed, seeking to understand divine reality. But this group was quite as ignorant of God as the rest of humanity. The human ones did not feel any more His divine love, because they had been diverted from Him. They sought an explanation to their life, while the answer was given to them.

But they could no longer listen to it and remained deaf to His love.

The group decided that in each thing, in each element that surrounds the men and women, there was a spirit whose power exceeded their understanding. These elemental spirits had superhuman capacities. They were equipped with varied personalities and never failed to compete with each other in order to prove who was strongest.

Thus, no longer having God in their hearts, they had invented a whole Pantheon of false gods. As the sky covers the world and is the source of the light, they made the god of the sky the king of their divinities. Its lightning quickly became famous and every human very quickly learned to fear it. As the human ones did not know any more the virtue, the gods whom they had invented were as corrupt as themselves. Their divine king could transform himself into a gold cloud to practice the sin of lust with princesses.

To honor their multiple divinities, the human ones created churches that were dedicated to them and named them “temples.” Themselves, acting as preachers in their paganism, appointed “priests.” They begged the assistance of their gods and, in exchange, sacrificed animals to them. Whereas God had taught through Oane that the multiple creatures of the world, although subjected to humans, were to be respected, it was by their blood that the pagan ones revered their false divinities.

But there was no love for their new gods. Those were only used to render services in exchange for these sacrifices. Admittedly, these pagans respected their divinities, but it was by fear rather than by love. Many cities gathered in kingdoms, having at their head the kings. These called upon the pagan priests so that their divinities should come to them to provide assistance, and the false priests believed the future of the cities was written in animal entrails.

But there remained a vacuum in the heart of the men and women. They missed that for which they had been conceived. They missed the love that God wanted to give them and that He waited for in return. Then, God decided that the moment had come to remind His Creation of its purpose. He found a child in the city that was called Stagirus and taught His Word to him so that the man could find the way of virtue. This child was called Aristotle.

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Part III

The eclipse

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Chapter 1 The Moon The history that I will tell you may seem surprising, but, when you read it, you will know that there is much truth contained in it.

One day, when the weather was nice, I walked with my dog along small paths crossing between the fields. I had just eaten and sought for myself a small, pleasant corner to take my nap in. On this May afternoon, the sky was of a pure blue and devoid of any cloud. The birds sang and my dog ran through the corn, chasing after small animals much faster than him. He barked mightily and happily, though he had lost the race in advance.

The day seemed beautiful, but the presence of the moon in the sky in full day worried me. While the sun was the place intended to accommodate the virtuous after their judgment, the moon was the future place of torment of the sinners. The first was called Paradise, while the second was called Hell. The bringing together of these two divine stars in full day could only be heralding great misfortunes.

I bent down to admire a small flower of the meadows, but the sudden darkness was such that I could not see it. The darkness, I asked myself? How could there be any darkness during so beautiful a day while the sun was high in its apogee? I raised my eyes to the sky and was seized by horror: the moon masked the sun now, preventing the divine light, source of life, from reaching the world below. Only a small halo the color of fire, girding the star of night, still testified to the presence of the star of day.

My dog stopped barking. I said to myself, trying thereby to reassure myself, that it was only one of those regular cosmic events that the old ones had regularly kept track of, and which would soon be finished. But I was not convinced of it. The halo of fire gave to this eclipse a distressing atmosphere. But even this ended up disappearing when the moon completed its conquest of the sun. It covered the sky all around in blackness like ink. Even the stars gave way to this strange eclipse. At this point in time the moon decided to breach the rules of physics.

In the center of this disc of darkness, spots of color were floating, like birds circling in the sky. They seemed to fight battles, mixing one with the other then separating abruptly. The mauve was thrown on the blue, which dodged toward the turquoise, whereas the green fled the red, itself assaulted by the yellow. Then the spots calmed their frolicking. I could not stop looking at the moon above, where I saw the colors being distributed upon the surface of the star of night, finally ordered in a coherent whole.

They remained thus for a whole eternity, while my dog whined and hid himself in the cornfield. Then, the spots of color emerged from the moon, like the squares drawn by a crossbow. One would have said six rays of lights tore through the sky in long colored fingers. The colors joined in a true rainbow that fell down at my feet. I saw in front of me a streaked bridge of colors, forming an arch that spanned the distance separating me from the moon.

I looked at it then and saw that the bridge of colors fell there in a true fall from white light. I looked then at my own feet and saw that they were sprinkled with the same soft milky light. The six rays, coupled over the entire length of the bridge, came at their ends to join together in the same whiteness.

Although gripped by an indescribable anguish, I decided to set my foot on this lunar rainbow.

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Chapter 2 Fog I thus walked on a striped bridge of six colors with its destination the moon, under an empty sky of inky blackness with no star to be seen. The journey seemed to me to last an eternity. But, when I started to despair of the distance that remained yet to be traversed, I lost balance. Indeed, the bands of colors that constituted the bridge that I crossed mixed into a single white light. The bridge, like water, fell down on the surface of the moon in a milky cascade. I fell down pathetically on the ground and rose, strongly aggravated, brushing the dust from my clothing.

I saw a pallid fog hanging all around me. The weather was hot and moist within this dense and unbreathable air. I tried to advance, but my movements were slow and awkward, since much the fog seemed to be clutched to my body. My feet sank deeply into the soft and viscous ground. I came to wish that the wind would rise in order to disperse this creamy mist that surrounded me. But this place gave to me the impression not to have known the least breeze since the beginning of time. It was the same moist atmosphere that had reigned ever since. I believed myself in a tomb.

At this point in time, a long tongue flicked across my chest. Paralyzed by terror, I froze in position. Looking around me, I was finally able to distinguish forms. They were innumerable and resembled human beings very little. One of them, of gigantic size, drew itself close to me, and I cannot describe in detail the ugliness of it.

Entirely naked, this demon had smooth skin, a mouthful of sweat, and arched legs between which the attributes of masculinity were posted without decency. I also saw that its chest carried the attributes of femininity. I hoped to discover a human face, but, in its place, was a mouth similar to that of a snake, with a long tongue drawn up toward my left side.

The monster said to me: “I am Asmodeus, Prince of Lust. Raphael, Archangel of Conviction, is my opposite.

Those who take pleasure in abusing the things of the flesh and in the most total nihilism come to join the rows of my damned.” I did not know what to say to so horrible a creature, but it did not expect any response and departed from me. At this point in time I saw a long corridor dug into the dense fog. I immediately began to move along it, seeking to escape these lustful animals. The ground was less and less pasty and became increasingly sandy. The pallid whitish color left little by little, giving its place to a dark turquoise gleam.

At the end of an indefinable time, I reached a gigantic cave. Titanic pillars supported its vault, which I had no difficulty to distinguish, given its great height. A lake of Homeric dimensions filled up every conceivable space.

Its liquid, which no wave came to disturb, radiated a dark turquoise gleam, thus coloring all the surrounding rocks. No life seemed to be maintained in these places. I was no longer too surprised to see, among the rocks that piled up along the bank, obscure forms begin to rise. Their movements were slow, awkward, and not very marked.

They seemed to have to make a superhuman effort to move at all. I heard them all bemoaning their decadent and amorphous state. At this point in time a sheaf of turquoise liquid emerged from the lake surface.

An enormous creature with the scaly skin and the long tail of a lizard emerged from the liquid. Surmounting a titanic jaw, two small eyes of emerald fixed me. It said to me: “I am Belial, Prince of Pride. Uriel, Archangel of Generosity, is my opposite. Those whom believe themselves able to live out of the community, or to be able to reach the statute of the divine, come to join the rows of my damned.”

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Chapter 3 The plain Belial turned back and submerged itself in the stagnant turquoise waters, which returned to their worrying smooth surface. I then noticed a small boat on the bank. How had I been able not to see it before? I took it, not seeing any of the amorphous beings opposed to my doing so. I rowed then for hours, the gigantic pillars of rock following one another, one after the other. I advanced more and more quickly, but the joy that this brought to me was quickly changed to horror when I realized that it was only because I was caught in a whirlpool. Not being able to withdraw myself from it, I fell then through the bottom of this opening.

When I awoke, my body sore and painful, I saw around me a dark corridor. The ground was covered with a soft, hot fabric, whose mauve color was very much the same as the amethysts that composed the walls. I decided to follow this strange path. Throughout my way, I noted gigantic heaps of gold, silver and jewels along the walls. Delicious meats endowed the corridor with their appetizing scents. Men and women with splendid bodies paraded themselves in front of me. But I saw especially the many other people, debased, whose eyes devoured this formidable luxury.

I wondered why they were not taking what was offered to them, but I soon came to understand. One of the damned took a gold coin, but quickly, with a howl of pain, dropped it. These cursed souls were condemned to covet such a luxury without ever being able to benefit from it. At this point in time I heard a noise of wings and I saw posed in front of me a creature of great size with the large wings of a bat and skin the color of amethyst.

It said to me: “I am Satan, Prince of Desire. Michel, Archangel of Justice, is my opposite. Those whom wish to profit from the right rewards allotted to others, or which covet the goods or the happiness of their neighbors, come to join the row of my damned.�

Then, without anything further to add, Satan took off again. I thus began again my walk toward the end of the corridor, which I finally found. The exit was a small opening covered over by a black stone bracket, where craniums were carved. I hesitated to enter, but I remembered what there was behind me and did not want to make a point of going back there. I thus passed this cable length of door and found myself face to face with a plain that extended out into infinity. On the sides, I could see large red mountains circumscribing with precision the limits of this valley.

This sight could almost resemble a terrestrial landscape, but the mountains and the grass were the color of blood. The sun burned just above the plain. It filled up half of the sky and seemed to be stuck to the moon.

It cut out in one starlit night that seemed to place all of its weight on me. I noticed a dizzying blue peak that rose in the middle of the plain and reached all the way up to the gigantic star of day. At its base was placed a great wooden construction. I decided to advance, in order to join this stone finger pointed upwards. But, halfway there, I understood that I could not reach it.

Indeed, all around the blue peak, for hundreds of miles around, thousands of the damned fought like crazed ones. They did not have the least pity one towards the other. Each thought the occasion good to tear off a member of his adversary. When the weapons and the fists were not enough anymore, the teeth took over. Then, coming out of the gigantic fray, an enormous bull advanced toward me. Beneath its bloodshot eyes, flames leapt from its nostrils. It said to me: “I am Leviathan, Prince of Anger. Gabriel, Archangel of Temperance, is my opposite. Those who are given to the hatred of the other, or whom with all their might to fight against their

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conditions comes to join the rows of my damned.�

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Chapter 4 Galleries Then, Leviathan struck the bloody grass with its shoe, and a crater was opened in the ground. I saw a stone staircase go down into the darkness. Seizing my courage, I entered there, while the Prince-demon returned to the combat. I descended the steps cautiously, because there was no light to help me know to where I advanced and the way seemed still long. To help me, I slid my hand along the wall, and I could tell by touch that the stair was simply and roughly carved in the ground.

I started in fear when my fingers touched a viscous form. At this point in time the staircase filled up with a greenish color. I turned my glance towards the cause of my fright and noted with disgust a huge earthworm crawling within the wall. It radiated this feeling of reluctance, just like the similar thousands of creatures that also crawled in the ground. Starting to have some small concept of lunar operation, I wondered which sin was punished in these places. I obtained my response at the bottom of the spiral staircase, where there were ten galleries dug within the same ground, infested with these ignoble, greenish, small beasts.

The Damned puffed up, which had evil to advance their bodies so, they caught and devoured those that passed into their range. I was overcome with nausea, when a new gallery opened, barely large enough to let pass the largest of the enormous ground worms. This one said to me: “I am Azazel, Prince of Greediness.

Galadrielle, Archangel of Conservation is my opposite. Those whom misuse the pleasure of the needs first, who do not have the measurement of the needs for their subsistence, come to join the rows of my damned.”

Then it added: “Follow me.” It moved back and continued to dig its gallery. I followed it on for many miles, according to its multiple changes of direction. Then, the tunnel led to a large wood storage place. I understood that I was at the foot of the stone peak. Azazel, who awaited me close to the exit, set out again by digging a new tunnel. I looked around and saw that I was on a kind of hillock. All around, there was a pit that seemed bottomless.

But there was certainly a bottom somewhere down there, for from it extended a multitude of raw and sharp wooden spikes, extending upward from somewhere and coming up almost level with my own position. The Damned were placed above. Even upright, they had to make difficult efforts in order to be maintained above and not to fall. But strangest, was that each one held between his arms some treasure incomparable in value and beauty. They clutched these heavy trunks filled with gold, these large bags full of invaluable stones, as if their life depended on it.

Sometimes, a movement a little less measured than the others made some of this treasure fall. Those who made the error tried to catch their treasure and invariably ended up falling. A pale yellow gleam from the pit testified to the innumerable treasures which had fallen there, cursing those remaining above, of which none seemed to want to let escape the least part. Some had obviously been clinging for a long time, because their legs were atrophied. But they did not truly think in the least about escape, fearing to allow their gold to fall into the pit.

Then, I saw descending down from the ceiling, attached to its wire, a gigantic spider of gold, its great eyes diamonds of thousands of facets. Arriving close to me, it said to me: “I am Beelzebub, Prince of Avarice.

George, Archangel of the Friendship, is my opposite. That whose selfishness is equaled only by its contempt of the other comes to join the rows of my damned.” Then, without saying anything more, the Prince-demon wove

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a bridge with its fabric, connecting my small island and the edge of the wooden store room.

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Chapter 5 The Peak At the end of the bridge of fabric was a small wooden door. I turned the handle, but it did not open. For a good moment I struggled with it, before it finally yielded. It seemed like it must have been an eternity since it last had been used. When the door was open, I was in front of a blue stone mass. I passed through and raised my eyes. The peak that I had been able to observe a few moments ago pointed to the sun, which, from where I was, filled up the entire sky.

Not wanting to remain in Hell for eternity, I undertook to climb the rock peak. For hours, I clung after a fashion to each asperity, advancing only very slowly because of the difficult conditions. I was not the only one to try this terrible ascent. Many people were pained as much as me in this difficult test. They cried in front of this superhuman task, and some ended up giving up.

These did not find any more the strength to continue and tried to go down again. But it was even harder to move in this direction than to move towards the top of the blue peak. All those that were resigned thus ended up releasing their hold and falling to be crushed in a heap at the bottom with a terrible noise. Each fall seemed to weaken the will of the survivors, but I clung to my will and continued. After a time, I alone was still struggling to climb.

When I thought that I had reached my own end, and my muscles cried out for me to stop, I saw an outcropping not far from me. Delighted by this unhoped-for discovery, I moved there. Once I arrived at this haven, I finally decided to look toward the ground, in order to see how high I had climbed. When I looked, I saw the entire moon beneath my eyes, under volumes of blue smoke similar to clouds. No mountain on Earth could be so high! I was pleased with the effectiveness of my efforts, but I remembered also that there was much distance yet until the top.

I had collapsed on the cornice to try to find some rest, when I heard tears. I turned my head and saw an old man with a thick beard, drenched with his own hot tears. His body was so dry that it appeared skeletal.

It says to me: “I am Lucifer, Prince of Apathy. Selaphiel, Archangel of Pleasure, is my opposite. Those whom surrender to spiritual depression, whom remain passive, whom do not have any more taste for life, and whom are unaware of their own satisfaction join the rows of my damned, which cannot manage to reach the sun.”

I saw a cave behind him. It beckoned to me to go there, without saying a word. A long paved corridor moved towards a metal door, which presented a strange vertical veining in its medium. I sought a handle, but did not find any. After long effort, I collapsed against the side of it, exhausted. I then heard a small noise like a bell and the door opened, split into two, and the two halves of the door sliding out into the sides. Much surprised, I looked inside and saw there a splendid mirror, which reflected like any other my image.

I entered the small space where the mirror was. I heard a voice then say to me, in calm and soothing tones: “Going up?” I was shocked, silenced by so strange a question and saw a smiling person awaiting an answer. We were together in a tiny part where only a half-dozen people at most could have stood. It was rather well lit, although the white light, which came down from the ceiling, seemed to me a little dull. It being the only thing I could think of to say, I answered “Yes.” Then, the person posed her finger on a square where was written the words “Last stage.” The door closed again, its two halves again joining, and I felt movement as though ascending.

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Chapter 6 The Sun When the small room where I was with this strange unknown went up, I had the unpleasant feeling as though I were suddenly heavier than I had been before. But, when it stopped, I felt one extremely light moment.

However, I had become neither bigger nor smaller during this short span of time. The door opened again into two halves, as I had seen before. The unknown one turned again towards me and said: “You have arrived.” It gave to me a smile full of kindness and softness. This restored to me a little spirit and I dared finally to ask him: “But who are you?”

It answered me: “I am the frontier runner, the only angel to remain for eternity apart from Paradise. My role is to accompany, to this point, those who have not made their choice yet.” “Which choice? ” I asked, disconcerted. But, without answering, it smiled and motioned its hand towards the outside of the room, clearly asking me to advance. Realizing that nothing could glean more information from him, I decided to advance.

Once I left, the door was closed again behind me, its two parts meeting, and I heard the room go down again.

I expected to find an idyllic landscape, but, instead, I still saw this hateful blue stone that composed the infernal peak. It had been cut to form a kind of terrace. I wondered how to leave what I then believed to be a wretched trap. Indeed, I had reached the top and did not have any chance to not fall if I tried to go down. As for the strange door, I did not know how to open it. I thus sat down, in tears, asking myself which horrible sin I had been guilty of to be thus punished.

A few moments later, I heard the beating of wings. I raised my eyes and saw a splendid spectacle: seven angels were arriving onto the blue terrace. I recognized the Archangel Michel, patron saint of Justice, in armor, holding in his hand a splendid sword and a large shield with the most marvelous ornaments. But my theological knowledge was limited and I asked, ashamed, who, exactly, had appeared before me. I expected to hear some reproach, but this was not the case. All looked at me with a glance full of softness and love.

One of them advanced and said to me: “I am George, Archangel of Friendship. And here are Gabriel, Archangel of Temperance, Michel, Archangel of Justice, Uriel, Archangel of Generosity, Galadrielle, Archangel of Conservation, Selaphiel, Archangel of Pleasure, and Raphael, Archangel of Conviction. We seven, under the orders of the Prophet, Aristotle, and the Messiah, Christ, are charged to guide the human ones on the path of virtue, whom carry them toward God and His Paradise.”

I had opposite me seven beings, the most important born as humans in history, excepting Aristotle and Christ. In the face of such a privilege, I could only prostrate myself at their feet, face against the ground. But George said to me: “Do not prostrate yourself in front of us: we are ultimately only human. Only God deserves that reverence. We are His humble servants, important only in achieving His divine will. But come with us, because the hour fast approaches that you make the choice. We are here to lead you to the sun.”

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Chapter 7 The Paradise The seven angels stood face to face with me. They raised their great smiles full of kindness, emphasized by their gazes, so full of tenderness. For the first time since I had left my dog alone in the field, I relaxed and allowed myself to partake in the serenity that they radiated. They helped me to stand and Michel, the most robust, hoisted me up onto his back. I reddened at the idea of riding an Archangel like a horse. But they all laughed, seeing the embarrassment on my face. This laughter was not mockery, but full of friendship.

Then, seven large pairs of splendid wings extended. They approached the edge and allowed themselves to fall from it. I howled in terror, but my cry was choked off when the Archangels rectified their flight and headed off toward the sun. I could see under me the whole of the moon and I promised to myself, if the occasion were given to me, to always live in the virtue, according to the precepts of Aristotle and Christ, in order to never return to such a sordid place. Galadrielle launched me another smile and said to me: “It is well. You have made a judicious decision. May the other living ones make the same one.”

I wondered how it had been able to so well know the bottom of my thoughts. But my spirit was gladdened quickly, rather interested by the spectacle which was offered to me. We had just left the moon and we flew in the space that separates it from the sun. The stars were offered to my glance like as many magic spectacles.

I could even distinguish many other stars whose existence I had not known of, not being able to be seen from the world. This immense sun, which I had never seen so near, occupied the essence of my vision. I felt like a fly in comparison to a cow: tiny.

We approached so close to the divine star that flames of several miles in length passed very close to us. I wondered whether I was not going to share with the seven Archangels a quite disastrous end. But Michel, on which I was always perched, said to me: “Do not fear that which you see here.” I then saw the flames that covered the sun part, giving way to a splendid spectacle. Under this outer layer of flame was that about which I had intended to speak since my more tender childhood, without ever knowing of what it consisted: Paradise!

We landed in a magic place. All was bathed in a soft light. Wherever I looked I did not find the least darkness. As far as the eye could see, there was neither dwelling, nor the least construction of any sort. Those that were hungry plucked of the fruit trees. Those that appreciated the pleasures of relaxation stretched out in the grass. Children played innocently, laughing and running through tall grasses. The seven Archangels told me that they were to leave me here, their mission being finished. I thanked them greatly and said to them my goodbyes.

I decided to walk about and view this enchanted place. All those that I met wished me welcome and smiled at me. I returned their smiles and thanked them. All breathed happiness, kindness and joy. When I approached a small fountain where water seemed so clear that I could not resist refreshing myself there, I noticed two men deep in discussion. They noticed me also and beckoned to me to approach. I realized then that opposite me were no less than Aristotle and Christ. They accommodated me with the greatest kindness. They asked me whether I liked the places and if I had gone on a happy journey. I was so moved that I could not even answer.

I stammered some vague words, while I still tried to comprehend who was in front of me. At this point in time I heard a voice.

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Chapter 8 The ressurection This voice that I heard, while I was in the company of Aristotle and Christ, was calm and penetrating. They explained me that it was God Himself who was going to ask me the question. I finally came to understand that this was that moment. The divine voice said to me: “You, the human that holds the name among them Sypous, you came to Me, discovering all that a human will be able to know after its death. You visited each of the seven Hells, where you met each Prince-demon. All this was presented to you in accordance with My will.

What did you retain from your journey?”

I answered: “I understood the direction of the Hells. When humans live in the virtue, being thus conformed to Your divine word, transmitted by the Prophet, Aristotle, and the Messiah, Christ, You grant the right to him to reach this place, Your Paradise, the Sun. If he is diverted from virtue, refusing to listen to Your divine word, and he gives himself up to the terrestrial pleasures, selfishness, temptation, false divinities, Your infinite wisdom brings to you to send him to Hell, in the Moon, to be punished there for all Eternity. You love us, but it is also with us to love You.” God said to me: “Now comes time for you to make your choice. You can decide to accept death. In this case, I will judge your life, the moments when you knew to work for the virtue and those where you were diverted from it. If, then, I judge that you deserve it, you will join the elect for an eternity of joy and happiness. But if I judge, rather, that your life was not virtuous, you will know an eternity of torments in Hell. Or, if you think that your time has not yet been achieved, that your life will not yet prove reliable in front of Me, you can decide to return to life.”

I could not answer. Had I deserved to join the Paradise or would I finish in Hell? Then, I heard voices.

These were those of my friends, who prayed for the safety of my heart. Although they were on Earth, I heard them distinctly. This made me hot in the middle seeing that they were concerned so much with what was going to happen to me. I had to show them that their prayers were not useless. I decided to accept resurrection, in order to be able to live in virtue and to deserve the Paradise. I owed them that, at least as much as I owed it to myself.

God said to me then: “Since I decided to change the spirit of humans to eternal soul, so that, at their death, each one of them is judged by the way which led you to Me at their end, I put the same question to each one of them. Some have the same prudence that you have shown, others reach to the Paradise, and others overestimate the quality of their lives and are sent to Hell.”

“Those who chose, like you, for resurrection do not keep the traces of their celestial tour in their memory.

Thus, their behavior changes only if the lesson has been engraved at the very bottom of their hearts. But, so that all may know which terrible fate awaits them if they are diverted from My love, I leave you these memories.

You will be able to thus testify to your journey, and your testimony will remain for century after century. Now that you know this task which I have entrusted to you, return to your life, until you return here to make your choice anew.”

Then, my sight was scrambled. I had just time to see Aristotle and Christ once more before losing consciousness. When I awoke, I was in my bed, my arms crossed in front of me. Around me were lit candles and my friends were deep in earnest prayer. In tears, but obviously relieved, they explained me that nine days previous

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I had died. I rose, went to the window, and saw that the sun again diffused its cordial light on the world. I told my friends about my incredible tour and decided to put down on paper all that I had been shown during my death.

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Part IV

End of time

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Chapter 1 The dream I, Posuys of Alexandria, Egypt, will describe to you the revelation that was made to me in a dream. It might appear strange to regard a dream as a veritable premonition, but the reading of my revelations will show you that this was no ordinary dream. I thank the Most High for having entrusted to me the divine mission of transmitting His will to the world.

My dream started with a soft white light. I had the urge to awake myself and, as in the early morning, I emerged gradually from my state of lethargy. The light brought, progressively with my imaginary alarm clock, its batch of nuances. I then saw a group of beings, human with the large wings of birds, surmounted by a luminous ring. They sparkled with love and gentleness. Their glances were full of kindness and tenderness.

I saw there with me all the human ones that, by their holy virtuous life, had reached the statute of angels.

Seven of them exceeded their companions by the feeling of goodness that they emanated. I recognized without difficulty seven blessed archangels of God: George, owner of the friendship, Uriel, owner of generosity, Raphael, owner of conviction, Gabriel, owner of temperance, Michel, owner of justice, Selaphiel, owner of the pleasure, and Galadrielle, owner of conservation.

Behind them, I saw vast idyllic landscapes. Everything sparkled with great beauty and I wanted nothing more than to remain there for eternity. But it seemed quite empty. I could admire the innumerable elect, populating Paradise. On their faces was an expression of great bliss. Seeing such a happiness fill those that had lived in the virtue, I was delighted for them and hoped to be able to join them.

Then, I heard a hard yet serene voice to say to me: “Those which you see here are those which knew to gain the Paradise, according to the word which I entrusted to Aristotle and Christ. But know that the future will not be so radiant for all.” I understood that it was God Himself that addressed this divine message to me.

Then, the angels left me in communion with the Most High. “Look into the pool of water at your feet,” He said to me.

I saw a beautiful country there. The soft heat of the sun cherished the trees of the orchards, nourished the ears of corn, which were drawn up, proud, toward the sky, and gave all its love to the vegetables, which thrived.

Further, I could see the cows feeding placidly, accompanied by sheep kept by their shepherd. The pleasant breeze lent its force to the work of the miller while making the wings of the mill to turn.

The sea provided the fishermen with many fish, in order to nourish them and exhaled its rustic but so pleasant scents to those that could appreciate them. In the middle of this peaceful life, a city, girded about with walls, swarmed with activity. The craftsmen worked in order to provide to the population all that it needed and the tradesmen spoke in praise of their goods to the customers coming to market.

The children played, laughing and running along the animated streets. Taverns shook with the laughter and the noises of liquids that were poured into the tankards. A small group crowded around the mayor, who listened to their interrogations and answered. The bells were reflected to sound and great numbers of the inhabitants left their houses to go to the mass.

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Chapter 2 The castle And at this point in time the horror started.

The sky darkened, surmounted with dark clouds. The thunder roared, resounding in all the thatched cottages. And the rain started to fall. A flood as nobody had ever seen before rushed into the land! The gusts of wind whirled and the sea surged so mightily that I saw several fishermen disappear under the waters.

Everyone thought then to take shelter, but the rain did not cease falling.

Three days and three nights, rain worked to reduce to nothing all the efforts of the farmers, who impotent, saw, their harvests die. The streets were transformed into torrents. All the land became gorged with water.

And the sea struck with all its ire against the city, destroying the landing stages, ruining even the largest boats, and coming to fall against the coast.

Then, the sky darkened yet further, choking the rays of the sun completely, and lit only by the flashes whose thunder resonated in all the houses where the people massed, frightened. The rain became increasingly cold, changing into snow. Freezing completed the destruction of the harvests and the icy wind whipped the houses, where people, terrified, suffered from hunger and thirst without daring to say a word.

Then, snow changed into hail. This storm was made up of enormous hail large around as a bowl and hard as stone. They struck with all of their force into the solid walls and the stone buildings. The roofs seemed to suffer from this treatment, but endeavored to resist. This was not always enough, because many houses broke down on their unfortunate inhabitants, their cries for assistance lost in the noise of the cataclysm.

But the martyrdom seemed to end when the hail decreased, then stopped. Gradually, people left their modest shelters and a number of them, haggard, moved toward the castle, in order to find answers to their questions. The priest and the duke addressed then the crowd. But the speech of the duke was stopped by the collapse of the tower, which crushed him without mercy or hope of appeal.

Indeed, the ground had started to tremble. And the unhappy official had been standing in the path of the enormous monument. People thought then to run to reenter their shelters. But the weakened houses broke down, one after another. The streets collapsed, opened into a multitude of cracks, devouring into the ground the unfortunate ones that had fallen into their terrible trap. The walls, already shaken by hail, broke down, bringing also their own batch of deaths.

The entire city collapsed thus little by little, leaving many people to rush about in panic. Only the church had survived the attacks of the unleashed elements, the saintly building seeming spared from the disaster. The ground stopped trembling and calmed. Without a word, the survivors thus arranged themselves in the house of God. The priest was there. He preached on the repentance from sin. His liveliness was of gold, but one felt in his voice the anguish that his prayers were not enough to help them. But all listened to the sermon of the priest as they had never listened before.

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Chapter 3 The Church The wind beat on the sides of the church, making its structure quiver. The sky, dark and icy, was filled with threatening clouds of Herculean proportions. All around the church, the lightning tore the air, followed soon by its accomplice, the thunder, which resounded in the terrified hearts of the flocks.

The priest encouraged the flock with his prayers. He never stopped reminding them that they did not have anything to fear if they kept in their spirit the divine words revealed by the Prophet, Aristotle, and the Messiah, Christ. The purity of his faith pushed him to encourage his listeners to make penitence for their sins. And he repeated unceasingly that it was time for those whose souls were choked with sin to make their confessions. But nobody listened to him anymore, terror trampling on their reason, and all looked out now through the stained glass windows of the church.

At this point in time the third calamity fell down on them. The wind redoubled intensity, changing the wind into gusts and the gusts into storms. The cataclysm reached its climax when a terrible tornado assaulted the church building. This one broke the stained glass of the church, coming to fill up the building with its icy breath. The pieces of colored glass fell down in a rain of sharpened blades on the unfortunate ones which were below.

The tornado propelled the pews against the walls, breaking them into pieces. It reversed the flock, who, struck out one against the others. It broke down the statues from the tops of their pedestals, shattering them in thousands of pieces. The imposing doors of the church were several centuries old. They had known the pangs of time without ever giving signs of the least weakness. But the tornado made them fly away like wisps of straw.

The noise of the storm covered the exhortations and the prayers of the priest. He stopped then when he saw a young child fallen to the ground. An enormous beam threatened to fall down and crush the child. The priest threw himself on him and pushed the child out of the path of the falling timber. This sacrifice proved unfortunately useless, because the entire building broke down on its inhabitants, from which only some few survivors managed to escape.

These were not the luckiest, because they had finally the misfortune to witness the last of the calamities.

The city was no more, one field of ruins on the cracked ground. The sea was unchained under a sky of ink split by the flashes, the fields, the pastures and the orchards were drowned and only a very few trees held still more or less upright.

The survivors saw then the latter burst out into flames. They cried out with all the energy that remained to them. The wind, hitherto icy, blazed up instantly to painful heat under the open sky. The clouds reddened, reflecting the flames that bathed the country. Fire devoured all that had survived in a gigantic blazing inferno.

The unfortunate people who had survived the three other calamities howled in pain when the blazing inferno destroyed their flesh, leaving nothing whatsoever of their bodies.

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Chapter 4 The divine judgement I raised my eyes from the pool where all these horrible images had been just offered to my eyes. I trembled, the cries of suffering from the poor victims of these four calamities resonated still in my heart. Hot tears flowed openly down my face; so horrible was the fate of these unhappy poor.

Then, God, in a voice soft and alleviating, said to me: “See, how horrible will be the end of the world which you like so much. It will be destroyed by water, earth, wind, and fire. But do not fear, because if you are virtuous, you will be able to avoid these useless sufferings. And those which live in the virtue need not worry, because never do I forget those who love Me. ” I saw the clouds indeed go away, the winds become calm, and the flames to die. But the ground trembled further, revealing a beautiful sight.

The men and the women who had lived through the atrocities I had seen in the puddle pool left the world, flying. They were innumerable, each one crowded by necessity next to the other, a veritable sea of humanity.

In spite of an indefinable time that they had waited under the ground, they seemed to find a new youth. They flew away in a splendid cloud of beings coming to join their Creator.

Behind them, I saw the world, a gigantic ball of matter. All the humans had left it behind. Its surface cracked, the titanic flames emerging from the cracks thus formed. Then, the entire world blazed up. It illuminated the other stars in a powerful red light. Lastly, in an incommensurable explosion, it completed the mission that God had entrusted to it.

The human ones were installed along the stars, on what one calls the Milky Way. They were organized then in a file that seemed endless. Some seemed happy to await the Divine Judgment, others poured heated tears, regretting not having known to listen to the divine words transmitted by the Prophet Aristotle and Christ, the Messiah. The angels patiently awaited the human ones on the sun. And on the moon, the demons spit their hatred with the face of the judged futures.

And God spoke to me: “See. These men and these women are now in waiting for the judgment of their hearts. I made you to aspire to the virtue and I did this in such a way that if one among you so practiced, it would be communicated to the others.” There I recognized the teaching of Aristotle and the words of Christ!

“There has always been this goal,” He added, “to serve, honor and to love Me, but also to love each other. I am the invisible hand which guides your steps, but a number among you were diverted from My Word.”

“You are judged one by one when you die, but that will not always be the case. Indeed, I left the creature that I did not name to prove his statement that the strong should dominate the weak. If, once again, you are diverted to Ego in great numbers, that which you saw in the pool of water will come to pass. If you forget again the love that I have for you and, through this, cease to love Me, it will all happen as you have seen. If My Word, revealed by Aristotle and Christ is not heeded anymore, I will destroy the world and its life, because the love will not be any more. So, take guard not to let My Word lose itself in the pits of the lapse of your memory.”

For this reason I have revealed all this to you. The virtue must guide each one of your steps. Everyone must transmit the virtue to their descendants.

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Chapter 5 Questions But many questions had not yet been answered. I asked God if He would enlighten me further and, in His great mercy, He accepted.

I asked Him: “When will we be judged? Which will be the sorrows and the rewards which we will have?”

He answered me: “I decided, when I made the humans My children, to make them the most beautiful of the gifts: I have made of all your spirits eternal hearts, allowing you to gain Paradise if you follow the lessons of Aristotle and Christ, but punishing you in the Hells if you are diverted to the ways which they traced. You are in My court of judgment throughout your lives. Each thought, each word and each action influences My final decision. When each one of you dies, I decide your eternal destination. According to whether you were virtuous or a sinner, you join the rows of the elect or of the damned.”

I asked Him then: “But what will the human ones resemble, those who reach the sun or the moon? Will we be only of pure spirits? What will become of our bodies? What are these angels and these demons?” It answered me: “The body cannot live without the spirit and the spirit without the body, because I made life the union of these two states. When a human reaches the Paradise or the Hell, the body that it had on the world is abandoned to nourish the life on Earth and a new body is given to him in exchange. This one is commensurate with the image of the spirit of the human it is given to: it represents either the beauty of it or the ugliness.

The angels are those that, by their holiness, obtained a body so perfect that they may assist me in the sun.

The demons are those which lived so much in the sin that their bodies are only horror and beastliness.”

I still asked Him: “The baptism is the sacrament which devotes the entry of a human into the community of believers. Without this, there is no access to the possible Paradise. But what becomes of the poor children whose life is completed before they have the chance to be baptized?” And He answered me: “I made you of the elect with your birth, because you tend naturally toward Me. It is the sins which divert you from My divine perfection.”

“The baptism makes it possible for the virtue to repurchase the sin; makes it possible for the love to overcome the apathy. The virtuous one who is not baptized will not be erasing his faults, because I did not bless his entry into the community of My faithful. But do not believe that the fact of being baptized authorizes you to sin without shame. This sacrament is only the means of living in the virtue. But all those which were not baptized, whether they are children or adult, if they absolutely never sinned, will be able in the same way to reach the Paradise.”

I asked Him finally: “Will the End of time take place inevitably?” He answered me: “No, I will decide to destroy the world if the human ones are given up as much in the sin as they ended up before, giving reason to the creature to which I did not give a name. Know that the future of the world depends only on your virtue. You must respect the Word which I transmitted to Aristotle and Christ, because, if you behave like the inhabitants of Oanylone, your vice will bind the fate of the world which you like so much.”

Then, God said to me that the time had come that I return home, that my dream was finished, and that I should awake. Relieved to have learned so much from God Himself, I thus returned to my soft bed, where I awoke. Still disturbed by these revelations, I wrote this message from God in the words that He had given me to do so.

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