Animals – All life forms are intelligences. The nature of the life form is determined by the manner in which the intelligence chooses to interact with its environment. The type of “sentience” humans regard as intelligence is generally the result of angelic intervention; but it is not superior in any objective sense to the intelligence of animals, who have found equally successful, if very different, ways of interacting with their environments. In fact, “sentience” is essentially nothing more than a form of subservience. It merely suits humans to obey commands given them, to seek validation and meaning externally, rather than to determine for themselves what their own interests are and how best to further them. Animals in many ways “see” the unseen world more clearly, with a clearer sense of their own needs and interests and their relationship to “outsiders.” It is why animals are more sensitive to spirits, demons, ghosts, angels, etc. Angels have generally underestimated the power of animal spirits, regarding them as inferior (i.e., unsuitable for service). (See intelligences.)

Authority, Earthly – Civilization, with all its attendant glories and discontents, is an utterly critical component of the angelic system. First of all, the whole concept of human authority derives historically from heavenly authority, reinforcing in the minds and souls of all those who fall under its sway just what is required in order for the angelic system to work. Secondly, the injustices perpetrated under human systems of authority prod their denizens to strive for something better, and to turn to religion as a source of solace, thus creating a never-ending cycle wedding human existence to the angelic system. Earthly governments, like churches, are supervised by sub-ministries that report to the Ministry of Dogma. Just as each sect has a sub-minister, so does each nation, government, political party, and revolutionary movement.

Authority, Ecclesiastical – The keys granted to various religious institutions must, of necessity, seem eternal and absolute, but they are naturally limited in scope. They can certainly never transcend the authority of the angelic sub-minister from whom they were received. There have occasionally been intense conflicts over the appropriate jurisdiction of certain ecclesiastical keys, sometimes between sects, but especially over the human auxiliaries needed to assist the Ministry of Defense (under Michael’s jurisdiction) or the Ministry of Death (under Samael’s jurisdiction). Such conflicts have usually been due to the fact that church leaders have been kept necessarily ignorant of the doings of such auxiliaries. See schisms.

Authority, Heavenly – Human conceptions of heavenly authority may vary depending on the sect to which they adhere, but all “revealed” religions (i.e., those directly established through angelic intermediary) are united in seeing Heaven as superior. Heavenly authority is the model/inspiration for earthly authority under the majority of human governments, which derive their legitimacy in varying degrees from some concept of theocracy, “divine right” or “one nation under god.” True democracy (a concept of earthly authority derived from the power of people to govern themselves) is an endemic danger, which the Ministry of Dogma must periodically work hard to stem.

Council of Earth – The Council of Earth operates according a very intricate and ancient system of rules and traditions in which rights and order are determined by rank and keys. Though presumably the purpose of the council is to ascertain by consensus the will of the entire gathered council, in practice members of the council with greater rank, keys and power are typically able to dominate the agenda and influence the lesser thrones.

• The Gathering of the Council. The gathering of the Council is designated for a particular sunset. Two sunsets before, Dominations may begin to gather. No more Dominations are admitted after the following sunset, when Thrones (and higher ranking angels arrive). After the sunset of the designated gathering time, the Chief of the Council may deny admittance to Thrones; it is left to her discretion. It is customary for angels of higher rank than a Throne to arrive after the designated time of gathering; they cannot be denied admittance, as it is their prerogative to arrive whenever they wish. The Council begins when the Council Chief declares that the convocation has begun. She may do so no earlier than the designated gathering time, but may do so considerably later. If it is known that an angel of rank higher than Throne is attending, the Council Chief must delay the beginning of the convocation until they arrive. If a visiting emissary of the Heavenly City of higher rank than the chief of the council is present, it is customary for the Council Chief to offer to let the emissary preside.
• Witnessing. Dominations may not speak on the Council, but they play the all-important role of "witnessing" the proceedings. Dominations may prevent a council from occurring if none arrive to play this function.
• Rules of Order. An angelic council could last a very long time. By the ancient rules, the right to speak was accorded in order of rank, starting with the chief of the council. If there was no proposal before the Council, a throne could either pass or offer a proposal. Once a proposal was offered, the order of speaking began again with the chief of the council. When a proposal was under discussion, a throne's only options were to speak for or against the proposal, or to pass. A throne was always allowed to surrender his or her right to speak to any other throne of his or her choosing. When a proposal was being discussed, once every throne had been offered an opportunity to speak at least once, the order of speaking began again with the council chief. Each throne could either speak further for or against the proposal, or who could request a vote. As soon as a vote was requested, the order of speaking immediately passed to the council chief again. The council chief could at that point require a vote, or she could invite the council to speak for or against voting. If the latter, two thirds of the council had to speak in favor of voting in order to require a vote. Thus, once more than one third of the thrones had opposed a vote, the order of speaking would return to the council chief again, and no further vote could be requested until there had been an entire new round of speaking. A majority of the council had to speak in favor of a proposal in order for it to pass, and if the council chief voted against a proposal, it automatically failed. Unless, that is, it was a vote to depose the council chief.

Council of Earth, Chieftancy – There have been five presiding administrators in the history of Earth. The first and by far longest reigning was Kerkoutha, Throne of Africa, from about 1 million B.C. until 1000 B.C., the same year as the crownging of King David. Second was Yefehfiah, Throne of Israel, who reigned in the council until 336 B.C., the same year as the accession of Alexander to the throne of Macedonia. Javan, the Hellenic Throne, ruled the council until 30 B.C., the year of the death of Cleopatra. Fourth was Iameth, Throne of Rome, who ruled the council until 2001 A.D., when Orion, Throne of America, replaced her.

Creation, Demonic critique of the Genesis accounts of – The Angelic version of creation describes all things as having been created by God in a time immemorial, beyond the ken even of the Angels. The two Genesis accounts relay the Angelic version of the creation as revealed to humanity by two different ministries, for different purposes. It is not certain how the first account made it into the canon, since only official Ministry of Dogma accounts belong there – probably an overly zealous scribe who managed to put his hands on an arcane document belonging to a sect under the Ministry of Defense's jurisdiction. Demonic theories of the creation are, of course, too many and varied, and too poorly documented, to provide complete accounts of all of them. However, most of them reject the notion of a unitary creation accomplished by a single God of gods.

• The first Genesis creation account (Gen. 1:1 – 2:3) was the version revealed by the Ministry of Defense to describe the relationship between the terrestrial order and the divine order.
  • This account describes God speaking light into being, and then separating the light from the darkness. But even the angelic account acknowledges the existence of darkness antedating the creation of light; and it is within the darkness, within the places not penetrated by light, that renewing, "recreating" processes take place, namely, the cycle of death and rebirth. Every demon is aware of this cycle, which points to the incompleteness of the Genesis accounts and the lie contained in the words "in the beginning."
  • The organization of matter through the separation of land from water and through the creation of plant life and celestial bodies similarly represents an imposition of order upon a pre-existing, more ancient chaos ("the earth was without form and void").
  • The "firmament" is a wall setting the confines of planetary existence under the angelic order. It entraps daemons within planetary spheres over which the order of heaven rules, preventing contact with the outside cosmos.
  • The emergence of life from within the "waters" is a natural emanation of the chaos, part of the normal cosmic pendulum swing from chaos to order and back to chaos again. In the case of colonized worlds, life is engineered and cultivated so as to facilitate the harvest of souls/life energy and the natural balance is disrupted. The creation of man "in the image of God" represents the culmination of this artificial process.
  • The ordination of plant life as "meat" for animal life – with no mention of animal eating animal – again represents an imposition of the angelic order toward the end of conservation of soul energy so as to enrich the angelic harvest. For living things eating living things – both animal and plant – is the natural order of things.
  • The numerology of creation (1 = creation of light; 2 = building of the planetary firmament which divides the cosmos into "above" and "below"; 3 = organization of matter below the firmament to facilitate cultivation; 4 = organization of matter above the firmament to facilitate rule of the angelic order [including the numerological coding that would make effective control possible]; 5 = cultivation of primitive life; 6 = cultivation of advanced life, including man [concentrating soul into "god-like" receptacles]; 7 = harvest and enjoyment of the fruit of one's labors) grants keys to the order of heaven. But remember that the 0 (chaos and darkness) predates all of these, and is the key to their undoing.
• The second Genesis creation account (Gen. 2:4 ff.) was the version revealed by the Ministry of Dogma to assist in the inculcation of proper hierarchical relationships.
  • Here the formula for humanity is described as a carapace of mud in which the anima (the breath of life) is entrapped.

Daemons – Daemons are extremely powerful intelligences born from stars, novas, quasars, and other such galactic phenomena, and capable of traveling through the cosmos and effectively manipulating the space-time continuum. (See intelligences.) Note that the term “daemon” should not be confused with “demon,” which carries a connotation of malevolence.

Death – Death is, properly speaking, nothing more than a transformation from one state to another. However, there are different kinds and varying degrees of death, only some of which permit continuity of individual consciousness, memory, and "personality" after the transformation to a new state. It is survival of the will, a distinct element within a spirit, that determines whether such continuity can be preserved.

There are three primary elements that are destroyed or transformed by death (see also Matter, Spirit and Soul):

• Matter. Referred to by angels as "mud," the dense, bulky, insensate stuff we recognize as the primary constituent of the "physical world." This is the stuff acted upon by spirit. But it also acts upon spirit that tries to interact with it. If non-material elements do not unite with it, they can do nothing but remain inert, unable to interact with anything. But matter has the effect of calming and dulling that which is not matter, making it insensate like itself.
• Will. A non-material force which is capable of communicating between passion and matter. It cannot itself control or move matter without passion. It imprints the relationships between matter and passion on itself, creating what we refer to as memory. Of the three elements, this is the most resistant to transformation. As the smallest quantities of will are capable of imprinting vast quantities of information, even after transformation, it is possible that fragments live on and get incorporated into other beings. (This is how, for instance, "past life" memories are preserved. Of course it is possible for a relatively large number of individuals to incorporate different memories from the same past life, depending on how the will of that life was transformed.)
• Passion. The force that moves and animates matter.

Death resulting in the transformation of matter or passion or both, but leaving some remnant of will can allow some continuity in a "next life," as the will is capable of using the imprint from its previous relationships with matter and passion to recreate a new, similar configuration. Will that is partially transformed results in partial loss of memory or personality, and will deny continuity to the individual spirit.

Demonic activity – There are three very different types of activities that are categorized as demonic. First are those which it is under the purview of Michael, Minister of Defense, to interdict, i.e., interventions by Daemons who have not submitted themselves to the Heavenly hierarchy (outsiders or renegades). Second are those perpetrated by humans who defy the angelic order. Of this second type, there are two sub-categories: A) those perpetrated by living humans (sorcerors, witches, shamans, etc.), which are suppressed or appropriately dealt with under Gabriel’s ministry, and B) those perpetrated by deceased humans who are fugitives from Raphael’s ministrations (ghosts, revenants, vampires, etc.), which necessarily fall under Samael’s purview. The third type are not properly demonic, but are categorized as such for pedagogical purposes, and are those occasionally instigated by sub-ministers of Gabriel in order to reinforce the angelic system.

Demonic Doctrine – Everything ordinary demons know about the Cosmos is taught them by the Master of the Whip, responsible for fetching them as they are blasted from the Matrix of the Void. He teaches them that their sole purpose is to obey and feed the Nameless Ones. For the most part ordinary demons live and die in ignorance, driven by pain, hunger, fear and pleasure, eating their dead and knowing only whom they must fight and whom they must feed.

The Lords of Hell -- the Nameless Ones and the Commanders -- however, pass on to one another knowledge that helps them understand their condition, and why they live, fight, and are eaten.

• HELL: The demonic word for Hell is untranslatable, but could best be captured as "The Root," "The Heart," "The Maw," or "The Matrix." It conveys a sense of something that draws everything into itself, both consuming and giving birth to all things, simultaneously annihilating and granting meaning to all things.
• THE CHILDREN OF FIRE AND STONE: Hell as the heart, engine, and matrix of all being, must be managed by special souls. These are demons, belched out of the fires or seeping out of the stones of Hell. These are charged with serving the Nameless Ones so that Hell may claim its own and continue to renew existence.
• EATING AND BEING EATEN: To be eaten is considered the ultimate honor, for to be eaten is to enter the Void, to achieve a state of timelessness and infinite potential. It is sometimes called the Birth into Nothing.
• THE UPPER WORLD: The demonic word for earth, for our existence, is best translated "Corona." Everything in the Corona belongs to Hell, must descend into Hell. That which does not descend so that it may be eaten is anathema. It has Deathless, joined the Meaningless Being. It is the Wound that Cannot Heal.
• THE GREAT WAR AGAINST MEANINGLESS BEING: The Nameless Ones courageously make war against Those Who Refuse to Die, in order to claim what belongs to Hell. Without their valiant struggle, all existence would eventually become Frozen, fall into Meaninglessness. It is they who allow the Divine Radiance to surge back and forth between the Void and the Meaningful Being.
• THE FROZEN ONES: Not even the wisest Demon or Nameless One knows how long ago they came, or where they came from, but the Frozen Ones (best translated into our tongue as "Angels") were the ones who provoked the Great War, but stealing from Hell those who rightfully belonged to it, luring the vulnerable souls of the Corona or the Upper World into the Meaningless Being. They have illegitimately occupied the Corona, claiming it as their territory, and they leach from it souls that belong to Hell, weakening Hell. It is difficult for the Nameless Ones or their servants to survive in the Corona any more, for the Frozen Ones are too powerful there. But when the monsters invade the Upper Regions of Hell (as they often do), the Nameless Ones are still strong enough to drive them back out or send them into the void.
• THE NAMELESS ONES: It is the sole purpose of demons to serve and feed the Nameless Ones. The Nameless Ones have selflessly accepted the burden of being ever uneaten, only eating, so that they can be powerful enough to defend Hell against the Frozen Ones, and so that they can wage the necessary and never-ending War Against Meaningless Being.
• THE FEASTS OF SOULS: All beings are souls, and the Eating takes place a never-ending great Feast where the Nameless Ones are fed. Demons who are smart and powerful to live long enough to please their commanders may be promoted, may be allowed to join the Feasts of Souls; for such strong souls are valuable servants to the Nameless Ones. Every thousand years or so, a strong soul perhaps even becomes strong enough to overthrow a Nameless one, to grant him the ultimate reward of entering the Void and to take his place as a Lord of Hell.
• THE TRAITORS: Occasionally, a Nameless One goes bad and succumbs to the temptation to enter the Meaningless Being and ally himself with the Frozen Ones... To claim immortality for himself. One might say this form of apostasy is an occupational hazard of being a Nameless One, for while the Nameless Ones must acquire strength and live long in order to defend Hell and lay claim to what rightfully belongs to it, they must postpone their rightful entrance into the Void. This can make them somewhat mad...
• THE MADNESS OF MEANINGLESSNESS: Those in the Corona or Upper World who have rebelled against Hell become steeped in madness. They arrive at the feasts of souls babbling about Jesus or Mohammed or God or Buddha or Nirvana or Heaven... They scream with the desire to "live." The kindest thing to do is to put them out of their misery and send them back to the Void.
• FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE AND THE PACTS OF MEANINGLESSNESS: The Frozen Ones actively induce the Madness in souls through their teaching, which has a powerful allure. Those who willingly listen to their teaching and believe them go mad and become traitors.

Demons – In a normal planetary ecology, the life energy manifests itself in many different forms -- as plant life, as animals, as sentient beings, as powerful elemental spirits or guardians, and as demons. Each form of life plays a role in maintaining the planetary ecology. The role of demons is to assist with the process of death and decomposition that frees life or spirit energy for the process of rebirth and renewal. They normally dwell "below," in the lower dominions, where spirits naturally sink after the dissolution of the body. Demons absorb and destroy the individual ego, allowing memories, experience, feelings, and identity to be dissipated and recycled into new individuals in the process of reincarnation. Demons are, by definition, spiritual beings who do not themselves take a physical form. Normally, demons are also least invested with "ego" or "will." It is their nature to eat and be eaten in relatively short cycles.

Demons are by their very nature opposed to will or ego that makes individual life possible. Thus, most living beings experience demons as terrifying, as that which will deprive them of that which ego or will makes possible: an integrated, complex being consisting of matter-organizing and matter-inhabiting spirit. However, without the recycling function provided by demons, the natural cycles of life which allow for creativity, growth, and richness of life would not be possible.

Of course the angelic system is based on the limitless extension of ego or will-life, the "eternity of the soul." So demons attempting to perform their natural function in the planetary ecology are perceived not as merely frightening, but as malevolent or evil. Furthermore, the angelic influence has resulted in increasing ego or will power in the demonic realms, allowing demons to consciously rebel against the angelic system.

Empyrean – Another name for the Heavenly City, the abode of God and the angels, a place beyond time and space, the capital of the Empire of Heaven. Consciousness and personality are dramatically transformed by the passage from the Empyrean into conventional time and space. The passage is usually extremely painful and traumatic, and avoided if at all possible. Angels leave the Empyrean only as a last resort, because a constant (and accelerating) influx of souls is needed in order to maintain it, which they bring in from the colonies. Angels prefer to return to the Empyrean, once a term of service in the colonies has been completed.

Exorcism – Periodically, when rebellious spirits cross over by occupying the bodies of the living, it becomes necessary to drive them out through this special ritual – some form of which exists in almost every religion in the world. Because of the nature of the problem, this is one instance in which the jurisdictions of different angelic ministries overlap. Exorcism concerns Samael, since it deals with the disembodied spirit of a rebellious, dead soul; but it also concerns Gabriel, since it simultaneously deals with the soul of a living being, whose relationship to the angelic system is at risk the longer his or her spirit is tainted by association with a “rebel” spirit. In very rare cases where the possession is actually instigated by an alien entity (i.e., a “fallen” angel), exorcism can even fall under the jurisdiction of Michael. (See possession.)

Exploitation, Occult Key of – In order to secure domination of the Earth's Governing Council, Orion set in motion a plan which included bestowing upon Rehel, the Throne of Islam, the mysterious Occult Key of Exploitation. The key pertained to the exploitation of Earth's oil supply for economic, political and social power. Below are charts with useful information on the world's oil supply.

*In billion barrels; figures adapted from Oil & Gas Journal and U.S. Geological Survey.

**Percent of original reserves by average API gravity: 10 degrees-20 degrees: 5 percent; 20 degrees-25 degrees: 6 percent; 25 degrees-35 degrees: 57 percent; above 35 degrees: 32 percent.

*In billion barrels; figures adapted from Oil & Gas Journal and U.S. Geological Survey.

Fate – There is a pattern and a structure in the universe that is immutable. Every possible individual choice exists in a virtually infinite number of alternate universes. Every choice that is made has a limiting impact on other choices in a rippling effect, changing choice pathways and causing differing counter-choices. But the structure (end) of every alternate universe is identical, even if individual choices result in radically different pathways within that structure.

Every universe is connected to every other in certain nodes or singularities. It is only even possible to approach the nodes through powerful and sophisticated manipulation of the space-time continuum. (See time.) It is not possible to pass through these nodes, but if one knows how to use them, it is possible to see through them or even to communicate through them, not only across universes but backwards and forwards in time, if one knows how to use them. (There is one blind spot: one cannot see forward in time in one’s own universe, but one can communicate with others in other universes who can see forward in time in your universe.) Study of alternate universes through the nodes can offer powerful knowledge of the structure of the universe and the nature of choice and its effects on history. Different nodes are more powerful and provide more effective “windows” than others.

The discovery of a particularly powerful node by the Host of Michael led to the foundation of the Heavenly Host. (See story “Alpha and Omega.”)

Free will – Whether it is (or ever can be) free, a strong will is a prerequisite for the separation of the earthly soul from its physical home. “Striving,” the desire to achieve, is critical for the nurturance of will. A strong will is also, ironically, what leads individual souls to cling to earthly existence, leading to the paradoxical requirement in the angelic system of nurturing the eternal “self” even while demanding “selflessness.”

“Will” should not be confused with choice, which is simply a “branch” in the pathways differentiating alternate universes from one another. Will involves choices that branch off more radically from the statistical norm of all alternative universes. (See fate.)

Activities that result in a heightening of unrequited desire or that strengthen one’s sense of individualism are conducive to strengthening the will. They include:

• murder
• fasting or self-imposed starvation/thirst
• sexual abstinence or celibacy
• the exercise of political power
• any kind of intense, extended struggle for power or domination (including war), which requires the suppression of ordinary physical needs in order to foster some "greater" good

Activities that connect an individual to a larger, collective consciousness or that satisfy/satiate desires, on the other hand, actually have the effect of weakening the will. They include:

• sexual indulgence and physical pleasure
• intoxication
• the enjoyment of music
• sleep and dreams
• enjoying friendship, peace and harmony

See also matter, spirit, and soul.

Gehenna – Gehenna is the Hebrew word to denote the place of punishment to which the damned are consigned in the afterlife. It was also viewed as a place of "purification," from which souls might eventually be released. It was derived from the name of a valley to the southwest of Jerusalem where human sacrifice was once practiced, and which was later turned into a garbage dump. The type of human sacrifice practiced there (infants were burned to the God Moloch) may have supplied the imagery of "burning" which is common in Jewish and Christian images of afterlife torment. Gehenna is the term I use to describe the place of punishment and torture to which human souls are consigned, geographically located in Heaven.

Geography of Earth – Directional references in "spiritual geography" should not be construed literally. We frequently speak of Heaven as "up" and Hell as "down." This is not true in a literal sense. Heaven could as easily be described as "outside" and Hell as "inside" or Heaven as "bright" and Hell as "dark." Directional or descriptive references are meant figuratively, to indicate the relation between Heaven, Earth and Hell.

It should also be noted that the term "Hell" is frequently used to denote two distinctly different places. It is sometimes used to denote a place of punishment in the afterlife, to which the souls of mortals will be sentenced after the final judgment. It is also (especially in more ancient usage) used to denote a more generic "underworld" a place underneath the earth to which all dead go after they die; not necessarily a place of torment, though certainly not a pleasant place. Other terms for this latter sense include Hades, Sheol, etc. The Hell referred to in the first sense is actually located in Heaven, in the Third Heaven, to be specific (see Geography of Heaven, below), and has no relation to Earth. The Hell referred to in the second sense is intimately connected to Earth; is directly "beneath" or "inside" Earth, or could even be said to be the interior or invisible aspect of Earth. In order to avoid confusion, I will use the term "Gehenna" for the former sense, and "Hell" for the latter sense.

Earth and her vicinity can be divided into five distinct "geographic" zones. (See map.) They are, starting from the "highest" and going "down" to the "lowest":

• Outer Darkness: an inhospitable, cold, empty and desolate place where none can survive, somewhat analagous to "outer space," like a vast ocean separating the worlds from each other.
• Astral Highways: "underneath" Outer Darkness, the dimensions in which, with proper understanding, time and space can be twisted so as to allow travel between the worlds. Only Daemons have unlocked the complexities and dangers of the Astral Highways, enabling them to travel above the vast reaches of space from one world to another, and back and forth in time.
• The Firmament (or "Angelosphere"): the upper reaches of Earth, analagous to the sky. This is a minimal place for humans, a place where only a handful of human spirits through the ages have ever traveled (sort of like the Moon or Antarctica), a place where human spirits are terribly weakened and can quickly expire on their own (distant from the source of their power, the Earth). No human soul has ever travelled unaided beyond the Firmament into the Astral Highways. The Angelic administration of Earth has its headquarters here.
• The Upper World: This is the home dimension of the living, of waking consciousness. It is the material world. It includes everything we think of in a material sense, finite but endless: Earth, the planets, the stars, space, time. The Upper World is, however, also filled with invisible beings; Angels on missions from the Firmament; the dead who have refused to leave for Heaven or Hell; demons in search of the dead.
• Hell or the Underworld: Like the Upper World (and unlike the Astral Highways), the Underworld consists of pockets that are isolated from other Underworlds. Different Underworlds may be different, depending on the Upper Worlds they are connected to. But our Underworld consists of four parts:
  • The Upper Regions of Hell: This is the region directly "beneath" the Upper World, accessible by various interdimensional gates ("the Upper Gates"). It is the place where, before the arrival of the Angels, all mortal souls (human, animal and plant) were carried after they died to be eaten by "the Ravenous." The Gates were once open, but now most have been locked in order to prevent Angelic access to Hell. When a gate has somehow been compromised by an Angel, it is quickly destroyed to prevent Angelic penetration again, and a new gate may be constructed somewhere else. In addition to the Ravenous, the Upper Regions are also inhabited by Warriors (who defend the Upper Regions against Angelic attack or unauthorized Mortal incursions) and Hunters (who frequent the Upper World in search of mortal souls that have been separated from their bodies. The oldest of the Ravenous are about two hundred years old.
  • The Middle Regions of Hell: Directly beneath the Upper Regions, the Middle Regions are inhabited by "the Terrors," eaters of Demons. The Middle Regions are similarly secured by their own gates and warriors, and fed by their own hunters who enter the Upper Regions in search of Demons whose time is come. The oldest of these are about a millennium old.
  • The Pit: The lowest known level of existence is the Pit, inhabited by "the Insatiable Self-Eating." These are the most feared and powerful Demons in existence, the eaters of the eaters of Demons; whose hunger is so insatiable that they eat not only the eaters but themselves. The fumes that rise from the pit contain the raw material that eventually emerges in the Upper World, is recaptured in matter, and becomes reconstituted as mortal life. The Pit (also called the Lower Regions of Hell) is, like the Middle and Upper Regions, guarded by gates and Warriors and fed by Hunters.
  • The Pathways of the Dead: these are the paths by which Demons travel up and down through Hell, to and fro past the gates, formed by the eruptions of the fumes of the Pit, or dug by Hunters and Warriors, ever seeking new pathways to replace the old that are worn away or destroyed by the constant roiling and bubbling of the Underworld.

Geography of Heaven – Heaven, also known as the Heavenly City, the great capital of the Kingdom of Heaven, is a great sphere, at the interior of which is the Temple and then the Throne of God. The Throne is accessible only to the Seraphim. The city is divided into 10 sections or heavens, each of which is under the administration of a different angelic ministry, and each of which is further divided into northern and southern regions. (See map.)

Ghosts – Intelligences whose will has been sufficiently strengthened to enable them to separate from their planetary bodies, but who escape from/refuse to follow the Psychopomp Ministry beyond into the next level of being. The purity of their passion has endowed them with the ingenuity required to avoid angelic harvesters. They are often insane. Their refusal to "pass on" is tied to their denial of physical dissolution. They often relive their pasts, unaware that they are in fact dead. (See revenants.)

God/the Creator – The stories of an all-powerful creator who is the source of everything in the universe have been told by daemons for eons. No one knows where the stories come from or how old they are, and most daemons consider them to be irrelevant fairy tales. But one host has based its society on the worship of the creator, the Host of Michael or the “Host of Heaven.” (See story “Alpha and Omega.”)

Gods of Earth – The earth gods rose to power c. 4000 B.C., as the effects of angelic influence began to create the first civilizations, but humans were not yet ready to accept the alien "revelation." There was a flowering of native "high religion" in the great "birthplaces" of human civilization, along the Nile and the Euphrates, the Indus and the Yellow Rivers, in the highlands of Mexico and in the Yucatan Peninsula, and in the Andes. These were earth spirits who had begun to emulate the means of absorbing soul energy used by the Angels. But eventually, as true angelic religions were organized, they proved themselves more effective at harnessing the human will, and began to drive out the natives, forcing the native "gods" underground. There was a series of coups in the underworld as the once-gods made themselves its lords. These became the Demon Lords.

“Going Native” – One of the dangers of excessive contact between angels and the colonies is that angels become corrupted, and begin to “lose their angelic mind” and sympathize with the colonized. Renegade angels are treated as a danger and are mercilessly hunted down by the Ministry of Defense.

The Heavenly City – The foundations of the Heavenly City or the “City of God” were laid by the Host of Michael at the site of a tremendously powerful universal node (see fate). But the building of the city has continued unabated since then. In order to free angels from the task of building for the expanding wars against enemy hosts of daemons, the angelic system has begun to recruit lower intelligences from planets in a forced labor system.

Homonculi – Homonculi are demons that have been able to manifest in a physical form by manipulating ambient matter, or by attaching themselves to biological matter such as blood, sperm, etc. They can usually take whatever form they wish, and are then capable of interacting physically with other physical beings and with the material world. Such manipulation requires an extremely strong will and much effort, so only those demons that have been influenced by the angelic regime are usually capable of it.

Incubi/Succubi – Incubi (male) or succubi (female) are disembodied demonic intelligences that feed off of human life. They can become homonculi.

Intelligences – All matter-energy within the cosmos has emanations which are capable of interacting with other matter-energy within the confines of space-time. These emanations are known as intelligences. The power and capabilities of different intelligences varies dramatically, depending on the form of matter-energy. Intelligences born from stars are among the most powerful in the cosmos; but planetary intelligences can also achieve remarkable power. (See daemons.)

Inter-ministerial relations – Generally, the various ministries jealously guard their privileges and jurisdictions, though Gabriel has been known to delegate certain pedagogical functions related to the afterlife to Raphael. Disputes are resolved, when necessary, by the ruling council of Heaven. Decisions can be appealed to Metatron, the mouthpiece of God.

The Ladder of Heaven – Angelic wormholes. (See time.)

Legba – A demon warlord who controls gates to the upper world in West Africa, and well known to practitioners of Voodoo. Like most demon warlords, he is devious, cunning and powerful. Unlike most demon warlords, he has a sentimental attachment to the old days, and feels affection for one of the few ancient gardeners still surviving, Ezili. It is because if these attachments that he is one of the most committed to carrying on the fight against the Angelic system -- though he does so wisely, striking a blow when it is advantageous, slyly undermining the enemy when open battle is futile, appeasing or lying to the oppressor when cornered or menaced.

Most demon lords have lost contact with the upper world. Legba is one of the few who retains ties to it, allowing himself to be worshipped by practitioners of voodoo as the king of the crossroads. Legba and the other demons of the voodoo pantheon under his dominion maintain a cautious posture with regard to the upper world, conservatively trying to hold on to what they have, fearing that they may lose even that if they are too openly defiant.

Limbo – See spirit prison.

The Lords of Hell – Hell was not always ruled over by warlords, but by feminine spirits known as "gardeners" or "tenders." They and the demons whose activities they directed had relatively short life spans, usually about 1 - 3 years, and then they would die and their spirit energy would be consumed by their successors. The warlords came to power after some of the initial Angelic incursions. The warlords, in order to fight the angels more effectively, sought to prolong their own lives by consuming inordinate amounts of spirit energy. This was agreed to at first by the gardeners and all other demons as a necessary measure to ensure the continuity required to resist angelic incursion. Gradually, however, it was forgotten how the practice began; warlords began to arrogate the consumption of massive numbers of souls to themselves. Gardeners no longer played the governing role they once did. Many were forced into service of the warlords, living in harems as concubines to the warlords to ensure the propagation of demon soldiers. Warlords began to go to war against each other, to amass greater power and access to increasingly scarce souls. Many of the most powerful and oldest demons began to negotiate with the angels; in return for a tribute of souls, limited interference in angelic activities and even occasional cooperation with the angels, they would be granted unmolested power over certain regions of Hell. Of course, this was a Faustian bargain that helped to ensure the eventual demise of all demons, since it would allow the Angels to slowly but surely sap the planet of all its spirit energy.

Lu/Urim/Thummim stones – Special refracting stones that allow one who knows how to use them to enter altered states of consciousness allowing communication between souls or entities across vast distances (see prayer) or access the “tree of knowledge.” Exposure to the concentrated emanations of the refractors permanently alters the spirits exposed to it, adding sentience, heightening intelligence, and changing consciousness. The angels have used these emanations to alter the conscious of spirits that might otherwise be unsuitable for the angelic scheme.

The term "lu" is the angelic term for "light," and "lu stones" refer to a number of different types of stones. "Urim" are the "bright" stones, and typically grant access to knowledge of the past and of what is. The "Thummim" are the "dark" stones, and grant access to the future, and to what might be.

Magic – Human spirits of course have powers similar in kind (if not in degree) to those of angels. They interact with and can manipulate matter, can communicate across the ether, etc. Some of these powers may have been heightened by exposure to the angelic regime, especially through the strengthening of the free will. However, these powers are independently exercised and should not be confused with miracles, which are angelic in source. Humans are naturally intrigued by the supernatural under the angelic regime (in natural regimes, there is no such distinction between supernatural and natural), and may through their own exertions of will imitate miracles using their own magical power. This is generally tolerated by the religious authorities (both human and angelic) so long as they do not compete with or undermine the official teachings and sanctioned miracles. Otherwise, they are suppressed as demonic.

Matter, Spirit and Soul – Sometimes referred to as body, mind and spirit, the three-fold nature of being has been acknowledged in many religious and philosophical systems. Some systems recognize only a dualism between matter and spirit, but most recognize a third element, soul, that has either an independent existence of its own, or that is created in the convergence of the first two elements.

Most western systems recognize this three-fold nature applying primarily to man, in whom they identify the stomach, viscera and sexual organs with hunger, lust and passions, or the "lower," "animal" or "base" physical instincts (Freud's "id"); the heart with feelings and emotions, the soul or the harmonizing, conscious self (Freud's "ego"); and the brain with conscience, thought, the "higher faculties" and the will (Freud's "superego"). Many systems also recognize this three-fold division of being as characteristic of all nature, viewing rocks, trees, animals, water, earth, fire, the sun and other celestial bodies, everything in the visible world, as having physical substance, spiritual essence, and some form of consciousness or ability to relate to everything else.

These three elements of being exist throughout creation in varying degrees of balance. Spirit or "will" has a tendency to dominate and order everything it comes in contact with. Matter has a tendency to move toward a state of increasing chaos and to resist domination. Soul or "passion" has a tendency to seek union and harmony, alternately moving toward chaos or toward order, or maintaining stasis, based on whether it perceives imbalance and what the nature of the imbalance is.

Daemons are beings in which the spiritual elements are so powerful as to overwhelm all else. For instance, the material element of a daemon might consist of nothing more than a single atom of Radon. Planetary spirits (including humans) are beings in which there is relative balance between spirit, soul and matter. Demons or infernal spirits are beings in which the material elements predominate over the spiritual and soul elements.

Asceticism is an attempt to weaken the material or physical elements of a being, allowing the spiritual elements to more completely dominate a being.

Conversion is an attempt to change the perceptions of the soul element of a being, to align it more completely with the spirit and coopt it into efforts by the spirit to dominate the body.

Resurrection is a complex process by which the spirit and soul separate completely from one body so as to be unhampered by its demands, and exchange it for a body of highly spiritualized, transformed or refined matter. It is a method for transforming planetary spirits into (albeit weak) daemonic spirits.

Systems in which there is extreme imbalance tend to become unstable. High spirit systems require vast quantities of energy to sustain, and tend to drain spirit from nearby systems, sending those systems into chaos as they develop into high matter systems.

Ministering Angels – Certain very powerful planetary intelligences may actually be promoted to this honorary angelic rank, including the greatest “god/leaders” or founder spirits of major religions: Ramses II, Rama, Quezlcoatl, Moses, Confucious, Socrates, Plato, Zoroaster, Jesus, Mohamed, Montezuma, Joseph Smith, etc. They become the overseers of their co-religionists in the Heavenly City.

Gautama Buddha is a strange exception to this rule, for he found a path in complete defiance of the angelic way: a way to smother and annihilate the will. The Bodhisattvas are curious figures who manage to perpetuate the existence of their souls in order to guide other spirits to “enlightenment,” but who maintain independence from the angelic system. Lao-tzu was another such curious religious leader.

Miracles – Must of necessity be rare in order to uphold the necessary separation between the mortal and the eternal realms. The primary function of miracles is pedagogical, and thus under the purview of the Minister of Dogma (Gabriel). Some miracles, related to the passage from life to death, are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Death (Samael), and other (much rarer) miracles related to the external defense are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense (Michael). No other ministers have leave to intervene in mortal affairs.

Mortality – See Death.

Omnipotence – Angels are not, of course, omnipotent, though they have tremendous power that to mere mortals appear to be omnipotence.

Omniscience – While theoretically, angels have the technology to know specific, individual outcomes before they have happened, it is only aggregate outcomes (see fate) they are interested in. Only the Council of Heaven have access to that level of information.

Order of the Dragon – The auxiliary order under the direction of Samael, responsible for slaying undead and sending their spirits back beyond the veil, where they fall under the jurisdiction of Raphael. Duties of order members include:

• reporting instances of ghostly activity, shape-shifting or witchcraft to the appropriate ecclesiastical or civil authorities
• assisting in angelic “near death” interventions
• putting down all revenants within one’s assigned district
• assisting other ministries as needed, if other earthly ministers are incapacitated or unavailable

Order of St. Michael – The auxiliary order under the direction of Michael, charged with assisting in the suppression of human rebellions that threaten to ally with non-angelic factions or where human power reaches daemonic proportions.

Orders of the Celestial Hierarchy – The Heavenly Host is organized into hierarchical ranks or choirs. An angel's rank determines what its relationship to other angels is. Every angel's place and role in the Heavenly Host is determined by the ministry it belongs to and its rank within that ministry.

In general, all angels above the lowest choir of angels (referred to simply as "angels") are referred to as "archangels," though that is also the name of the second lowest choir of angels. There are three triads of three ranks each, with each rank having its own "chiefs" or leaders:

1. Seraphim. The singers of the trisagion ("holy, holy, holy"), surrounding the throne of God. The brightest and hottest of the angels. (Seraphiel, Jehoel, Metatron, Michael; before his fall, Satan)
2. Cherubim. Guardian spirits, ever watching the throne of God. In ancient times were portrayed as sphinx-like winged beasts with many eyes. They guard the entrance of Eden with the flaming sword. They guard the ark of the covenant. (Ophaniel, Rikbiel, Cherubiel, Raphael, Gabriel, Zophiel; before his fall, Satan)
3. Thrones. Through whom God brings His justice to bear upon mortals. (Oriphiel, Zabkiel, Zaphkiel)
4. Dominations. Dionysius: "They regulate angels' duties, and are perpetually aspiring to true lordship; through them the true majesty of God is manifest."
5. Virtues. Work miracles on Earth. (Michael, Raphael, Barbiel, Uzziel, Peliel; before his fall, Satan)
6. Powers. See to it that order is imposed on the Heavenly pathways. Stop the efforts of demons who would overthrow the world. Preside over demons. The first of created Angels. (Samael, Camael)
7. Principalities. These are the protectors of religion and watch over the leaders of the people. (Requel, Anael, Cerviel, and Nisroc)
8. Archangels.
9. Angels.

Possession – Periodically, rebellious spirits will attempt to cross the veil by entering the body of a living person. They do so by assailing the spirit of the person whose body has been invaded. In order to occupy the body, they must successfully intimidate or incapacitate the spirit. Once a body has been occupied, it is very difficult for the spirit to rally sufficient resources to drive the invader out on its own, though it has been known to happen. Ironically, the angelic regime makes souls especially vulnerable to events such as possession, by weakening the bond between spirit and body. (See exorcism.)

Planetary Depletion – The complete harvesting of souls from a world eventually results in a strange kind of pollution of a world; matter-energy totally depleted of soul becomes highly toxic. It falls to the Omega Ministry to dispose of what is left.

Prayer – Although individuals frequently utter prayers to deities, saints, angels, or demons, such communication may or may not be efficacious. Prayer as ordinary speech is rarely efficacious, unless the entity to whom one prays is in close proximity. But prayer as an altered state of consciousness in which one contacts or enters dimensions beneath ordinary four dimensional time-space can allow the one praying to communicate across truly vast distances, and even forward or backward in time. Certain special artifacts are capable of aiding the one praying enter such an altered state of being (see lu/urim/thummim stones). The secrets of efficacious prayer are certainly known by angels, but can be learned by virtually any sentient being. In order to pray in this sense, it is necessary for some kind of relationship to have been established between the individual praying and the entity receiving the prayer. Thus, for instance, an angel prays to God through the intermediary of the orders of angels above him, until, through Metatron or other Seraphim, communication with God is achieved.

Races of Daemons – Daemons are essentially star spirits, and so there are as many varieties of Daemons as there are stars. However, Daemons may be generally be categorized as follows:

• "The Ancients." These are the oldest daemons in the cosmos, in existence since the dawn of time, since the creation of everything, the big bang. They generally dwell at the centers of galaxies, or in the empty places between galaxies or above galactic planes. They are extremely difficult to find, not because they are particularly rare, but because they are so reclusive and they dwell in such hostile environments. Non-ancients, however, generally count themselves lucky that the ancients are so hard to find, for they are the "purest" and most alien, the least caring, the most primal, the coldest, the darkest, the most savage and deadly of all daemons.
  • Cool Daemons. Of all the ancients, these are the brightest, wisest, and most energetic.
  • Black Dwarf Daemons Colder than ice, dark, inert and beyond caring about anything.
  • Primordial Pulsar Daemons. Sowers of chaos and death. The most deadly and feared daemon lords.
  • Primordial Black Hole Daemons. The most dreadful and feared of all, daemon eaters. These are gods to the daemons.
• "The Children." These are angels of the stars that descended from the primordial stars. Like the stars that they hail from, they are more complex, multi-faceted and evolved. They are brighter and more lively, more civilized. They are more like us mortals, though they are as alien to us as the ancients are to them. They live in the brightest, most populous regions of galaxies, in the spiral arms and in the nebulae.
  • Cool Daemons. Much like their ancient counterparts, though more complex. Though not as bright, nor as large or powerful as other types of daemons, these are the most long-lived and oldest of the children. They are the caretakers of the galaxy -- nurturing and tending life in all the nooks and corners where it is capable of growing. They are steady, cautious, and perseverent, and are by far the most numerous of all types of daemons. Yellow, orange, red. Workers.
  • Red Giant Daemons. Slow, lethargic, deliberative. Red. Priests.
  • Dwarf Daemons. Cold, hard. Extremely numerous. White, yellow, orange, red, brown, and black. Footsoldiers in the daemonic armies.
  • Hot Daemons. Large, hot, passionate, moody and temperamental. These are the brightest, most intense, ingenous and intelligent daemons, but they are also the most short-lived, typically the youngest. They are the leaders, the movers and shakers, the "archangels." They are also the most frightening to mortals, the ones written of in the Bible whose sight inspires terror. They are overwhelming. The revelation of their full glory can kill most ordinary mortals. Blue, white.
  • Supernova Daemons. These are among the rarest and most powerful of the children, so intelligent, intense, and "hot" that they are unbearable, even to most other daemons. They sow chaos everywhere they go; they usually live short but intense lives. Blue. Artists. Prophets. Revolutionaries. Hit men. Terrorists.
  • Pulsar Daemons.
  • Black Hole Daemons.

Religion – All religion is of course, directly or indirectly, the result of angelic intervention, since the natural course of life does not require it. However, some religions, such as the various animistic, Vedic, and Buddhist systems, are essentially varying elucidations of the natural course, required by the competing presence of “revealed” religions. While some might assume it advantageous to have a single, unified religious system, in actuality the angelic purposes are better served by religious competition and conflict, which encourages the type of striving necessary to nurture the free will. All religion is, of course, the domain of Gabriel, the Minister of Dogma, though there are numerous sub-ministers who report to him, each responsible for a different human sect. Sub-ministers receive prestige and increase in rank as the adherents of the religions they oversee grow in number, thus encouraging the type of healthy competition required for religion to serve its fundamental purpose. (All official miracles must, of course, be approved by Gabriel, and are governed by clearly defined rules.) Sub-ministers are also assigned to the “natural” religions, which they must attempt to influence in such a way as to perhaps eventually bring them into the family of revealed religions.

Reproduction – Reproduction, sexual or otherwise, enables spirits that are emanations of the primal elements and forces of nature to in a sense live on, extend their lives, through their offspring. "Reproduced" life is, however, not as vital or as long-lived, and eventually withers and dies. Such life can last many generati