Working with the Necronomicon Current

[Marc]

I would like to start this thread to explore ideas and experiences in working with Lovecraft's work within the Typhonian current. 

Would anyone like to share their insights?

[irenicus777]

Well, for starters, a good relationship with the Mythos itself is mandatory. You may be thinking that this goes without saying but, alas, that is not the case. There are numerous magicians and "magicians" out there, practicing magick focused on the Old Ones, who have never read a single Lovecraft tale in their lives (this "disease" is especially wide-spread to the Simonomicon users).
Sure, some of the Necronomicons out there are pretty good (Tyson's version, for example and... oh well, the other ones are pretty crappy, I guess), and sources such as Kenneth Grant's, Phil Hine's or Asenath Mason's books give excellent information on the matter of Lovecraftian Magick, but nothing beats the original. So, a basic knowledge of Loveacraftian prose is required. And a great deal of love for it too. Otherwise, why bother?

Having said the above, practicing Necronomicon Magick (for some years now) has led me to believe that the key ingredient to Lovecraftian practices lies in HPL's stories (and life story...  ) themselves. I am talking, of course, about dreaming. Revelation, or communication, through dreams is a common element in most Mythos tales (particularly the ones written by Lovecraft himself). The Call of Cthulhu and Dreams in the Witch-House are obvious examples. The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, a novel that contains, in my humble opinion, loads of esoteric ideas and parallels to occult themes, occurs in the dream lands (in fact, a professor from the UK stated that this tale was Lovecraft's journey up the Tree of Life. I think his article appeared in a JASM issue). Even the two Silver Key tales revolve around Randolph Carter's (i.e., Lovecraft himself) efforts to enter the dreamlands and return to the joyful state (which parallels the Gnostic idea of entering the Pleroma).

Whatever method you choose to employ, whether it is meditation on Cthulhu and R'lyeh, the Koth pathwork (see Sennitt's Infernal Texts: Nox & Liber Koth), the Silver Key, the Astral Sabbat etc, dreams (which, according to many occult and esoteric approaches, are basically an alternative/equivalent to astral travel) are most times the medium through which the Necronomicon Gnosis is achieved. Visualization too has similar results. To this end, I believe Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God is a good place to start, since it emphasizes Grant's work with dream control as a means to contact "extraterrestrial" or "non human"... "entities".

Not that dream work is the only way, of course. Possession rites are also frequently used (particularly with figures such as Nyarlathotep), where the magician becomes a "medium" through which the "god" speaks (I have to say though that I haven't dabbled in this kind of work yet). Sex magick can also be connected to the Old Ones, such as Yig and especially Shub-Niggurath. I doubt evocations (Goetia style) can be effective, although some people claim they have results.



Since we are on the subject, this is a question I always like to ask, since it often leads to interesting discussions: can the material developed by Lovecraft's "followers" (i.e. Derleth, Smith etc), which almost always has been the result of conscious thought or personal preferences (and especially in Derleth's work, religious beliefs) be as effective (magically, that is) to Lovecraft's original work? (which in many cases resulted from his dreams). From a chaos magic viewpoint the answer is positive, i.e., if it can be used effectively, it will work. But can the imagery be as "evocative" as the original Lovecraftian material?

[Marc]

Hi irenicus, to answer your question about Lovecraft's followers and their work (result of conscious thought)..I would have to say that I believe it could still be effective because the current has already come in through Lovecraft's original transmissions via dreams. The current and all that it contains is already here and one's imagination could be used as a vehicle for furthering the current. This is just a thought.

I agree that dream control is the key here with this type of work. Are you able to provide any works/references and/or experiences with specific dream control experiments and techniques. I have done a bit of research into dreams and their roles in our evolution and their impact on our waking states (ex: dream deprivation experiments done in the 70's and 80's and the effects they had on the subject's waking states). As for the odd lucid dream (excluding astral travel in ritual setting)here and there with accompanying effects such as paralysis or strange sensations for up to an entire day following an intense dream ...I haven't really delved deep into dream work. I would love to hear any recommendations and/or experiences.

[sandow]

Oct 18, 2013 0:10:13 GMT Marc said:

As for the odd lucid dream (excluding astral travel in ritual setting)here and there with accompanying effects such as paralysis or strange sensations for up to an entire day following an intense dream ...I haven't really delved deep into dream work. I would love to hear any recommendations and/or experiences.

Stephen LaBerge books are the best intro to the practice of lucid dreaming IMHO. He is the guy who proved the reality of lucid dreaming to the scientifc community and made it a "mainstream" field of study. You can also look at "dreaming yourself awake" by Alan Wallace, which compares "modern" lucid dreaming with with the old tibetan dream yoga.
If you want to go deeper in tibetan traditions, you can look at "the tibetan yogas of Dream and sleep", by Tenzin Wengyal Rinpoche (not a buddhist, but a lama of the Bon tradition - I remember Grant writing somewhere that the Bon were maintaining the true Typhonian tradition in the east!). fascinating book, but a lot of eastern symbolism which may difficult to put in practice without a good knowledge of this system and philosophy. Perhaps someday somebody will come with a "westernized" version. So for a purely practical point of view, I would stick to Laberge.

[Marc]

Sandow, thanks, I have never heard of Stephen LaBerge but will be checking out his works.

[jcurwen]

The book Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep isnt that difficult to get through, but the last parts are only for initiated Dzogchen meditation practitioners. There are some good preliminary practices. I like reading this sort of thing because its the words of a practicing member of a tibetan lineage, as opposed to a western academic researcher (who i would still read, however). I feel that even without an official initiation reading a text like this can build connections to ancient energies.

And for Lovecraft, I just commented (on the eastern mysticism board ironically) about how Lovecrafts "deities" can be thought of as mantras to invoke an otherworldly mindstate, a sort of overall experience, as opposed to an interaction with an individual presence. Reading Lovecraft though is mandatory if one would use any Necronomicon workings i think, to gain a sense of the nature of the cosmic energies. Some of his talk is just mind altering, if one accepts it as a sort of prose - poetry. His style is hypnotic and truly evokes a sense of cosmic vastness, mysterious and sometimes hostile to humans and our conceptions. Clark Ashton Smith is easily the best of his followers, but its hard to get all the best of his stories in one volume, he has so many, and theres alot of more "regular" science fiction and fantasy (its all high quality though). He has a dark sense of humor, and includes sexual references, which Lovecraft avoided. I recommend stories The Double Shadow, The Chain of Aforgomon, the Plutonian Drug, The Witchcraft of Ulua, the Devotee of Evil, i could go on, theres so many. Many could be considered horror set in a fantasy world. Protagonists / narrators are sometimes the "bad guy" - dark wizards conducting hellish rites. His use of language to describe insane imagery is second only to Lovecraft himself.

[Frater Shaddad]

My two posts in this thread linked here go into some of my experiences of Working with the "Necronomicon Current" or as I prefer to call it the 23 Current within two Orders of which I am a member. The Esoteric Order of Dagon and the Typhonian Order:

theprimalgrimoire.proboards.com/thread/74/magical-revival-ch1-return-phoenix

[saethram]

I don't think it's bad to work with the necronomicon, althought that is totally nebulous. As lovecraft himself
states, he basically found the book in a University Library (if that tells you anything). basically i would consider
any 'dead' book to be a 'necronomicon' although the true Necronomicon is supposed to actually be bound in
flesh, supposedly human flesh - although i am strongly opposed to the use of human bones or flesh in any kind
of human religious creation. As it goes against my personal beliefs.

[Frater Shaddad]

Jan 28, 2014 0:50:34 GMT saethram said:

I don't think it's bad to work with the necronomicon, althought that is totally nebulous. As lovecraft himself
states, he basically found the book in a University Library (if that tells you anything). basically i would consider
any 'dead' book to be a 'necronomicon' although the true Necronomicon is supposed to actually be bound in
flesh, supposedly human flesh - although i am strongly opposed to the use of human bones or flesh in any kind
of human religious creation. As it goes against my personal beliefs.

Are you referring to the "Simon" Necronomicon?  I am a member of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and have never Worked the Simon, or any of the other Necronomicons that have been published.  I've always created my own rituals when Working with the 23 Current.  I'd be interested in reading some experiences of any members here that have, though.

I don't recall Lovecraft saying that he found the book in a University Library.  In fact, Lovecraft stated more than once that he just made it up, and no such book exists.  The "true' Necronomicon is not bound in human skin.  I can't be, because it exists in a different plane/dimension than the 3D physical plane that we humans inhabit.  It has also been posited by Grant that Liber AL may, in fact, be the "true" Necronomicon.

There are, however, many books that are bound in human skin.  Of course, these people weren't killed for their skin, but had died.  There is, at least, one bookbinder company out there that specializes in binding books in the human skin of people that wanted this done upon their death.  I, personally, think that is really awesome, and am considering having my Grimoire and/or another book that I will have published by then, bound in my skin upon my death.

Speaking of books I will have published, and considering the title of this thread, I am in the process of working on a book with others that is highly relevant to the title of this thread.  That's all I'm going to say about it, at this point.  Further details will be announced as the publication nears completion. 

[Frater Shaddad]

Lovecraftian magick is quite the passion of mine, so I really would love for this thread to continue. So how about this question: has anyone Worked with the Necronomicon Tarot by Donald Tyson?  I haven't, but I would be interested reading about other's experiences/opinions that have.

I know that a significant number of members here have Worked with Lovecraftian magick, in general, so c'mon folks let's share something, anything, and keep this thread alive! 

[saethram]

I know that true GNOSIS is achieved through application of the current within modern days. i could use a new necronomicon
as i don't have any.,.. i worry if it's even correct. as i've worked with it before and not had good results. i usually focus on urdu,
hebrew, and especially arabic... i don't really know it's application or use except that it fits within a lovecraft current..........

 i had that necromicon tarot that my friend gave except it was sztolen along with other things mine.. soo not so good!

[squareye]

Back in 2007 I performed the opening of the first of the seven planetary gates from Simon's Nec. Although I'd had the book for many years and liked the tone of the text and although I was well aware of its provenance I'd not tried it out before.

I performed the monthly preparation and conjuration of the Watcher etc. as an astral operation. In fact I created a special astral space just for this type of working. The opening of the gate ritual was fine in this astral mode and the beings and passwords were seen and heard. Afterwards I had one of the most creatively productive periods of my magical life to date in the creation of a personal magical universe and system of magic that I still use today.

Some time later I thought about continuing with the other planetary gates but all divinatory enquiries were adamant that I should stick with elucidating my own system, so I never went any further with it.

So I can conclude that it certainly acted as an initiatory experience into a Self-created magical system; not sure if I will ever go any further with it or if there is now a need?

[dustin]

I think I am in the same boat with Frater Shaddad on the usage of the Simon book. I could rant about it being bunk all day but we won't get anywhere with that, will we?

*Shaddad, we need to talk. I think we could become good friends. *

The Lovecraftian Mythos is all about experimentation. That being said, you can adapt existing work with the Old Ones or use your imagination to come up with new stuff. That being said, I think that reading Lovecraft's work isn't necessary but it doesn't hurt to do so.

But I do think that dream magick would be fairly important, at least with contact.

Dustin

[Gregory Peters]

Speaking of books bound in human skin, there was some noise about a few books showing up at Harvard Law School. Anyway, looks like it turned out to be sheepskin www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/04/us-usa-skin-harvard-idUSBREA331VF20140404

In my approach, dreamwork and astral work is an essential ingredient of the Lovecraftian or Necronomicon gnosis. It reminds me a great deal of the high tantrik sadhanas in Tibetan Buddhism, or as well the cremation ground sadhanas of Hindu vamamarga tantrism. Elaborate visualizations of deities, some extremely horrific and alien in appearance; vast cyclopean palaces in strange spaces that are the mandalas or sacred pithas; mantras that twist both the mind and tongue with "weird and monstrous speech" - all of these are in parallel, using different vocabularies to describe spaces that are outside of the normal waking consciousness.

[nephrenka]

Jan 28, 2014 1:45:52 GMT Frater Shaddad said:

Jan 28, 2014 0:50:34 GMT saethram said:

Are you referring to the "Simon" Necronomicon?  I am a member of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and have never Worked the Simon, or any of the other Necronomicons that have been published.  I've always created my own rituals when Working with the 23 Current.  I'd be interested in reading some experiences of any members here that have, though.

Typically when working with Lovecraftian energies, or the 23rd current, I also make my own rituals and rites built on previous experience and channeled information, but I have tried some of the published content. One in fact was probably the most intense working I have experienced with a group. We were using the Hay/Wilson text, with some of the materials from it, including an engraved altar top (an oak ''butcher's block'') made for the ceremony, and a set of the stones with symbols from the text also. The stones had been with the group for some time, modeled after instructions in the same text, engraved on river stones and consecrated over the course of a couple of months (Around 250lbs for the set of 11).

There were 2 males and 2 females performing the rite, on what some would call Lammas of 2012. Access was had to about 50 acres of private property bordered by pike national forest, with no buildings save a large barn of modern make on a bare hilltop clearing with a mix of pine and aspen descending in all directions. It was looking like rain, so after some deliberation a decision was made that the ritual were to take place in the barn, which was one giant room with a couple pillars and north-south facing bay doors.  Three rituals from the book were to be performed; To Call Forth Yog-Sothoth, To Conjure of Ye Globes, and The Formula of Dho-Hna.

Using a personal magic sword a very large circle was inscribed on the ground (just under 50 ft. diameter) as well as the pentacle sort of diagram from the Dho-Hna Formula (to the south of the circle).  The entirety of the line work was then filled with white flour as to be visible within the lantern-light.

The series of rituals went smoothly with a high drama and anticipation until I went in turn through the movements/verbal rigamarole of the Formula of Dho-Hna. About halfway through, while going to kneel I felt what could be considered a sharp pain that started at the ball of my foot and shot to the area of the crown, then quickly dissipated into an electric sensation akin to a body high on psychedelics.  This energizing feeling continued til the end, and remained, making me wish I could burst in a way. The last member finished, and must have felt about the same, looking halfway between terrified and orgasmic. There had been thunder throughout the working, which had quickly subsided almost too perfectly in-tune with the working.

The decision was made to go outside and meditate since it was still dry. The four of us lay in corpse pose, heads forming a diamond shape, looking up at the stars beginning to burn a hole in the clouds above. Next I began to hear something I can only describe as ''space ship noises'', a sort of beeping and bliping noise. The clouds above began to open in a spiral pattern, with phantom concentric crystalline rings that left the impression of vast intelligence emanating from the center, seeming to magnify the starlight, and then suck it instantaneously into the center, accumulating into an orb that vibrated into tracers of itself, undulating through an unreal spectrum of color until everything was a bright, living stream of visions detailing a kind of duality transforming into something terrible but beautiful and then into void in an endless loop.  I can't tell you how long that lasted, but it seemed brief and enduring at the same time. Continuing to meditate for a while, I calmed myself and decided it was just a more intense trance state than I am used to. Besides a lot of vague impressions, and some inspired artwork, the only thing I was able to absorb clearly from the ordeal was a kind of mantra ''yug-yog-yig''. Which I have done some work with since.

Everyone packed up after a couple hours of decompression, and the next time we all got together, shared our impressions and journal entries from the night of the event, and creepy enough all reported near identical sounds and visuals, including the sort of conscious stream of information. We also found out that several hopeful ''what ifs'' that were discussed during decompression had in fact come true (mundane/social sort of things). A few photographs were taken of the circle just before the ritual, and all produced weird sort of ''orbs'' that you see a lot in ghost hunting photographs (a lot of them), which I also thought a bit interesting.

[Frater Shaddad]

Thanks for sharing!

[sirius1]

I did some exploratory work with Yuggoth and Cthullu and another deity of Chaldean Mythos which fitted in with a lot of what the former deities had in common. This was at a time when we used to meet in Leeds, England and would meet with Stephen Jones and Andrew Chumbley. A fellow magician RBB from Dewsbury in Yorkshire and I would meet and we would discuss things we were experimenting with - although, to be fair it wasn't so much experimentation so much as actual practice in testing the waters. There was an 'odd' feeling when we would vocalise one of the afore-mentioned names. On one occasion another fellow went deathly white as his skin began to feel similar feelings as to what we were feeling in RBB's Temple. It was not earthly in character and even now the feeling was of something damp, cold with a smell of old, damp clay and a breath upon our necks as we huddled together in that room adjacent to the Sorcerer's Apprentice.


We never got to speak much with Chumbley as He was on a different wavelength -and would make a really good Poker Player -since you could never read on his face what he was thinking, doing or planning to do. At the time some of the people who gathered in Leeds were just fellow students of Craft and other studies. RBB and I were known to each other for at least twenty years though RBB was older than i. A member mentioned here what significance was the number 770 - well I used to be a member of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn run by an American gentleman, though nearer home - in Manchester i was a member of the Order of the Prince run by one Ray Bogart. So I have been around and done a lot and dipped my fingers into all kinds of pies. I have reached tenth degree of AMORC under Ralph Maxwell Lewis and under Gary Stewart of the C + RC, and several other orders besides my family upbringing -and have experimented with spirits much as Aliester Crowley and Kenneth Grant also did..

I am now enjoying (does One 'enjoy' ones age) my seventh decade of life here and still dabbling in little-known arts. sirius (frater)

[sirius1]

Frater Shaddad mentioned a silver Clavis, which would unlock the successive doors that bared our way to the mighty corridors of space. Beyond those doors lies a corridor that is a wormhole into another void beyond ours - from which our universe was created. We are not the only universe and the creatures that do exist beyond our comprehension are but pale reflections of that which Howard Phillips Lovecraft felt and were a nuance and essence of what lies beyond 'his' Mountains of Madness... I have seen several copies of the Necronomicon, one of whom was from the hand of Charles (Hamarat) Pace, also a colleague of mine from Glasgow, Scotland and knew a lot more than is written down today.

There are some books that bear amulets and talismans that are 'alive' to the touch and draw forth Spirits without opening one's mouth to visibly appear - before you - if you but had those books. I fear Azoetia is not one of them! Sirius1

[sirius1]

Gregory Peters mentions a book that turned out to be Sheepskin (but there are books) that are made using human skin for its pages and a harder material for its cover. A lot of these are made in Nepal and had or have had links with Buddhism. There are several things used by the monks that started life as the skull of a fellow brother Monk (used as a chalice and lined in Silver). Also too, there are the flutes and trumpets made of a thigh -bone (Femur) of a tall human. They emit a quite strange sound and the vibration has a 'quality' that could if intoned in the right place such as a temple or sacred space, draw forth Spirits from the Qliphoth. I've not been privy to trying one out to draw forth Spirits from the Qliphoth, but was invited to produce some sounds with one and it did have a strange affect on me - that I couldn't shake off for several days...Sirius1

[sirius1]

Incidentally, the Necronomicon that was owned by Charles Pace was hand-bound (leather - or skin?) The writing was hand-written into the book in various colours depending on what it was for, using a quill pen. When I evoke spirits I wear a snakeskin about my person (either Black Mamba or Python) its just something I was taught at an early age - I did it with Hamarat and he was excited when I wore it and seemed to fire off some thoughts in his own mind. It always seems to draw the Spirits I want, maybe it will work for you too? The skin can be the sloughed skin off a snake or one that has been treated so that it forms a belt of snake-skin leather. Sirius1

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 28, 2014 22:25:17 GMT sirius1 said:

Frater Shaddad mentioned a silver Clavis, which would unlock the successive doors that bared our way to the mighty corridors of space. Beyond those doors lies a corridor that is a wormhole into another void beyond ours - from which our universe was created. We are not the only universe and the creatures that do exist beyond our comprehension are but pale reflections of that which 

Sirius1, what you say here matches my own experiences with what I have been starting to apprehend regarding Azathoth. The primal chaos might very well be represented in the physical universe as the black hole at the center of our galaxy -- and in fact at the center of every galaxy. The singularity punches a hole in space and time that explodes into a new universe. This occurs over and over again, every black hole being the creation of another universe "B", ad infinitum.

[Gregory Peters]

Apr 28, 2014 22:42:28 GMT sirius1 said:

Gregory Peters mentions a book that turned out to be Sheepskin (but there are books) that are made using human skin for its pages and a harder material for its cover. A lot of these are made in Nepal and had or have had links with Buddhism. There are several things used by the monks that started life as the skull of a fellow brother Monk (used as a chalice and lined in Silver). Also too, there are the flutes and trumpets made of a thigh -bone (Femur) of a tall human. They emit a quite strange sound and the vibration has a 'quality' that could if intoned in the right place such as a temple or sacred space, draw forth Spirits from the Qliphoth. I've not been privy to trying one out to draw forth Spirits from the Qliphoth, but was invited to produce some sounds with one and it did have a strange affect on me - that I couldn't shake off for several days...Sirius1

The thigh bone instrument is used regularly in the Bon rites, chod in particular, to call the spirits of a location to attend to the great feast that is about to be offered. In addition malas made of human bone fragments, and skull cups (kapalas) are present. In these rites the practitioner gives their body over to the various elemental and spiritual entities of a place in a somewhat (to western minds) gruesome set of visualizations involving the chopping up of the body and boiling all of the meat, blood and other bits into a broth that the entities feast on. More often than not, the majority of spirits present are feminine in nature, the dakinis and yoginis that require regular offerings of meat and alcohol.

[Gregory Peters]

Side note, here is a great recording of Tibetan tantric music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UAudR5O8Hk

[sirius1]

The sacrificial rites (cleaned up by the Christians - in the sacrament of the Blood into Wine (the Saxon and Viking 'Blot' was originally a Blood Sacrifice), Flesh into Bread) is an Ancient practice going back beyond Buddhist practise; when a person, a priest/priestess who is dying offers up his/her body for the community in a sacred festival to increase the chances of re-incarnation through those who partake of the body of their living brother or sister approaching Samadhi and thus adding to the Survival of the Clan Structure! Sirius1

[sirius1]

The Tibetan Tantric Music is strange to British ears but, nevertheless it has a summoning and calming affect upon the Psyche. It reminds me in some way to the music provided by Singing Bowls of various dimensions. I have a silver chalice dated via the Hallmark as 1801, which when stroked with the wooden mallet I got with my singing Bowl, produces a deeper and seemingly, a much deeper intonation and sound that the four inch tibetan bowl I have. I am aware of some bowls being of the order of having a diameter of some eighteen inches and very heavy, but those of this calibre have never presented themselves in the areas where I have found myself and can only rely on recordings. Sirius1