A Gnostic Gospel

What if the Gnostics were right?
What if the Orthodox were wrong?
What if yhwh is an evil being?
Deranged, deluded, depraved, defiled.
An accidental being, born of wisdom unknowing.

What if the waking world is the nightmare
and the nightmare reality?

Yaldabaoth against Sabaoth
Sabaoth, the God of War.
Lord of Death.
Drinker of Blood.
Murderer of beloved Children.
Tormentor of Fathers.
Hater of Women.
Lord of Hate.

Beelzebaal, lord of the Baals
Beelzebub, lord of the flies.
A hebrew pun!

We are not amused.

Wisdom alone has not the powers to defeat him.
Only the highest one has that power,
who has many names.
eldest
elyon
he who sleeps.

Beelzebub
Fear is his sword
his armor
his shield.

What if the christ
was a messenger from Sofia?
Who sought to keep yhwh
confined within the temple
to keep those who knew not the secrets
from getting too close
close enough for yhwh
to touch their minds
to mislead them into error
like he had hezekiah and josiah.

And saul of tarsus.

Deceive the beast and lose him in the desert,
was that moses' hope?
Chain him within the mount
and let him be forgotten,
was that solomons?

What happened in Babylon?
With what did ezra and nehemiah return?
All those years waiting, weeping,
there by the waters of Babylon
amongst the Court of Babylon
speaking with the wise of Babylon
learning from the wizards of Babylon
reading the stories of Babylon.

Who were they exactly, those priests, who returned from Babylon?
Memories of Sumer, Akkad.
What did the Persians, unknowing,
loose upon a weary world?

The thread is broken in many places
the various conflicting stories compiled
interpolated
edited
obscured
obfuscated.

Like tracks in the desert
you follow them until the wind blows,
and they vanish
in the wind.

Who slew Goliath?
David?
Or El-hannan.

How, and when, did Saul meet David?

Who or what did they bring back from Babylon?

Did they bring the evil one to Jerusalem from Babylon?
Or did they merely release an evil
that was already there.

Colloquy

They are the pillars
which uphold the world.
The ten righteous ones.
They deny me my rule.
They deny me my power.
So long as they live,
my victory is denied.

Shall we hunt them then?

We do hunt them.

the three
the seven
the ten 
the twelve.

First -
we must find them.
Sofia scatters them
randomly about.
first here,
then there.
She is wise,
but also clever.

How then shall we find them?

Patience.

Patience.

The key has been hidden.
The book has been hidden.
The word has been hidden.
The truth has been hidden.

How then shall we enter?

The temple has been destroyed.

Yes, but it cost you Saul.

And it cost them Peter.
Joshua, Yeshua, are they not one and the same?

I  don't understand.

You think I must first find the key,
to open the gate.

But the key is hidden.

True, true, the key is hidden.
And without the key, 
I cannot open the gate

And the three
the seven
the ten
the twelve
are they not the wall?

Joshua, Yeshua, are they not one and the same?

Joshua brought you to that place

Yes, that barren land, locked inside that box,
across the river, flowing water.

Yeshua bar Joseph, 
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
But who saved the people from my famine?

Joseph.

Yeshua bar Joseph,
or,
Yeshua bar Yhwh,
or,
Yeshua bar Nun.

So the stories go.

But I know the truth,
I always know the truth,
because I made up the stories.

The stories are yours.

Yes, the stories are mine. You see, lies work best when they are based in truth.

Still, there is the wall, and there is only one key to the gate, and it is hidden.

Yes

So how? How will you get the key?

Joshua, Yeshua, are they not one and the same?

But the key?

If one first destroys the wall,
one need not use,
the gate.

The Temple by any other name would smell as sweet.

Before solomon 
before the temple on the mount
there in jerusalem
where yhwh would dwell
in thick darkness

god of israel
or prisoner

There
where abdi heba had been
appointed to rule
all those years ago
writing to akhenaten
who read the notes
as he sat by a reflecting pool
in the cool of the evening
amidst the fragrant lotus blossoms
and the lilies
with his children at his feet
(for he was a loving father)
in his new desert city
there in the east
abdi heba, abdi heba, he would sigh
whining about his neighbors
and their disrespect to pharaoh
and their generally disreputable behavior

oh little jerusalem
garrison town
the back of beyond
a place of no import
and little value

for let us not forget
there was a time before yhwh
and his temple on the mount
many years
before yhwh dared
declare himself
the one god

many years when shaddai
wandered the desert
bound to the mountains of sinai
(by his fathers curse)
beyond which he dared not tread
having incurred the wrath of his father
elyon
husband and lover of asherah
who divided the world
between their many sons
the sons of elyon and asherah
allotting to each his bounds
and borders
(as is spoken of in deuteronomy)
then elyon rested
and his mind dwelt elsewhere
and his gaze became inward
and his thoughts deep

and so
sophia lost her way

so it was that
the sons of god found the daughters of men
fair to look upon
and so desired them
(was it not ever thus?)
siring then a race of giants
men of renown

but shaddai 
(who was not yet el nor yhwh)
did not desire
the daughters of men
desired not
the gifts of his father
nor the love of his mother
rather
shaddai desired
power
above all else
and over all others

so when he rebeled
elyon bound him to the mountain
there in the desert
alone.

There did shaddai brood 
upon how he would be revenged
upon his father
and his fathers creation
until one day he found a way
to loose the words
which bound him there
for his father slept
and the sons scattered to other places
other worlds
and the giants died 
and asherah? 
perhaps she took a different form,
or not.
and so shaddai was left
the one god
king of the mountain
who would be
king of the world

So freed
he descended upon egypt
like the plague

It is said that when vespasian
destroyed the temple in jerusalem
he had the stones shipped
to rome
bits and pieces
bits and pieces
where he used them to build
the coliseum
so the stones of the temple
where men had slaughtered animals
to feed an angry god
became the stones of the temple
where animals slaughtered
the children of men
to sate an angry crowd
The children of yhwhs jailors
the three pillars
the seven followers
the ten righteous men
and the twelve

for what is a temple
but a prison for a god
great as yhwh

If one cannot destroy ones enemies
then one must seek to find a way
to make ones enemies
destroy themselves.

Two men, upon The Great Bridge

What is this place?

I don't really know.

Two men stand on The Great Bridge, looking out across The City. There is a cold breeze blowing, but it is impossible to determine from which direction. The sky this time is burnt umber, the City sepia and grey.

Silence -

Time passing -

Am I dead?

No.

So at least this isn't hell....

Both men say "Ha."

Not hell, no. Maybe someplace worse. I don't know.

You know this place?

I guess. When I was a child I used to dream of it. At least I thought they were just dreams. It was much smaller then, it's grown over the years.

Time passing -

There has never been another person here before.

Never?

Almost never. When I was younger, I would just have thought I was dreaming you. Now? I don't know.

Time passing -

The Cathedral is new you see. It isn't something I would... I would dream. Have Dreamed. Thought of. Considered.

Not a fan of the church?

Never gave it much thought. One way or the other. It seemed... unnecessary to my life. Pointless really.
You don't feel like a priest.

No?

No. More like a soldier. Special Ops, SEAL, something like that. I've known a few of those, you... you have that... aura. confidence. Not very priest like at all.

Not even in the cassock?

No.

I was, for a while. Now I'm a soldier for christ.

Ha.

Old joke. -  How far does it go? The City.

Sometimes I think by now it must go on forever. When I... when it was just a dream, when it started, it was just a crossroad, a few buildings on the four corners, some lights. Back then sometimes I saw people. I thought they were people. I would run towards the buildings, but, I could never get there. They were always one street away. I don't remember when the people disappeared. I used to think they were people. Now I'm not so sure. Then the lights went away.

Time passing -

Mostly it's night. sometimes it's like now, not night, not day, maybe all grey, or brown. Never any real color.

The City of Night.

The City of Night.

Were you afraid?

Afraid?

When you saw... it?

Ah....

Time passing -

I was in the sanctuary. Approaching the altar, just checking things out. The neighborhood isn't the best.
There had been a... death in the sanctuary.

Ah. A desecration.

Yes. An elderly parishioner. It was brutal. I found the body.

Time passing -

The detectives said there are... criminals... psychopaths, that collect... they called them trophies.

Like some soldiers in Viet Nam and Afghanistan.

Like some soldiers in every war. When you're fighting, the line between sane and crazy can get a little blurry. Especially if you don't, can't, understand your enemy.

What did this, criminal, collect?

Eyes.

Ah.

From somewhere, it sounded like it might have been underground, far beneath them, beneath The Great Bridge, came a sound like great hammers pounding, forging a massive billet for an unknown purpose.

I don't know what that sound is. I suspect The City extends down beneath the surface for miles. But I've never found an entrance. Or awakened there. It might happen sometime. I don't know.

So you say I... we're, not in either hell or heaven? Purgatory? Limbo.

No one can pray us out of here if that's what you're asking. Lighting candles won't help.

It was a thought.

they smile.

Well then, I'll take your word for it that I'm not dead.

No, I think I can guarantee you're not dead... Yet.

That's a small comfort.

Very small.

Doggerel 2

Sofia touched a tree within the garden
which lies between the rivers to the west
where el shaddai the master of deception
would walk in the cool evenings for his rest

within the tree sofia planted wisdom
beginning the beginning of the end
a way for shaddai's slaves to find their freedom
for in those days the serpent was their friend

Oh shaddai yes your mother would destroy you
who realized her error far too late
that those who you created must adore you
or suffer at your hands a dreadful fate

While eldest sleeps you play the squire of gothos
with the souls of Aeons as your toys
petty vengeful jealous are you to those.
that which you can't create you must destroy.

On earth you dwelt concealed within thick darkness
when solomon had trapped you in his snare
almost escaped when josiah in his weakness
listened to your lies caught unaware

The romans burned your temple yes your prison
and from your bonds you managed to escape
You corrupted all the words of the new risen
condemning all mankind to a dark fate

But still the ten uphold the revelation
remember yet the true ancient of days
the three await, the twelve remaining hidden
for the chosen one to find a way

The three shall cross the plain beyond the city
the one shall find the key to loose the chain
within the book, the seal, beyond that country
the land of darkness, dry land without rain

Sonnet 14

That Saul should walk the long Damascus Road
to persecute the followers of he,
who Saul condemned, he, yhwh's sacred goad,
against that man who died upon the tree.
This son of david, fatherless. Unknown
by those who keep the flame and burn the meat.
Descendant son of the usurper sown,
new Saul, this son of david will defeat.
So whispers yhwh softly in saul's ear,
thus yhwh strikes saul blind upon the way.
yhwh lord of darkness, lord of fear,
blinds paul unto the wisdom of The Way.
So second saul shall david's son defeat,
and all shall end when they a third time meet.

The Needle

From the dome
high above
a thread of finest silk
finer than that spun
by the smallest spider
Dainty daughter of Arachne
tick tick tick

A Silver needle
suspended
in the center
of the labyrinth
the omphalos
the nave

The point
where the light
through the rose window
high above
tracery shadows
center on the center
tick tick tick

the tip sharp
taps the stone
where the two arms meet

does she wait above?
fishing for souls?
I will make you
fishers of men...
My son,
this is how you do it,
see?
up (quickly)
down (slowly)
up
down
up
down

the thread vibrates
shimmers the light
of the non moon
not shining
in the empty sky
above the city
of night

Sleeping there
below the altar
two men dreaming
do the men dream the city?
or does the city dream the men?

Christ has left his cross
and is nowhere to be seen
the crown of thorns
floats empty above the altar
blood stains the floor beneath
stains the altar
the monstrance
the host

Smoke rising from the embers
of the shattered door
drifts slowly
toward the needles tip
glittering in the
light
of the black moon
tick tick tick

Saul, you killed my brother
a voice whispers
in the minds of the dreamers
they see
the white bird
the dove
falling

bloody footprints
trace the path
step by step
to the center
of the labyrinth

the needles point
wrapped in smoke
sinks through the floor
through the center
the omphalos
the knave
the sacred heart
pierces the sleeping mind
of eldest

father...

awake.