THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE

a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | OCCULTISM | MAGIC | BOOKS | NECRONOMICON

The Book of Power: Evaluating the Necronomicon

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.mythology,alt.necronomicon,alt.horror.cthulhu,sci.skeptic,alt.paranet.skeptic
From: nagasiva@luckymojo.com (ny'rl'thot'p)
Subject: Re: The Book of Power: Evaluating the Necronomicon (was ...)
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 21:01:36 GMT

MERKVRIVS :
>Some observations I've had concerning the Necronomicon:
>(Sorry if it seems a bit long.)

this is unclear. your observations appear to be about *Simon's* 
Necronomicon. I'm going to archive your text with this in mind 
unless you state otherwise. thanks.

>1.  The mythos of the work is based in Sumerian Mythology (simple
>enough) - however, it is a bastardization thereof (read the Enuma Elish
>sometime and compare).

and what SHOULD the Necronomicon contain, according to Lovecraft?
should it be in Arabic? or some magical language known to the Mad
Arab? if so, which?

>3.  Lovecraft admitted (in his letters that he was so fond of writting )
>that the creatures were from his imagination - more significantly to me
>at least - his dreams and nightmares.  This has always given rise to the
>question (for me at least) whether there was some validity in
>Lovecraft's mythos as _a_ (i.e. his) perception of the Qlippoth which
>does not necessarily validate the book The Necronomicon.

this is EXACTLY the kind of speculation (regarding to what nonphysical
objects, structures, or entities Lovecraft's works may relate) that I
find valuable to consider in evaluating the Necronomicon.

>4.  IMHO the spells appear relatively modern.  They bare more semblance
>to 19th/20th century Magick (esp. Crowleyan) than they do 12-17th
>century works (except perhaps for the version attributed to Dee which I
>found interesting in that there is little mention of such a work until
>recent times - always seemed suspect given the attention acquired by his
>other works) and bare no resemblance (beyond the names apparently
>derived from the Enuma Elish) to ancient Sumerian rituals.

so in a Necronomicon that Lovecraft described it would be at least
900 pages long or something that sort (Lovecraft gives page numbers
in his citations, along with quotes, which would have to APPEAR on
those pages), and what kind of religio-magical contents would you
EXPECT otherwise? based on HPL's description, what resemblances to
archaeological or anthropological data should there be? would we
expect it to be related to R'lyehaen archaeogeometrics and/or 
pentacular shapes twisted into a style disturbing to the human mind?

>6.  I would like to see one valid reference (preferably not modern) to a
>work outside the Necronomicon itself stating that it had been rumored
>that so-and-so had such owned a work way back when.

it is NOT historical, it derives from the dreams of a fiction writer,
who, in particular, describes the magical potency of dreamworlds and
dream data.

>7.  The Mad Arab story is fairly lame given that he all but writes his
>own death scene.

>&    The stars grow dim in their places, and the Moon pales before me, 
>&    as though a Veil were blown across its flame.  Dog-faced demons
>&    approach the circumfrance of my sanctuary.  Strange lines appear 
>&    carved on my door and walls, and the light from the Window grows 
>&    increasingly dim.
>&    A wind has risen.
>&    The Dark Waters stir.
>&    This is the Book of the Servant of the Gods....
>     -----------------------------------------------------------------    
>      _Necronomicon_ (Avon Books), the Testimony of the Mad Arab, 
>       the second part p. 218 
>     ____________________________________________________________

does this have ANY correlate to quotation from Lovecraft's work?

the smallest possible construction of a Necronomicon would contain
the quotes from Lovecraft's works on pages numbered appropriately,
whether or not they pertained to a numerological sequence. the book
would also conform to Lovecraft's general description also, and its
content would resemble in character the historical influences that
Lovecraft described in certainty. any ambiguity in HPL's data would 
allow some variation, and the rest would have to conform to the
minimal standards constructed.

at some point I'll begin a compilation of exactly what HPL DID say
about the book, and possibly proceed to other "Cthulhu Mythos"
authors who added to the corpus, unless someone else would like to
do this work or knows where it is already accomplished and would
like to refer me. thanks.

n'yrl'thot'p
-- 
mailto:nagasiva@luckymojo.com ; http://www.luckymojo.com/nagasiva.html
mailto:boboroshi@satanservice.org ; http://www.satanservice.org/ 
emailed replies may be posted; cc replies if response desired

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races