The 42 Assessors

Samael takes Gen onto the astral plane, up, up, up through the pathways, the keys, of the Tree of Life to the sephirah, or sphere, known as Geburah.   

Geburah is home to the Halls of Justice, where – after death – we are met by the Forty-Two Assessors.  These spiritual judges look deep in our eyes and question us, one after another, as to how we spent our time, this life-time, on Earth.  The questions are asked in quiet even voices and there is no possibility of lying; there is no wriggling out of it; no avoidance; no mitigating circumstances. 

We simply cannot lie.

The truth wells up from inside us.  We speak the truth, despite our fear.

Nobody is perfect. Nobody is totally pure.  But we can only hope.  

The Questions of the Forty-Two Assessors

1.       Hast though given due thought to the body inhabited by thee?

2.       Hast thou lived the fullness of time allotted to thee?

3.       Hast thou refrained from being unclean in body and mind?

4.       Has thou loved with the body, only where the heart is also?

5.       Hast thou had knowledge of those forbidden to thee?

6.       Hast thou kept thee only to the sword or the distaff?

7.       Hast thou respected the bodies of the younger brethren?

8.       Hast thou stolen?

9.       Hast thou taken food and drink to excess?

10.   Hast thou killed?

11.   Hast thou spoken unjustly in anger?

12.   Hast thou looked upon the goods of others in envy?

13.   Hast thou known jealousy?

14.   Hast thou spoken ill of any man or woman in anger?

15.   Hast though been undiligent in work?

16.   Hast thou profaned the mysteries?

17.   Hast thou known pride in thyself that is false?

18.   Hast thou strayed from the path allotted thee?

19.   Hast thou lusted for precious metals?

20.   Hast thou been too worldly?

21.   Hast thou been just in thy dealings in the market place?

22.   Hast thou replayed all debts promptly?

23.   Hast thou been generous to the needy?

24.   Hast thou lied to gain from others?

25.   Hast thy tongue been as a viper to cause laughter in others?

26.   Hast thou been a friend?

27.   Hast thou hated another to the exclusion of all else?

28.   Hast thou lent thy body to any from the other side?

29.   Hast thou been thy parents’ joy?

30.   Hast thou honoured all faiths that are of the Light?

31.   Hast thou given time to be at peace with the gods?

32.   Hast thou turned aside from wisdom given in love?

33.   Hast thou listened to that which is not for thy ears?

34.   Hast thou lived in the Light?

35.   Hast thou been a sword for the weak?

36.   Hast thou enslaved any other life?

37.   Hast thou faced the mirror of self?

38.   Hast thou taken the words of his mouth from any man as thy own?

39.   Hast thou known that all journeys end but to begin?

40.   Hast thou remembered all the brethren of the Earth, and been compassionate to those younger brethren who serve thee as beasts in the field and the home?

41.   Hast thou ever worked man or beast beyond its strength in thy greed?

We may feel rather small after this.  After all, who hasn’t gossiped?  Who hasn’t sniped or been mean or eavesdropped?  Who hasn’t fallen out with her parents, or told the odd lie?   

However there is one last question which may save our souls. 

The forty-second assessor asks this question:  Is there one upon the Earth who is glad thou hast lived?

It’s our get out of jail card.  Just maybe.

Footnote for maths geeks like Gen....think about Sedenions.... The Tibetan Book of the Dead has 58 angry demons and 42 happy Buddhas - hence 100 in all = 5 * 16 + 2*10 = 100 distinct units in the interlinked 5-fold "unit quaternion" ensemble. Soooo.....we have the 42 Assessors and then focus in on one of the seven isomorphic box-kites; then focus in further on the second box-kite which has its struts defined by upper vs. lower case letters, and the triple zigzag analog being the "all lowercase" sail..  Or not. :)

Q&A

I've been hugely lucky in that quite a few people have read Samael and given me their feedback.  Am really deeply madly thrilled to say they almost all loved it.   However, amongst the suggestions, I also got asked a fair few questions.  Some were really fascinating and so I thought I'd answer them here. 

Is Shadowcombe a real place? 
Not entirely.  I live on Exmoor, a stunningly beautiful (but pretty isolated) place in South-West England and it's fair to say that the landscape of Samael is based on what I see around me.  For a fair few years I lived in a very remote valley and that was certainly the inspiration for the world Gen finds herself in.  The village of Shadowcombe is a bit of a composite of a few Exmoor hamlets and villages.  The inspiration for the 'Mouth' comes from a narrow gorge that is nearer to Taunton - I have taken the writer's prerogative and transposed it.  However, I didn't want to make the setting too precise.  I think you can find Shadowcombes in many places - not just in England or even the UK but around the world. 

Did you base Gen on yourself?
No way!  I would love to be like Gen but I fear we're very different.   Gen has a deep sense of who she is - she's pretty strong.  But she's also kind and warm-hearted. I'm nowhere near as balanced and sussed as she is.  I guess we share a few characteristics though - I love to paint big and wild too (and like Gen tend to paint strange people I have never met).  I also love music (and we share a very similar taste in tracks) and horses.  Gen is a much better rider than I am though... 

Why are Gen's parents rock stars?
Because I thought it would be way cool.  I used to work as a journalist for a newspaper and part of my job was interviewing musicians and going to music biz parties.  Some of the 'stars' were lovely and some were total jerks.  It's quite an unreal world and, if people get success young (as Gen's parents did) it can unrail them.  So in many ways, Gen has parents who have never really grown up properly - even at 16, she is in many ways more mature than they are. 

Gen doesn't like Twilight.  Do you feel the same?
No.  I loved the Twilight series.  In fact, I love the whole 'dark romance' genre that Twilight spawned.  Personally I don't get off on the idea of vampire lovers though - Edward is a bit too marble and cold for my taste - I'm firmly in Camp Jacob, I fear.  But my supernatural creatures of choice have always been angels/demons (such a fine line between the two)...  Samael is my total heart-throb.  Though Zeke is a very close second.  I don't envy Gen having to choose.

How do you write?  Do you have any rituals?
I'm worse than a mage!  Normally I write straight onto my PC but this book demanded to be written longhand.  So I scribble it out in Moleskine notebooks (it has to be Moleskine) and then have to type it all up.  It's a huge pain.  I have a candle burning - scents are hugely important in Samael but the one I use for writing is Relax by Aromatherapy Associates (they've just stopped doing it and so I've stockpiled enough to get me through the writing and editing - I hope).  

There is a lot of music in the book - why is that?
I don't know really.  My last book had a very 'natural' soundtrack - I worked on it in silence and all the sounds in it were organic - birdsong, wind, rain.  Samael is very different.  My muse for the book was Seth Lakeman's music and that wild fiddle runs right the way through.  But really there's an entire soundtrack - mainly rock and indie-folk.  Joan Osborne, Marianne Faithfull, Nick Drake, Roddy Frame, The Killers and so on. 

The rituals seem pretty realistic.  Would they work?
Not entirely.  I have studied shamanism, Wicca and the Western Mystery Tradition ('magic') for absolutely years but I have purposely kept the rituals a little vague.  It's not a great idea to go round trying to summon up demons on your own! 

Are there going to be more books?
I hope so.  Let's just say that things certainly aren't over between Gen and Samael, that's for sure...


Any more questions?  Feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer....