The Pillars of Bhât

The Pillars of Bhât is the name given to a collection of Egyptian, Babylonian, and Sumerian scrolls of demon-lore gathered by blasphemous Arabic sorcerers called the Bhâti. Masters of summoning ifriti and the devils of the deserts, the Pillars of Bhât outline the magics of those wicked entities. At their core, the Pillars of Bhât are the metaphysical explanation of the sources of natural evil and tragedy in the world. The Bhâti learned to invoke them for their own ends.
The First Pillar is called the Pillar of Fire, so-called out of the understanding that burning is the source of purest physical and spiritual agony. Eventually, the human body inures itself to other pains, but the Bhâti teach that for as long as the body is capable of feeling pain, burning continues to bring agony. Fire is both holy and unholy, and to be wielded with caution. Upon the First Pillar stands the demon-king Asakku.
The Second Pillar is the Pillar of Hunger. Hungers of all kinds—hunger and desire—drive men to all manner of depravities. Hunger consumes and causes dissolution, and it is a physical manifestation of a spiritual Void. Around the Second Pillar is coiled Apep, the Eater of the Sun, and magicians invoking this power have the ability to utterly unmake the things of the world, feeding them to Apep.
The Third Pillar is the Pillar of Contagion. Wickedness is known by its ability to pass itself from one sinner to the innocent, through the generations. Likewise, as sin is the spiritual contagion, disease—which passes itself from one host to the next—is the physical contagion. Atop the Third Pillar crouches Lamastu, the killer of infants and bringer of disease, with a lion’s head and serpents in her hands.
The Fourth Pillar is the Pillar of Storms. The sudden descent of chaos into the ordered life of the faithful can cause despair and sin. Such chaos often revolves around a central pillar, a source at the eye of the storm. In nature, this principle manifests as a great storm from out of the desert, devastating blowing winds that may be the sandstorm, the hurricane, the typhoon, or the tornado (all various forms of Weather Control). Atop the Fourth Pillar is Pazuzu or Sutekh, both demon-gods of the desert.
The Fifth Pillar is the Pillar of Dissonance. Dissonance, whether the terrible cacophonies of the secular world that drown out the words of the faithful or the silent doubts and terrors that drive a man from his faith, is the source of much evil in the world. Dissonance within the mind is madness, and within the spirit, it is confusion and sin. Atop the Fifth Pillar stands Honblas, the demon-horn blower, whose music is purest chaos and agony.
The Sixth Pillar is the Pillar of Death. The final end is a terror for the faithful, for it is the end of their time in which to live a righteous life. With death, all things are cast into doubt, doubly so when the death comes suddenly and without warning. Above the Sixth Pillar flies Mastema, a bringer of death, the demon-angel responsible for the slaughter of the first-born sons of Egypt.