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"And
it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came
upon Saul." KJB, 1 Samuel, 18:10.
"And
the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house."
KJB. 1 Samuel, 19:9.
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King
Saul was at his wits' end. His military situation was already
hopeless, and he had just been informed that the High Priest, Samuel
had died.
Samuel
spoke face-to-face with God. Saul was counting on Samuel to be at his
side, to provide him with war counsel from God. With Samuel there, he
would not have been discouraged at the news that ten Nations were
mobilizing in unity to war against him: Ammonites, Amorites,
Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites, Midianites, Moabites,
Perizzites, Philistines.
His
kingdom was surrounded; his army was outnumbered by, at least,
hundreds-to-one.
Without
Samuel at his side, he would have to wait for God to appoint a High
Priest successor, before he could rely on God's help.
His
army General-in-charge, General Degdoe, suggested his majesty consult
Witches, a normal resource among the other Nations.
The
suggestion came naturally to General Degdoe because his family, only
one generation ago, was not of Saul's Nation; nor of Saul's Nation's
religion. They had converted because they had become incredibly
wealthy in their commercial enterprises living among the King's
people.
King
Saul decided he could not afford to wait for the appointment of a
successor to High Priest, Samuel. He gave Degdoe the go-ahead to
locate a Witch that cauldron-conjured spirits of dead persons.
All
over the world, it ever has been a well-known proclamation of every
cauldron-Witch, "I see gods ascending out of the earth."
The
Witch twin Sisters, Raza and Reza, in their mountain-cave home in the
wilderness of Endor, stood tensely in their cauldron room, staring at
their front door.
Their
cauldron behind them was in a slow, silent boil. Its slowly wafting
sentient nearly-freezing steam, continually shaped in-and-out of
multicolored living forms of humans, animals, aliens.
The
one Sister whispered, "The cauldron was right." "As
expected." "He is here!"
A
sudden violent thumping on the door did not unnerve them. "Who
is it?" A stentorian voice replied from outside, "I am
General Degdoe, on the King's business. Open the door."
The
Witches gave each other the thumbs-up signal. "This home is on
neutral ground, sir. Neither king nor any Almighty God has
jurisdiction here, sir."
"I
am not here on jurisdiction matters. I am here on a matter that will
make you fabulously rich. Now, open this door, or I will leave."
The
Sisters did not move from where they were standing. With co-ordinated
brief necromantic ritualistic movements where they stood,
side-by-side, they opened the door its widest.
The
General stepped in. He threw a bag of coins at the feet of the
Witches.
He
referred to the bag on the floor, "Enough for you to retire on
in royal comfort." One Witch spoke while the other, with a
gesture, transported the bag to somewhere behind them in the room.
"Thank you, General Degdoe. State your business with us."
"King
Saul sent me." In speaking to the General, the Sisters randomly
alternated turns. "General, of the eleven kings of the eleven
nations in this part of the world, King Saul is the only king who has
banned us from his country. That is why we live and practise here,
far from his jurisdiction."
"Times
have changed for the worse for King Saul. He needs your help. If you
consent to help him, you will be paid ten times more than you have
already been paid."
"We
are happy to serve King Saul, and any king at those prices. But we
dare not disobey an Almighty God, any Almighty God. His majesty was
especially chosen by his god to be the first-ever king of his people.
And that god is the only one of the fifteen gods in this part of the
world who has specifically declared our services not allowed:
'Regard
not them that have familiar spirits, to be defiled by them: I am the
Lord your God.'
You
place us in a dangerous situation, General. If we obey your king, we
disobey your king's god."
"Witch,
everybody knows your kind is beyond the power of any god. Do not,
then lie to me about being afraid of my king's god."
"General
Degdoe, a Sentience more powerful than Almighty Gods has allowed our
kind invulnerability to Almighty Gods. We choose to not risk
offending that Sentience by unnecessarily disobeying an Almighty
God's law. We are content with that."
"There
is no conflict, Witches. King Saul's god has rejected him. His god
sent the High Priest, Samuel, to declare to King Saul, to his face,
"Thus saith the Lord, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to
be king. I, henceforth, reject him from being king over my people."
Now that Samuel has died, the kingdom is without both a High Priest,
and a king.
In
other words, Witches, the Nation's Almighty God has removed Himself
from them. Hence, you risk no disobedience in granting Saul his
request for your services."
"You
reason well, General Degdoe. We grant Saul's request." "Good.
His majesty will be here, day-after-tomorrow."
On
the day-after-tomorrow, Saul came alone. The Sisters had already
brought their cauldron to a boisterous angry sinister-silently boil.
The sentient steam mischievously infiltrated every crack in the
walls, the ceiling and the floor.
In
the steam in the cauldron, many seemingly living forms noiselessly
and viciously pushed and shoved and pummeled and jostled one another,
competing to be the one summoned to step out of their deafeningly
silent dimension of magic, into the noisy dimension of mortal
realities.
Saul
and the Witches were each standing within a protective circle drawn
on the floor by the Sisters. "Your majesty, call on the person
to whom you wish to speak."
"High
Priest, Samuel, come forth. Your king commands you!" "Your
majesty? A High Priest? Surely not here, your majesty."
"Samuel
was a righteous servant of God, as was Eli, the High Priest, before
Samuel. But their individual righteousness counted for nothing
because both High Priests did not succeed in preventing their adult
sons from turning away from God. Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and
Samuel's sons, Joel and Abiah, made themselves vile, going after
lucre, taking bribes, and perverting justice in the House of God.
That is why both High Priests are here in your cauldron. Eli was
before my time. I call up Samuel."
"As
you wish, your majesty." "Samuel, come forth! It is your
king calls. King Saul who God himself commanded you to anoint first
King of his people."
Slowly,
the number of denizens in the cauldron mist diminished in number.
Within seconds, there was only one left.
Samuel,
fully appareled as a High Priest, floated out of the cauldron and
stepped onto the floor in front of Saul. He was furious.
"Saul!
Desist!" "Samuel, when you were alive, you gave me counsel
whenever I requested you. I and the Nation benefitted greatly from
your practical wisdom." "My wisdom cannot be practical now
that I do not live in your Dimension. I am of no use to you. You,
Witches, send me back to the cauldron."
"Saul
is our paying customer. We can send you back, only when he requests
it or if he leaves without requesting it. Otherwise, while we remain
in our circles, you cannot return to the cauldron."
"Samuel,
do you remember why God withdrew his blessing from me?" "You
disobeyed God." "Yes, and wherein was my disobedience?"
"It does not matter, Saul. With God, obedience is all." "Even above
righteousness, Samuel?" "Yes. I was
all-righteous in my personal service to God; and, yet, look where I
am." "As where I am because I chose in battle to be
righteous and to bypass God's evil order I 'slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.'"
"God
is almighty, Saul. Almightiness exempts God from being righteous when
he chooses. This cauldron Realm is beyond God's influence and his
laws, by his own admission. Here, I feel no pain in the knowledge
that my Almighty God is not committed to be righteous every time."
"Samuel,
I wish, too, to live in that Realm with you. I have summoned you to
tell me how I may join you." "Only the Witches know how to
grant that request, your majesty. Ask them."
Saul
looked at one of the Witches. They looked at each other and smiled,
and said, "We can conjure up even gods ascending out of the
earth." "Your majesty, your General Degdoe mentioned ten
times more." "I, alone, will bring your ten times more,
day-after-tomorrow."
"Then,
the day-after-tomorrow, your majesty, you will join the High Priest."
"And nobody will ever know?" "Not even we, your
majesty, nor any god, forever, after we delete the necromantic
circles." "The day-after-tomorrow, your majesty."
