Babylon Read Online Free PDF

be to Ishtar that the secret of inducing nympholepsy was not amongst them.’ She leant back in her chair. ‘Now: Can you tell me how the fall of Babylon exactly came about?’
    ‘Nabonidus,’ I began, this time speaking with greater confidence, ‘was the last king of Babylon. He reigned from 555 to 538 BC. He was of Aramaean origin. Spurning Ishtar, he chose to worship his native gods. Furthermore, to show his contempt for the Goddess, he and his soldiers entered the parallel world and, and...’
    I flushed scarlet.
    ‘It’s all right, Madeleine,’ said the Duenna. ‘It’s a perfectly acceptable English word. Nabonidus and his men ravished the temple-maidens, yes?’
    ‘Y-yes,’ I said, fighting for breath.
    ‘After which,’ the Duenna prompted.
    ‘After which,’ I continued, in something of a strained tone, ‘the priestesses of Ishtar, and eventually Babylon itself, turned against him. Nabonidus retreated to the town of Harran and left his son Belshazzar in charge of the capital. And it was while Belshazzar was ruling in Babylon that Cyrus II of Persia succeeded in taking the city.’
    ‘Correct,’ said the Duenna. ‘Babylon fell because its king refused to honour the covenant with Ishtar. The Ishtar cult, then as now, celebrated the hieros gamos, or sacred marriage, between a ruling élite and the Goddess herself. Babylon’s kings had had their authority guaranteed by the sexual union they enjoyed with Ishtar’s temple-maidens on Earth Prime. It was only when Nabonidus blasphemed, stepped upon holy ground and violated Ishtar, that the Persians were able to take Babylon. And it was at that same time, of course, that Ishtar’s temple-maidens—that is, those whom we call Shulamites — completely withdrew into the parallel world of the new Babylon and sealed the interdimensional gate behind them.’
    The Duenna leant back still further, her smile broadening until it threatened to dislocate her otherwise serene face.
    ‘Ancient Babylon declined,’ she continued, ‘to be at last buried under sand-drifts. But there was another Babylon, of course — a Babylon that survived and learnt how to co-exist with our own world. It still survives, after nearly two thousand years, in a parallel universe at right angles to our own: Modern Babylon. Do you think you could serve her, Madeleine? Do you think you could live up to her great ideals?’
    ‘Yes, Madam!’ I said, my enthusiasm threatening to undo my carefully studied attempt to emulate her serenity. The Duenna’s smile became wider, and then wider still, until it assumed Cheshire-cat dimensions. When the corners of her mouth turned down, and she suddenly became quite serious, the contrast of mood was so violent that I almost took a step backwards.
    ‘We shall see. Tomorrow is a holiday. The centenary of the day when our esoteric cult became exoteric ,’ said the Duenna. ‘So we shall continue our discussions on Monday.’
    ‘She is not a born Shulamite,’ said Miss Nelson, with quiet, viperish insistence.
    ‘Anyone can see that,’ said the Duenna, betraying a hint of impatience. ‘But it is important, vitally important, that we replenish our temples. So many trains—’ She gazed towards the window, as if the passing horse-and-dray were the most important thing in the world. ‘In any event,’ she continued, still unaccountably distracted by the commonplace sight outside, ‘what is important is that she has the mind and soul of a Shulamite.’ She looked at me keenly. ‘There will be tests, of course, Madeleine. Not all those that are accepted as candidates for the novitiate actually pass through the Gates. For the time being, you will remain a postulant.’
    ‘Then I am accepted, Madam?’
    She folded her hands together and placed them on the desk. ‘Our religion has become corrupted. And not just because it is no longer a mystery religion, but because of the incursions, the sacrileges, of men: men who do not respect the code of Hammurabi.