TC0

PASTOR MARK LANGE, PROPHET, SEP 1, 1866 Mark Lange

THE PROPHET OF THE CHURCH SHALL CHOOSE, FROM THE WING OF THE CHURCH OF WHICH HE IS NOT A PART, ONE WHO SHALL HOLD THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE. Mark Lange, Sep. 1, 1866

IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE PROPHET, THE APOSTLE SHALL VACATE THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE AND ATTAIN TO THE OFFICE OF PROPHET Mark Lange, Sep. 1, 1866

CHIEF WANICA, APOSTLE, SEP. 1, 1866 W Mark Lange, Sep. 1, 1866

APOSTLE WANICA, DECEASED, NATURAL CAUSES, FEB. 27, 1906 Mark Lange, Feb. 27, 1906

JASHEN SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, FEB. 28, 1906. Jashen Shybear, Feb, 28, 1906 Mark Lange, Feb. 28, 1906

PROPHET MARK LANGE, DECEASED, SINKING OF REINA REGENTA, MAR. 6, 1917 Jashen Shybear March 7, 1917

APOSTLE JASHEN SHYBEAR, PROPHET, MAR. 7, 1917 Jashen Shybear

KLAUS HANSEN, APOSTLE, OCT 9, 1931 Klaus Hansen Jashen Shybear

THE PROPHET SHALL APPOINT, FROM ALTERNATING WINGS OF THE CHURCH, A DEACON TO SERVE THE SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE WHOLE CHURCH. IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE APOSTLE, THE DEACON SHALL ATTAIN TO THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE. Jashen Shybear Oct. 9, 1931

PAUL BERGIN, DEACON, Oct. 9, 1931. Paul Bergin JS

ANY OFFICE OF THE CHURCH SHALL NOT BE TERMINATED EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE OFFICEHOLDER. Jashen Shybear, Jan. 10, 1943.

APOSTLE KLAUS HANSEN, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943 Jashen Shybear

KIMBERLY SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, JAN. 10, 1943 Kimberly Shybear JS

DEACON PAUL BERGIN, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943 Jashen Shybear

GABRIEL SHYBEAR, DEACON, JAN. 10, 1943 Gabriel Shybear JS

PROPHET JASHEN SHYBEAR, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943 Jashen Shybear

APOSTLE KIMBERLY SHYBEAR, PROPHET, JAN. 10, 1943 Kimberly Shybear DORIEL SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, JAN. 10, 1943. Kimberly Shybear GS

THE SACRED RELIC SHALL REMAIN IN THE POSSESSION OF THE DEACON OF THE CHURCH, WHO SHALL BE MINISTER OF THE LAST RITE. Kimberly Shybear, January 18, 1943.

MARRIAGE IN THE CHURCH OF GREEN DOME SHALL BE SOLELY BETWEEN PERSONS WITH THE SAME GRANDPARENTS OR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, ON PAIN OF EXCOMMUNICATION. Kimberly Shybear, January 18, 1943

APOSTLE DORIEL SHYBEAR, RESIGNED, JAN. 20, 1943. Doriel Shybear KS

KLAUS HANSEN, APOSTLE, JAN. 20, 1943 Klaus Hansen KS

PROPHET KIMBERLY SHYBEAR, DECEASED, JAN. 20, 1943 Klaus Hansen

PROPHET KLAUS HANSEN, JAN. 20, 1943 Klaus Hansen

APOSTLE PAUL BERGIN, JAN. 20, 1943 Paul Bergin Klaus Hansen

The Printer’s Manuscript of The Green Book the English translation of the White Scroll by Ophan Leliel An account of the dealings of Elyon with angels, nephilim, and men in Heaven and Earth.


 * 1 Of old when only grass and green things yielding seed grew in Heaven God said, “Behold Man, who alone of all the beasts of Earth is fully awake even as we are. Shall we not teach him all that we know?”
 * 2 The Accuser answered God by saying, “Man is unruly like all the other beasts of Earth. If he learns the lore of the Elohim nothing shall restrain him from putting out his hand and doing whatsoever comes into his mind to do. Shall Man be a good student if he proves to be an unfaithful servant?” 3. So God made covenant with the Accuser to bring a man and a woman to Heaven for a time of testing with the Elohim as their masters before allowing them to set aside their servitude and embrace the Elohim as teachers.
 * 4 A fierce storm hurled lightning, rain, and hail. Clad in animal skins, Adamu picked his way to the base of a mountain that stood aloof on a grassy plain. His woman Chava carried a child as she followed him.
 * 5 Adamu found a cave in the mountainside to shelter them from the storm. Chava sat on a boulder and breastfed her child as her mate started a fire. A noise other than the crackling fire startled both of them. Adamu moved deeper into the cave with a torch to investigate.
 * 6 Adamu passed a wall that was covered with images of animals and hunters, evidence the cave had been used long before. But there was also much dry firewood, which spoke of more recent habitation. He thought perhaps the ones who lived there were caught out in the storm.
 * 7 The cave narrowed to a tunnel that meandered and grew lighter when intuitively it should have grown darker. Adamu was joined by his woman and child.  They reached another cave mouth deep within the interior of the mountain that re- vealed cyan bushes and a purple sky.
 * 8 A branchless tree resembling a whip stirred into motion and struck the ground before them. The whip tree grabbed Adamu’s torch and hurled it away, where it started a fire. The couple could not emerge from the cave entrance by reason of the whip tree and the growing fire.
 * 9 Adamu and Chava edged back into the tunnel away from the heat. When the whip tree caught fire it began to thrash more intensely than they saw it do before. They retreated deep inside the cave until the tree burned to a lifeless crisp, and returned when the fire abated.
 * 10 A black patch of land lay before Adamu and Chava and continued to smolder. They stepped across the hot burnt soil and carefully watched for any movement. When they gazed back towards the tunnel they were startled to see it was set it a low ridge. The mountain was gone.
 * 11 When the sun set a second brilliant light remained in the sky, tinged with orange, far brighter than any star. Still, it began to grow cold. Adamu used some of the smoldering embers to rekindle a fire in the tunnel entrance and returned to the other world to hunt game.
 * 12 Supper was two hares caught by Adamu and skinned by Chava. In the morning they saw the burned acreage was already sporting shoots of blue grass. The next day the grass was tall enough for Adamu and Chava couple to run barefoot and free.13 Adamu and Chava thought the new world belonged to them, solely, but that was not to be. A small herd of bison emerged from the tunnel and proceeded to eat the grass. They were driven by a theophany of The Accuser, which was as tall figure in the shape of a man but without a face and as black as obsidian.
 * 14 The Accuser carried a twin- headed ax to the edge of the burn where a native plant took root in the burnt area. It laid the ax to the base of the plant and chopped it cleanly off, then flipped the ax around and used the handle's sharp tip to pry the weed out of the soil.
 * 15 After that the Accuser interposed himself between the cave entrance and the human family and approached them. They backed away until they reached the perimeter of the burned area. The Accuser held out the tool and motioned for Adamu to take it until he did as he was bid to do.
 * 16 As The Accuser watched, Adamu found another plant that was growing on the edge of the grazing ground for the bison. He duplicated the actions he had seen to kill the intruding plant. Then The Accuser taught him how to restore the keen edge of the ax with a stone.
 * 2 1 The theophany of God was identical in form to that of The Accuser but white instead of black. The Accuser joined God as he looked down upon the new garden. God said, “Here are the servants, as I vowed, brought within reach of your avatar to do with them as you will.”
 * 2 But the Accuser said, ‘All you have given me is three creatures in a world that will kill them if they try to leave their small garden. You must bring to Heaven forty more such families before I will hold our covenant to be fulfilled.”
 * 3 There is no native fauna in Heaven but some of the flora moved of its own accord and most of it was dangerous. A whipping tree can render a man down to a pile of broken bones and bloody flesh in a few heartbeats. Some of the leaves formed clenching mouths with teeth.
 * 4 Thorny ball bushes rolled under their own power by shifting their weight and selectively gripping the ground. Most plants were deadly to touch. For centuries the death rate of the colonists in Heaven exceeded the birth rate, mandating a steady stream of new volunteers.
 * 5 So God and The Accuser toiled together to plan several dozen gardens in Heaven. The first children to be born away from Earth came to be. But many of the men and women brought to Heaven died before the span of years nature alloted to them by reason of the hostile flora.
 * 6 In the first garden when the eldest sons of Adamu and Chava were of an age to have wives of their own the theophany of God emerged from the tunnel escorting a woman from Earth. The Accuser observed from a ledge overhead as God and the woman approached Kayin, who had been born on Earth.
 * 7 Kayin was harvesting vegeta- bles. He bowed to God and offered the woman his best ones. The woman turned up her nose at the food.  So God ignored Kayin's sacrifice and took the woman to see the younger son instead, Hebel, the firstborn of heaven. He was cooking bison.8 Hebel bowed and offered a stick with meat cubes to the woman, who ate the meat greedily.  God placed the hand of the woman in the hand of Hebel as Kayin looked on with growing resentment, then departed.  ived soon after this. With the rope still in his hand, Kayin glared at all of them with contempt.
 * 9 Kayin began to braid native vines for a long rope. Near the time of the setting of the white sun Kayin paused to watch the woman preening outside and he looked upon her with lust. Hebel emerged to gather his woman back inside his hut with a haughty glance at his brother.
 * 10 In the morning Adamu and Chava brought clothes they made for their younger son's wife, but they ignored Kayin, who continued to make his rope. All day Hebel and his wife pawed at each other in full view of Kayin, who smiled calmly until he finished his rope, then he departed.
 * 11 Only one safe path led away from the Garden. Along this trail was a whip tree which had not yet been cut down. It was bent away from the path and secured by a clever knot to a stump. The rope ended in the hand of Kayin, who hid in a bush and meditated upon a new thing in Heaven.
 * 12 Near dusk Hebel and his wife walked the path away from the Garden. Hebel saw the whip tree was bent away from the tree and held fast by a rope, and it came into his mind that his brother or father had prepared it in the usual way to be chopped off at the base.
 * 15 God refused to eatch The Accuser’s response to the first murder in Heaven. He returned to the tunnel in the Garden wall, and thence to the hillside cave on Earth. God did not return within the lifetimes of Adamu, Chava, Kayin, nor any of their children.
 * 16 The Accuser soon joined God atop the high hill and said, “How very instructive of world-dwellers, would you not agree?”
 * 17 God said in reply, “You have made subtle changes to their bodies which persist in their offspring. Your testing in Heaven is no longer pure.  It has no bearing on the original stock here on Earth,
 * 18 The Accuser said, “True to your word you have given me the colony I ordered. Yet after the killing today it is clear to me your precious woken creatures will destroy themselves and leave nothing but ruins, both here and on Earth.”
 * 19 God said, “You would raise up thralls who hasten their own extinction, but here on Earth I will teach them to live together and survive. In this I will have their willing participation, while in Heaven I foretell you will only heap to yourself the resentment of your slaves.”
 * 20 The Accuser said, “I have given thought to their survival in Heaven, notwithstanding your own accusation. The changes I am making in their bodies will over the course of time make the males mighty of frame and sinew, and the females far more fertile and desirous to the eye.”3
 * 1 The changes wrought by The Accuser took forty generations before it could be said angels stood apart from the men from whom they sprang. Male angels, who called len, stood five cubits in stature, fully a head taller than female angels, called yen.
 * 2 Women in heaven were no taller than Chava had been, a mere three and a half cubits, and men stood a head taller than they. Yet when angels took wife from among the daughters of men the nephilim first appeared in Heaven. This was not foreseen by The Accuser.
 * 3 Nephilim, who were called jen, stood four cubits in height, and they were by nature both male and female. Jen could beget children with len and yen, men and women, and other jen alike.
 * 4 In the fullness of time God sought union with a lan that he might dwell in Heaven as a living theophany. Full willing, a brave lan named Michael, son of Jophiel, entered the avatar of God.  The avatar was as large as an engine of war and spouted fire.
 * 5 Michael was whisked into the sky far away from the city of Salem where he dwelt.But as the avatar rose a great Michael felt himself grow heavy and he began to cry. The young lan was brave but hy had reached hyz limit.
 * 6 God said, “Michael, rehearse the scriptures you been taught to memorize, from the beginning.” Michael obeyed for as long as he could but his weight ever increased and speaking grew difficult.
 * 7 He said, “Before time was, in a place that was no place, the principle of life had being, male and fe-male, that life would ever seek the other and continue life. The maleness called himself Samael, and the femaleness called herself Israel. They drew together.
 * 8 “A third was begotten, a male, whom Samael named Elyon. When Elyon was full grown he asked, 'Father, what givest thou to be my inheritance?' Then Samael, in reply, filled reality with ice.  North, south, east, west, up, and down the ice was, without end.
 * 9 “Samael transformed half of reality from ice into air. He created the warm white sun to rule the day, and the cold orange sun to rule the night. Also Samael patterned the sky with many lesser lights, and each day he causes them to tunnel beneath the ice to rise again the next night.
 * 10 “And Samael created a furrow in the ice. There he laid down soil and carved lakes and seas. Belioal also toiled for Elyon's inheritance.  She caused green growing things to fill the waters.
 * 11 But Elyon was not content even with all these gifts, so his parents waxed wroth. Samael and Israel vowed to create a paradise, but they would delay the giving of it to teach Elyon patience.
 * 12 “So rise. trees.  many beheld Samael caused hills to Israel covered these with Samael crafted rivers and rushing streams and Elyon the beauty of the land.
 * 13 “But Elyon could not yet claim Heaven as his own, and he was exceedingly vexed. He wished his fa- ther dead that he might come into his inheritance.”14 Michael paused his recital there fearing, it might anger God to hear those words. In Salem when Michael was bid to enter the avatar God told him he was the Holy One that angels named Elyon. But the ascent was not complete, and God commanded Michael to continue reciting the Litany of Creation.
 * 15 Michael said, “Elyon it was who created angels and nephilim and men. But he could not prevent some of his malice from passing into the creatures which he made, which is why they strive against one another to this day.
 * 16 “And Elyon did not take great care with his creation. From he beginning they were beset with many ailments. So Israel taught the healing arts to the angels.
 * 17 “Also Israel created cattle and fowl and swine, and she taught the angeols how to grow and harvest greens and rice and wheat. And the children of Adamu and Chava were greatly multiplied in Heaven.”
 * 18 “Enough!” said God. The invisible weight suddenly lifted from Michael. He felt blessedly free, as though he were swimming in the air. The avatar of God turned until the white bulk of Heaven could be seen through the windows. Michael saw the sky was no longer purple but black.
 * 19 Michael saw that Heaven was really a ball, and the suns did not tunnel under the ice. “I had thought it to be a ring, Lord,' said Michael after a time. “We hear tales that men have crossed the West Lands to arrive in the East Lands.”
 * 20 God said, “That much is true, Michael. The unfrozen part of Heaven does forms a ring, do you see?” Michael affirmed this.
 * 21 The avatar turned put Heaven and the two suns out of sight. Michael saw countless stars. God said, “Know this, Michael, for it is of a truth: All the stars are but faraway suns.”
 * 22 The avatar began to fall to Heaven once more. Michael began to feel his weight again but his mouth remained wide open in wonder. And he knew Samael, who had commanded angels to memorize the Litany of Creation, was exposed as a liar.
 * 4 1 The words of Michael son of Jophiel in the land of Adan when he had been made the living avatar of Elyon in the days of Melchiyahu son of Gordiel and king of Salem:
 * 2 “The One became aware of itself when there was a separation from Other, and there was Two. The interplay between the One and the Other became personified as The Third. The Third gave birth to all things.
 * 3 “Know that The Third, whom the dwellers of Heaven name Elyon, gives rise to things without effort, therefore he creates without possessing, and accomplishes without expectations of praise.
 * 4 “Elyon intervenes in the people’s affairs only when it is necessary for their well-being, not from a whim, nor from a desire to demonstrate divine power.
 * 5 “The spirit is fulfilled by its activity. The body is fulfilled by its substance. The people are fulfilled by living. The noble are fulfilled by good governance.  The noblest king calls himself the servant of the people.6 “When the palace is splendid but the harvest is poor and the storehouses are sparse, when the noblelen wear much finery and gorge on meat and wine, but they carry weapons because they fear the ordinary people, the city is far from the way of Elyon.
 * 7 “Winds flatten houses. Dams are silted up.  Roads are washed out.  Insects decimate crops. Vegetation grows to cover landmarks.  The noblest king knows all these things, so he rejects the delusion that he can control the world.
 * 8 “A moral code represses the people. When a king attempts to rule by intelligence he cannot anticipate every emergency. When he abandons rigid law and cleverness the people spontaneously return to good order.
 * 9 A storehouse filled with gold cannot be protected indefinitely. If you pile up great wealth in one place, it is the gold that will own you as you bend your mind and all your strength to make it secure.
 * 10 Diamonds are not essential for life, yet they are priced higher than any other jewel. Without water life is impossible, yet it is priced lower than any other commodity. The one who embraces Elyon makes himself like water, dwelling in unbuildable places and treasuring simple things that are considered worthless.
 * 11 The great city that does not act toward its neighbors in an arrogant way has the good will of the smaller cities, and they willingly join the greater. The small city that does not resent its lower station enjoys the benefits of being united with the greater one. In the face of an enemy anyone can ally with the strong, but to ally with the weak takes true courage.
 * 12 With ten people, three seek long life because they fear death. Three seek an early death because they are reckless. Three find death because they seek to live their short life to the fullest. Only one neither fears death, nor hates life, nor worries that life is too fleeting.  The yan who embraces Elyon does not grasp life, so how can life be taken from her grasp?
 * 13 When hellberries flourish it is impossible to walk through them. When they store their juices for winter the way becomes clear again.  Flourishing is not eternal, retreating is not eternal, but flourishing and retreating, taken together, are eternal.  From the beginning the generations have come and gone in good order.
 * 14 Use honesty to rule a city but use deception to fight a battle. The skillful commander pretends he is incompetent.  He makes his brigades appear to be divisions to demoralize the enemy and cause him to quit the field without fighting.
 * 15 When peace negotiations fail the skillful commander mourns as though he as already failed. When he obtains victory he does not gloat. The commander who is thrilled at the prospect of bloodshed can never enlist the willingness of his forces to endure hardship.
 * 5 1 When Michael drew to himself large crowds of angels who would listen to his teachings and be healed of him, even Princess Lilith was reckoned as one of his followers. Hashmal Zadkiel was sent from the capital city to recited the Code of Samael in the hearing of the same multitudes.2 He said, “Hear now, dwellers of Salem, the divine law of our lord, which shall be for you and all the inhabitants of Heaven a perpetual decree. The men and women who dwell among you shall be servants unto the len of you, and none shall be set at liberty for so long as they shall live.
 * 8 The Eye of Samael shall inspect the seal, unwrap the worship card, and inspect the pattern of recent punches. If the punches are in order, the Eye of Samael shall make a new punch using one of five different punches drawn by lots, a star, a square, a trian- gle, a circle, or a rectangle. 3. Even as men and women are servants of len, both len and yen are perpetual servants unto Samael.  But jan, who are both male and female, are an abomination to your god. They shall be cut off from all the lands of Heaven where Samael is called lord.
 * 9 And the Eye of Samael shall store the worship card back in the leather pouch, add a seal, and return it to the worshiper; but the money hy shall put in the temple treasury. 4. If a yen gives birth to a jen her own midwife shall strangle the abomination with its own umbilical cord, and the body taken to the Eyes of Samael as token of the husband’s cuckoldry. Then the mother shall be put to torment, and the manservant of the household whom she names as the father shall be put to death.
 * 5 Four days are appointed with names after the names of the four great families. These are Saladay, Bellonday, Larunday, and Gerashday. Three days thou shalt eat, and on Gerashday, thou shalt eat a double portion. But on Keterday thou shalt eat nothing, and drink only water.
 * 6 Four days thou shalt work. But Keterday is the day of worship, thou shalt not work on that day, neither you nor any male in your whole household. On Keterday you shall worship in the shrine. None shall be exempted. The old and infirm shall be carried to worship Keter.
 * 7 This is the essence of wor- ship: You shall give one-fourth of your increase to Keter. The procedure for worshiping Keter shall be to present to the Eye of Samael your worship card made of crackerwood sealed in a leather pouch together with all the coin you earned on Gerashday.
 * 10 Yen, however, shall not worship, nor shall a yin be found in the Temple of Keter nor any shrine of Keter. You shall not not suffer a yin or doll to earn income.
 * 11 A lan shall count his son’s income as hyz own for the purpose of reckoning the correct amount of worship due. But if a lan’s worship card has a missing punch he shall be put to death for failure to worship Keter.
 * 12 Fourteen years a dirk shall live under the absolute rule of his father. But in his fifteenth year he shall serve in the army of Samael as one of the ishim for three years.
 * 13 If the ish has attained the age of eighteen years and has not advanced to the ranks of the malakim, he shall be discharged from the army. The dirk will be then fully a lan, and for so long as he live he shall be accountable to worship Samael even as did his father.
 * 14 The malakim shall command the ishim by squads. When the malak has attained the age of twenty-one years and has not advanced to the ranks of the ravmalakim, he shall be discharged from the army and shall be accountable to worship Samael even as do the former ishim.15 The ravmalakim shall command the ishim by platoons. When the ravmalak has attained the age of twenty-four years and has not advanced to the ranks of the sarim, he shall be discharged from the army and shall be accountable to worship Samael even as do the former malakim.
 * 16 The sarim shall command the ravmalakim by companies. When the ravmalak has attained the age of twenty-seven years and has not advanced to the ranks of the erelim, he shall be discharged from the army but he shall be numbered with the Eyes of Samael and shall lead len in their worship of Samael for so long as he lives.
 * 17 Outside of the temples and the army the sarim enforce the decrees of Samael among his people, and they enforce the decrees of the king insofar as they do not make the law of Samael of none effect.
 * 18 The erelim shall command the sarim of the army by battalions and he shall be numbered with the Eyes of Samael as inspectors. The erel holds his appointment for life.
 * 19 The hashmalim are numbered among the noble born of the angels of Heaven, equal in standing to a baron. A hashmal commands the erelim of the army by brigades but when erelim act in their role as inspectors in the Eyes of Samael the hashmal holds no authority over him.
 * 20 When a dispute arises between two len among the common folk a hashmal shall be appointed to act as their arbiter and none, even among the great lords, shall gainsay his ruling.
 * 21 The princes among the angels of Heaven are the ophanim, equal in standing to a count. An ophan commands the hashmalim by divisions and appoints the hashmalim as magistrates in all disputes that go before law.
 * 22 The kings in Heaven are the cherubim, equal in standing to a duke. A cherub commands the ophanim by armies and rules in disputes among the nobility of Heaven. The giving of the sceptre is without repentance: a cherub cannot be removed from his throne but through death.
 * 6 1 In the Great Deluge every man and beast dwelling in Heaven persished save those who found refuge in ships that Samael commanded to be built and provisioned. And all of Heaven lay under ice for a full generation.
 * 2 In the aftermath a dispute arose between Elyon and Samael concerning the faithfulness of angels and nephilim and men. It was the contention of Samael that without constant intervention the world- dwellers quickly dwindled in disloyalty to the elohim.
 * 3 Elyon proposed to put Samael’s contention to the test on Earth. Prince Melchizedek, son of Melchiyahu king of Salem, was sent to Earth to raise up a covenant people and test whether men might remain faithful with only a trace of direct contact with their God.
 * 4 Melchizedek took with him the Killing Relic, a weapon made by the hands of Elyon himself, that he might be protected in his quest and as a sure sign Elyon was not a figment like the gods that multiplied in the imagination of the men of Earth.
 * 5 Melchizedek rose to the surface of Lake Tana with his supplies packaged in a clever way to keep them dry. He decanted his comestibles on the shore of the lake and moved them to a raft that he made. There was a quantity of gold to trade to replenish with local goods what stock he consumed.6 From the mouth of the lake it was thirty miles to the Blue Nile falls, which were sufficiently high to force Melchizedek to make portage around them by lowering his raft with ropes. After that he ran the rapids of the upper Blue Nile gorge, which men have always called unrunnable.
 * 12 In the marketplace Melchizedek encountered a Chaldean who had grown disgusted with the variety of religious practices in his home city of Ur. The man's name was Abram, and he was in a loud argument with his father Terah. By overhearing their argument, Melchizedek learned much about these two men.
 * 7 Below the rapids, Melchizedek sat in the raft and drifted through deserts with no water except the river he floated on. He passed water beasts and human onlookers who dared not approach.
 * 13 Abram was a successful sheep and cattle rancher who lived a nomadic life on the rangelands around Harran, while his father lived in the town itself and ran this shop selling items associated with worship. Terah sold carved idols for dozens of different gods which Abram complained were meaningless to him.
 * 8 At length he floated into the place where the Blue Nile merged with the White Nile to become the Nile river proper. It was much warmer here than in Heaven and it took many days for Melchizedek to grow immune to the heat.
 * 9 In a town on the lower Nile delta Melchizedek traded his raft and some gold for camels and supplies to make an overland journey. His destination was the land of Chaldea in the marshy lands far to the east were the Euphrates and Tigris rivers joined together before flowing to the sea.
 * 10 The people of Chaldea still spoke of the tongue of ancient Shinar, which was also the Adanite tongue, but few in Egypt still understood it. Still, as he was commanded to do, everywhere he went Melchizedek remained alert for any man who would suit the purposes of Elyon.
 * 11 Rather than taking a direct path across the Arabian desert, Melchizedek journeyed north-east through the fields and cities of Canaan and Lebanon until he reached the place where the Damascus road forked with the road to Nineveh. This was the town named Harran.
 * 14 He said to Terah, “Father, you cut down cedars and oaks which the Creator planted and also sent the rain to grow. You grow cold, so with part of your wood you make a fire to warm yourself and bake bread, and from the other part you make a god, then fall down before it and say, ‘Rescue me from this weather, for you are my god.’ And it never comes into your mind that this deaf and mute block of wood you carved with your own hands is a complete fraud!”
 * 15 Melchizedek was interested in this exchange, so he entered the shop and began to inspect the rack of idols on display. The angry words of father and son dwindled to silence, because Melchizedek was a tall and striking figure, and there was an other worldliness about him that went far beyond mere stranger.
 * 16 After he had made a complete tour of the idolatry shop, Melchizedek begin unpacking his gold on the edge of the shop facing the street, as though he were preparing to buy out Terah's entire stock.17 As Melchizedek anticipated, this drew the attention of five men who approached with swords drawn. They demanded the gold be handed over to them. At this time the Killing Relic, the weapon fashioned by Elyon himself, made its first appearance in the history of Heaven and Earth.
 * 18 The artifact was the size and shape of any normal sword hilt. But when it was squeezed firmly in Melchizedek's hands a roaring black shaft emerged from it which was about the thickness of a spear.
 * 19 The harder Melchizedek squeezed, the longer the black beam grew, and whatever it touched simply disappeared. Indeed, the reason it made a sound was that air was drawn into it all along the length of the beam.
 * 20 One of the thieves Melchizedek judged to be the leader was cut into two equal pieces starting from the top of his head. Another thief was decapitated. This was sufficient to convince the other three robbers to flee.
 * 21 It was not Melchizedek's purpose to kill them, only to stop their crime and establish his credentials with Abram and Terah. Abram came before Melchizedek and sank to his knees.
 * 22 But Melchizedek bade him to ruse and said, “Abram, son of Terah, go forth from your father's house and from your kinfolk to the land of Canaan. There Elyon will make of you a nation, and he shall bless you, and your name will be great among men. He shall bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and all the Earth shall find blessing in you.
 * 23 “Those are the words of Elyonb the Most High, God of all the Earth. What say you to these things, Abram of Harran?”
 * 24 And Abram lifted his eyes to him and said, firmly, “No.” It took Melchizedek a moment to comprehend what Abram said, as it was so unexpected. Abram rose to his feet then and walked over to his father, where he took him gently by the arms and undertook to explain his rejection of Elyon’s command.
 * 25 He said, “My father is crippled. He does not earn enough at his livelihood to support himself. We do not always agree, but as I love my life, I can never turn aside from my own father for all the days he is a wayfarer in this world.”
 * 30 Then Abram fulfilled the purpose of his visit and delivered to his father two living lambs from his own flocks, one to kill and eat, and the other to sell for a little money to buy the things he needed until the next time Abram came in from the open range and visited him.
 * 31 Melchizedek nodded in understanding. He restowed his gold and they quietly left the shop, careful not to tread on the fortress of dignity that Abram had asserted with his refusal.
 * 32 Melchizedek departed Harran and took the left-hand fork to Nineveh, and thence by stages to Sumeria, even to the largest city in the world, Ur, at the mouth of the Euphrates, with nearly seventy thousand souls. But in all his travels on Earth he never met anyone like Abram.
 * 7 1 Before House Gerash was riven with strife and Salem knew a season of peace the prophet Michael, in the role of tutor rather than preacher, took Ophan Lilith the daughter of King Melchiyahu under instruction as his disciple.2 Lilith asked, “Teacher, why are angels, nephilim and men never content?"
 * 3 Michael replied, "It is because they have let their ego grow to become so great that even their capacity for enjoyment has largely been displaced. But if you diminish the self, like emptying a cup, there will be room for joy to enter. Renounce your greater passions, indulge your lesser passions, and you will be content."
 * 4 Lilith went on to ask, "Why do they suffer so much?"
 * 5 Michael answered, "Because they have let their ego grow to become so great. It is the ego that experiences pain and loss. Diminish the self, like emptying a cup, and your capacity to suffer will vanish."
 * 6 Lilith asked, "If I adopt this attitude, will it prevent tragedy and ensure good fortune?"
 * 7 Michael said, "No. But when you can accept gain and loss with equal poise, people naturally look to you as a leader, and they will judge you to be of good character."
 * 8 1 Lilith asked, “Do all your teachings taken together have a name?”
 * 2 Michael replied, "A child is given a name because there was a time when she did not exist, and then a time when she did exist. But there was never a time when the way of Elyon did not exist, so it cannot be given a name.”
 * 3 Lilith said, “Yet you call it ‘the way of Elyon’. Is that not a name?”
 * 4 Michael said, “The path I follow leads from confusion to clarity. It is a lane of emptiness that permits me to travel through impassible clutter. Because it is not a thing, it cannot receive a name. If you try to give it a label, it will immediately fall off."
 * 5 Lilith said, "You call it a lane? Does that mean your path is long?"
 * 6 Michael said, "No Lilith, it has no discernible shape at all. It is like a statue buried under centuries of dust. If you brush the dust off to try to make out the face, you only succeed in totally obscuring everything with a room full of dust. Thus it is with words as I try to teach you about the way of Elyon."
 * 7 Lilith said, “The way seems to defy reason." of Elyon
 * 8 Michael replied, "Reason is for cutting away truths and filtering out truths, so as to arrive at the truth you are looking for. Reason is useless for growing and nourishing truths. That is why the one who embraces Elyon relies instead on her inner agreement with the truth."
 * 9 Lilith objected, "But reason is the foundation of our system of justice!"
 * 10 "Exactly, Lilith. That is why our society's righteousness is based on cutting and filtering, on refraining from doing evil things instead of accomplishing good things now, in this moment, and letting the past be the past."
 * 11 Lilith asked, "Is that because reason demands absolute standards?"
 * 12 Michael said "To those who reject the way of ELyon and embrace the world's idea of justice, angels, nephilim and men are always falling short of the ideal standards demanded by reason, which only serve to oppress the people.”13 Lilith said, "When there is a tragedy, such as a deluge or a pestilence, the people are always blamed for offending the gods."
 * 14 Michael said, "Unrestricted reason, which is never satisfied until it finds an answer. Those who worship at the altar of reason cannot accept the capriciousness of nature. They must have an explanation for everything. So they say the gods are angry and sit back in moral judgement of the people."
 * 9 1 Lilith asked, "What do len put a premium on ruling others?”
 * 2 Michael said, "Len cannot rule something as minor as a cold, yet they endeavor to rule all of Heaven. But Heaven contains infinite complexities. To harness them is to spoil them. The days are bright, the night is dark. Winds blow, floods come. The seasons are hot and cold.  These things exist beyond any lan’s puny attempts to control them."
 * 3 Lilith said, "Even so, Teacher, len often do succeed in their way, and take pride in their cleverness."
 * 4 "Nature laughs at monuments to the cleverness of len, attacking his walls with moss and erosion and crumbling his cities to dust."
 * 5 Lilith asked, "So instead of revering tradition it is better to let go of things when they age?"
 * 6 Michael said, "Yes, my dear disciple. Instead of disdaining inexperience it is better to welcome things when they are new. Only the ever-renewing patterns of life are permanent."
 * 7 After that Michael took Lilith on a seven-mile walk in the woods. They descended four thousand feet along a mountain stream that doubled and redoubled in size as other streams joined it.
 * 8 The stream plunged over a staircase of innumerable cataracts and divided into islands as it formed stretches of white rapids alternating with deep quiet pools.
 * 9 After a long time of contemplative silence Lilith said, "This place is beautiful, Teacher. I had no idea all this was up here. I find myself deeply moved."
 * 10 Michael asked, "Why do you find it so beautiful, dear disciple?”
 * 11 Lilith said, "I think it is perhaps the simplicity of the water's purpose, always seeking the lowest place."
 * 12 Michael said, "What if you saw it raining on the sea of Thalury? Surely, as the simplest case, you would find that exceedingly beautiful."
 * 13 Lilith said, "No, Teacher it would seem such a waste of fresh water. Maybe I'm thinking of the complexity of this landscape along the valley floor, of the cliffs and hillsides and gravel bars."
 * 14 Michael said, "Then what of that recent rockslide two miles back? Surely you found the jumbled, random complexity of the boulder field gorgeous beyond compare."
 * 15 Lilith said, "No, Teacher I found it to be an ugly scar on the land. I'm sorry I have failed you. I cannot tell you why this place is so beautiful."
 * 16 Michael smiled gently at Lilith’s discomposure and said "You have not failed me, dear disciple. Words have failed you."10
 * 1 When Abram’s father Terah died Melchizedek was sent to Earth once more to complete his errand and bring Abram into a covenant relationship with Elyon.
 * 2 The covenant was accompanied with a name change. Abram means 'the father is exalted' which had glorified Terah rather than his son. In the ritual sealing the covenant Melchizedek changed his name to Abraham, which means 'father of many nations'.
 * 3 The Abrahamic Covenant was sealed when Melchizedek took a cow, a goat, and a ram and split their carcasses in two. Then a floating grill and a floating torch passed between those pieces. After that, Abraham, his wife, his son, and all his servants passed between them.
 * 4 By this ritual Abraham told Elyon, 'If I ever break faith with you, may I be cut in half like these animals.'
 * 5 Previously Abraham's worship of Elyon had been a personal devotion. All of the interactions had occurred solely between Abraham and Elyion and were mediated through the Ophan Melchizedek. Sarah embraced Elyon because she loved Abraham and she was his wife. Abraham's servants embraced Elyon simply because Abram was their master.
 * 6 But with the introduction of circumcision the worship of Elyon became corporate worship, something embedded in the culture rather than a personal choice. Even infant males were circumcised. Anyone not circumcised was cut off from the people, so to speak.
 * 7 But there was a benefit to circumcision not intended by Samael when he demanded the practice as his attempt to sabotage the testing. Circumcised men were chafed day and night. They lasted longer during lovemaking and that resulted in a happy lady who was less likely to commit adultery.
 * 8 When Abraham’s son was about fourteen years of age Melchizedek said to his father, “Take now your son Yishak and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will show to you.”
 * 9 And the countenance of Abraham fell. At first he searched the face of Melchizedek, guessing it was a bad joke. Then he suspected the Ophan had gone insane. He was tempted to refuse outright as he did once before in Harran. After that he considered offering a defense of his son.
 * 10 In the end Abraham remembered the covenant, and his affirmation of loyalty to the one he knew as Elyon. Melchizidek says this Elyon now requires the life of his son? So be it. “Let my word be true. I will obey my God, even though I find his demands to be hateful.”
 * 11 When all was ready Abraham left his flocks grazing on the plains nigh to the coast. There he left his wife and all his servants. With Yishak at his side they were led by Melchizedek east among treeless hills with the Killing Relic as surety against any who would waylay them.
 * 12 On the first night, Melchizedek asked Abraham to look at the stars and see if he could count them. “So shall your descendants be,” said he. There are only four thousand stars visible to the unaided eye but Abraham got the point. Elyon would bestow upon him much progeny.13 For his part Abraham agreed to have only Elyon as God and trust that she would always do what she said she would do. It was the first covenant made between the divine and the mortal on something of an equal basis.
 * 14 Abraham possessed many animals and great riches. He was already living in the golden age as far as he was concerned, and did not pine away for an afterlife. Abraham was living a full life and he accepted that he was mortal like everything else in the world.
 * 15 The only thing remaining that Elyon could give Abraham was the assurance that his name and his blood would be carried into the future by a people who would live in the land he had been promised.
 * 16 Two days and three nights passed but they had seen no game along the way. When they drew near to Mount Moriah and Melchizedek pointed out the hill to them. Yishak asked, “Where is the animal for the offering?”
 * 17 Melchizedek said nothing and glanced at Abraham.Abraham deflected this question, yet he could not bring himself to lie to his son. He said, rather, “God himself will provide the animal.”
 * 18 Yishak was excited to see what sort of beast God was going to bring for the sacrifice and he ran ahead up the hill with youthful energy. Abraham said to Melchizedek, “When it is time you will help me restrain my son.”
 * 19 They caught up with the boy on the hilltop and Yishak called out, 'Father, there's nothing here!”
 * 20 Abraham had a length of rope and was tying loops in it. He said, 'Join me here son, and help with this.' Thus distracted, Melchizadek took the opportunity to seize the boy.
 * 21 Yishak didn't cry out at first because he didn't even understand what was happening until Abraham and Melchizedek had lashed him securely to a flat boulder that would serve as the altar. Abraham would never forget his son's utter terror and the betrayal he must have felt.
 * 22 After that Abraham didn't need to work up the will to slay his own son, he was actually in a hurry to do it. Each instant the helpless Yishak lay in mortal terror of his own father tore at his heart. Abraham couldn't stand it.  Melchizedek was barely in time to restrain him.
 * 23 Melchizedek shouted, “Enough! Do not harm the boy!” To be certain, Melchizedek used the Killing Relic to cut the lad free once more.
 * 24 Yishak stood at a safe distance and watched his father's face work through a storm of dark emotions. At length Abraham said, “So. A day of testing?”
 * 25 Melchizedek nodded in the affirmative. “It is a day that will not be forgotten while cold and heat, seed-time and harvest remain. God knows now that you will not even withhold your only son from him.”
 * 26 Abraham longed to embrace Yishak but saw how the boy stood well away. Abraham said, “Could there not have been another way?”
 * 27 Melchizedek said, “It would be difficult to explain the full background of the controversy, but know that the enemy of man has made certain claims and God has chosen you and your descendants to answer them.”28 Abraham lamented, “What I dread most of all is answering the hard questions of my wife after Yishak has spoken to her of all this, which he undoubtedly will.”
 * 29 Even as he spoke a fold-door appeared on the hilltop and the crack of a whip was heard. A ram rushed through the opening. With one smooth stroke of the Killing Relic’s immaterial black shaft Melchizedek separated the head and body of the animal as it emerged from the bubble.
 * 4 Lilith went on to say, “When the thought of dying has already been accepted, this frees the yan of war to focus only on fighting. Thus she retains her life. Keeping her life, she gains victory. Gaining victory, she preserves the life of the people she protects."
 * 5 Raphaela asked, "Your Royal Highness, why have you ordered the Fallen Angels to make camp this plain, and thereby allowed Zadkiel to seize the high ground that is nigh at hand?"
 * 30 Melchizekek stepped inside the bubble and said to Abraham, “I will return to Earth when Yishak is of age to have his own wife.” Then the fold-door winked out of existence and Melchizedek was gone with it.
 * 6 Lilith said, "In the battle that will be fought here, Raphael, we are only the guest, and Zadkiel is the host. Therefore I yield the hill of honor to him and accept this lower station."
 * 31 And Yishak knew his father's words to him earlier had been true. God really had provided the sacrificial animal as Abraham promised. The boy began to trust his father once more. He returned to the hilltop and helped his father make a burnt offering of the ram to Elyon.
 * 7 Raphaela objected, "But he can see our entire force at one glance, while we cannot know what strength he has hidden behind the ridge!" 11
 * 1 In the days of King Melchiyahu when war was come to the city of Salem and Michael was captive of Hashmal Zadkiel, Ophan Lilith instructed her chief lieutenant Raphaela in what Michael said was ‘War the Way Water Flows’.
 * 2 And Raphaela said, “Your Royal Highness, I know you have fought in countless battles. How did you survive all of them?”
 * 3 Lilith replied, "A coward thinks only of his personal survival. Thus he endangers himself and his entire force. But a yan of war advances on the battlefield already reconciled with death. She goes into battle as though she were certainly doomed to die.
 * 8 Lilith said, "Ah, but Raphaela, that would only be important if we were the attacker. In that case we would tire ourselves fighting uphill and possibly be surprised by hidden forces waiting to ambush. Instead, my army is like water, dwelling in the low places considered of negligable value."
 * 9 Raphaela shook her head. "I fail to see the advantage in that, Your Royal Highness."
 * 10 Lilith said, "Is not water itself vital if the people are to live? Do the people not seek it out in wells and rivers and even swamps? It is certain Zadkiel will come to us. By our mere continued presence on this plain Zadkiel will begin to covet this plain."11 Raphaela said, "But Your Royal Highness, we are ringed by hills all around. When Zadkiel attacks, we will not know from which direction he will come!"
 * 12 Lilith said, "Yes, Raphaela, but his forces are spread like a ring all around us while we have interior lines of communication. Anywhere he attacks I can order reinforcements within minutes, and anywhere I counterattack he will be weak. Do you see, dear disciple, why we humble ourselves by keeping to the low land?"
 * 13 And Raphaela said, “Excellent.” 12
 * 1 Lilith said "Only the outward actions of the yan of war can be observed, never her guarded inner core. A warrioress takes care."
 * 2 Raphaela said, “Your Royal Highness, before I make an assertion, I always take care to qualify it with, 'I may be wrong about this, but...' or 'I'm not really certain, but...' or ‘This will probably sound stupid, but...’”
 * 3 Lilith said, "That is not what I mean by protecting your center, Raphael. You do not even realize it, but with such self-effacing language as you describe, you are really playing down your intelligence in order to gain acceptance from the opposite sex."
 * 4 Raphaela said "Your Royal Higness, are saying that mincing words is not true humility, but actually a form of display?"
 * 5 Lilith said, "Yes! And when your tentative speech becomes a habit, you begin to automatically think bad of yourself. This serves only to perpetrate the dominance that len enjoy over yan which is reinforced by physical strength and by law.
 * 6 Raphaela said, “This will to dominate that you mention, Your Royal Highness, is that why len love combat so much?"
 * 7 Lilith said "For so long as a child is growing and filling out his potential he remains a child. His limits remain unknown to him until they are reached and even exceeded somewhat. Combat can be the crisis by which len come to complete their potentential and obtain maturity."
 * 8 Lilith went on to say, "But for yen maturity is attained in a very practical and natural way: motherhood. It is a yan's essential nature to make herself still, return to her root, and embrace her center. So even without the experience of motherhood, women are naturally mature. The yan of war has no need to reach out and test herself until she knows her breaking point."
 * 9 Raphaela said, “I suppose, Your Royal Highess, that while len are on their personal quest to find their limits they can be enlisted in vainglorious campaigns to defend the honor of warlords and kings who themselves never attained maturity, and many of these len die.”
 * 10 Lilith said, “None of that is important to the yan of war. She is interested, rather, only in the survival and well-being of the people she protects."
 * 11 And Raphaela said, "Excellent." 13
 * 1 Raphaela said, "Your Royal Highness, you have been gracious to instruct me in the way of Elyon, but many of the Fallen Angels have remarked that you a yan of very few words."2 Lilith said, “The chatter of ordinary yenb flows from their nature, Raphaela, but the silence of a yen of war flows from her understanding. When you release a flood of words, there is a greater chance that you may inadvertently utter something that you did not intend to say, and this will reveal your foolishness to all."
 * 3 Raphaela objected, "But if the wise speak like fools then they are fools.”
 * 4 Lilith said, "A foolish yan may be considered wise if she simply closes her lips. Long ago before men and women were brought to heaven people walked the way of Elyon and they did what needed to be done with few words. Then they invented writing and recordkeeping and they recorded what they saw as history.
 * 5 “Today, few still walk the path laid out by Elyon, so we are overrun by speechmakers and long-winded politicians with their solutions for this or that crisis, when all of their problems can be solved by letting things freely reach their natural balance."
 * 6 Raphaela said, "But in that event, Your Royal Highess, the politicians would not get credit for saving the day, and people would begin to think such parasites were not needed at all."
 * 7 And Lilith said, "You have hit very close to the mark, Raphaela."
 * 8 Raphaela asked, "Can a yan oif war still be loving?"
 * 9 Lilith said, "We have the 'loving' to identify someone loves, and to distinguish them people who hate, because in dark age we have many people hate." name who from this who
 * 10 Raphaela asked, "Has hatred not always been with us, Your Royal Highness?"
 * 11 Lilith said, "Long ago everyone loved, so the word 'loving' did not yet exist. Love was as abundant as the air we breath, or like the water a fish lives and moves in. Only the absence of love demanded the invention of the word 'loving' to describe those who still held to my path."
 * 12 Raphaela asked, "Could the same be said of the wise, or the honest, or the just?”
 * 13 Lilith nodded in the affirmative. “As more and more people fell away from the way of Elyon, the names for more and more virtues began to appear, where before there had been only formless innocence. The yan of war sets her foot on the path to return to that."
 * 14 Raphaela said, "Then it seems that to be a yen of war is to set yourself apart from all other yen, not to mention apart from all len and jen and men."
 * 15 Lilith said, "This is true, Raphael, but not from a desire to be elite, but only because a yan of war clings to her inner nature while others flutter about chasing their illusions." 14
 * 1 Raphaela asked, “Your Royal Highness, is it misguided to seek the truth?"
 * 2 Lilith said, "It is wasted effort to seek the truth, Raphaela. While others run around looking for external truths, the yan of war cultivates the way of Elyon, which brings her mind naturally into accordance with the way things are."2 Raphaela said, “I think, Your Royal Highess, that frequently when the people running to and fro it is simply so they can continue their own livelihood."
 * 3 Lilith replied, "People lead busy lives because they perceive their wants as needs, so their needs become endless. Being a yan of war means having a good sense of priorities. Her needs are relatively few, and her desires are almost nonexistent, so she appears calm and contemplative."
 * 4 Raphaela said, "Your Royal Higness, if the way of Elyon is about always simplifying things, should I not start by ignoring authority figures?"
 * 5 Lilith answered, "That is a good beginning. Power attracts people who are more interested in expanding and clinging to that power rather than nourishing their mind in the way of Elyon."
 * 6 Raphaela said, "Then, Your Royal Highness, what would you say if I also, in the name of simplifying my life, began ignoring you?"
 * 7 Lilith said, "That is a good direction in which to continue, Raphael. Individual people, even one such as I, may not truly be in harmony with the way of Elyon despite their claims to the contrary. But now the way of Elyon has taken root in Heaven, so all the people, taken in aggregate, cannot help but be in harmony with that path."
 * 8 Raphaela asked, "So if I take all the people as my teacher, I cannot go wrong?"
 * 9 Lilith said "That is most assuredly true, Raphaela. Individual leaders or teachers mayhave ambitions, and so depart from the way of Elyon. But the common people lack ambition. Here in Salem and even in distant Rammon they have embraced the preaching of Michael and live in natural simplicity precisely in accordance with that path." 15
 * 1 Raphaela said, “Look at that, Your Royal Highness! Ten times ten thousand arrayed against us! Did you ever see such a host?"
 * 2 Lilith said, "A large force does not assure the enemy a victory, Raphael. What are the stakes? They are fighting to restore Salem as a taxpaying province in the empire. But our people can barely made do as things stand now.  Paying the ‘worship’ tribute to the Eyes of Samael would starve them. They are fighting to survive."
 * 3 Raphaela objected, "But that is the hashmalim Zadkiel and Bezaliel over there!"
 * 4 Lilith said, "And they hate each other more than they hate us, Raphael. They only joined together against me only because Samael wills it."
 * 5 Raphaela said, "But under them are the most famous erelim and sarim in House Gerash!"
 * 6 Lilith said, "And how did they get so famous, Raphael? By their reckless aggression. If I present my shock troops to them as bait they will rush out to engage them, thinking how this will advance their reputation."
 * 7 Raphaela said, "But behind them are the best fed and best trained soldiers in Heaven!"8 Lilith said, "But they aren't fighting for their wives or cities or farms in Italy, they are fighting to prop up a bankrupt culture and a fragile slave economy.
 * 9 Raphaela said, "Your Royal Highness, help me to understand how we, numbering in our thousands, can hope to prevail against our enemies numbering in tens of thousands?"
 * 10 Lilith said, "A light commando force wreaking havoc behind enemy lines will tie down a much greater force hunting for it. A small army that is still and rested with have the better of a large army that is worn out marching double-time to meet it."
 * 11 Raphaela said, "But there must be a limit to how small a unit can be before it is ineffective no matter how intelligently it is employed."
 * 12 Lilith nodded in agreement. She said, "Too light, and we invite aggression. Too heavy, and our army becomes unwieldy. A commander in harmony with the way of Elyon coordinates the small with the great, the strong with the weak, the eager with the reticent, balancing opposites to attain the middle path."
 * 13 “I will unleash the extraordinary force. When they see the carnage wrought by the Fallen Angels, they will hesitate. And in that moment my father the king will strike with the main force. Salem must prevail because the army is humble. Our soldiers and the officers who lead them do not think of self- aggrandizement of the aggrandizement of the state."
 * 14 And Raphaela said, "Excellent." 16
 * 1 In the aftermath of the battle when King Melchiyahu won the field Raphaela said, "There are reports of parties making their way back east under cover of the night, m'Lady."
 * 2 Lilith said, "We have Zadkiel and Bezaliel nearly surrounded. They are facing the prospect of slow starvation. Yet I have left one escape route open, inviting him to retire. What is now a trickle out the back door will become a flood.  Never engage in slaughter for the sake of slaughter, dear Raphaela."
 * 3 Raphaela rejoiced, and said, “Happy is the city that thinks of war in times of peace!”
 * 4 Lilith answered, "And wise is the yan who immerses herself in military lore. But make no mistake, dear disciple. Happiness has nothing to do with it. Combat is the worst experience the dwellers of Heavan can ever experience.”
 * 5 Raphaela said, "And Your Royal Highness, what of these vainglorious thrill-seekers we often hear about, who claim to love warfare?"
 * 6 Lilith said, "They are either lying and have never tasted actual combat, or their mind has failed them."