The Sacred Anklad

"After the hymn had been sung, the venerable archangel who was at the head of the procession approached Beelzebub and solemnly proclaimed:

"By the decree of His All-Quarters-Maintainer, the Arch Cherub Peshtvogner, and bearing his own sacred rod, we appear before you, Your Right Reverence, in order to restore to you, in accordance with the pardon granted you from Above and for certain of your merits, that which you lost during your exile--your horns."

Having said this, the venerable Archangel turned toward the casket borne by the cherubim and with profound reverence carefully took from it the sacred rod.

Meanwhile all those present knelt down, while the angels and cherubim began to sing the appropriate sacred canticles.

With the sacred rod in his hand, the archangel turned again toward Beelzebub and spoke thus to the beings of Beelzebub's nature:

"Beings created by our Uni-Being Endlessness, Who by His infinite grace has pardoned this once-erring being Beelzebub, will again exist among you, beings like himself . . .

"As the virility and degree of reason of beings of your nature are defined and manifested by the horns on your heads, we must, with the permission of our All-Quarters Maintainer, and with your help, restore the horns lost by Beelzebub.

"Beings created by our One Common Father, your help will consist in this, that each of you should consent to renounce, in behalf of Beelzebub's merited pardon, certain particles of your own horns.

"Therefore whosoever consents and wishes to do so, let him approach the sacred rod and touch its handle.  On the length of time the handle of this sacred rod is held will depend the quantity of active elements passing from your own horns for forming corresponding horns on this pardoned being of your nature."

Having said this, the venerable archangel, holding the ball of the sacred scepter over the kneeling Beelzebub, turned the rod toward those assembled there, so that whoever wished might come and touch it.

As soon as the venerable archangel had finished speaking, a very great commotion began among the beings of Beelzebub's nature, each one desiring to come nearer and be the first to hold the sacred rod for as long as possible.

Order was soon established, however, and each one approached in turn and held the handle for as long as was indicated by the captain of the ship, who had taken upon himself the direction of the ceremony.

During this solemn ritual, horns began to grow, little by little, upon the head of Beelzebub.

At first, while just the bare horns were taking shape, only a grave and concentrated quiet prevailed among those assembled.  But from the moment that forks began to appear upon the horns, a tense interest and rapt attention was manifested among them.  And this was because everybody was stirred by the wish to learn how many forks would make their appearance on Beelzebub, since their number would indicate, in keeping with the sacred Measurer of Objective Reason, the gradation to which Beelzebub had attained.

First one fork was formed, then another, and then a third, and as each fork made its appearance, a clearly perceptible thrill of joy and satisfaction was evoked in all those present.

When a fourth fork began to appear on the horns, the tension among those assembled reached its height, since the formation of a fourth fork signified that the Reason of Beelzebub had already been perfected up to the sacred "Ternoonalda," and hence there remained for Beelzebub only two gradations before attaining to the sacred Anklad.

As this unusual ceremony was nearing its end, and before all the participants had time to recover from their joyful agitation, suddenly on Beelzebub's horns there appeared of itself a fifth fork of a special form known to them all.

Thereupon all without exception, even the venerable archangel himself, fell prostrate before Beelzebub, who had risen to his feet and stood transfigured in the grandeur conferred on him by the truly majestic horns which had arisen on his head.

And all fell prostrate before Beelzebub because the fifth fork on his horns indicated that he had attained the Reason of the sacred "Podkoolad," which is the last gradation of Reason below the sacred Anklad.

The Reason of the sacred Anklad is the highest to which, in general, any being can attain; it is the third in degree from the Absolute Reason of His Endlessness Himself."

 Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, G.I. Gurdjieff, Viking Arkana Edition, 1992, page 1076-1078