Realms of the Igigi Part 2: The Kingdom of Heaven

1			(amel) Agru
2			Kakkab u Alap shame
3	{		Re`u kinu shame u
			Tu´ame rabuti
4			AL.LUL (Shittu ?)
5			Kalbu rabu
6			Shiru
7			Zibanitum
8			Akrabu
9			PA-BIL-SAG
p. 207
10			SUHUR.MASH
11			Gula
12			DILGANU u Rikis nuni

 

Greetings! The above chart on the first Zodiac which was set up by Tiâmat, the Evil one, see The Babylonian Legends of the Creation, London, 1921, page 17 (British Museum publication.)]. In one of our recent article, entitled Keys to the 12 Hidden Gates in the Simon Necronomicon, we discussed the 3rd and final initiation of the Necronomicon Tradition. Now we will show supporting evidence from other sources concerning the value of this initiation.

The Mad Arab mentions the following in the Urilia Text:

“When the Great KUTULU rises up and greets the Stars, then the War will be over, and the World be One.”

From the above passage we can determine that the work of the Necronomicon Tradition is integral to the Greater Mysteries, in that it has everything to do with completing our being and perfecting ourselves. Yet it is still different. It is a qliphotic rite that has everything to do with the perfection of those who are jinn and of jinn-human progeny. In regards to the mad Arab’s words above, we find this theme to be very consistent with what is mentioned in The Babylonian Legends of Creation, by E. A. Wallis Budge:

“There are in the British Museum several fragments of Neo-Babylonian copies of the Seven Tablets of Creation, the exact position of which is at present uncertain. One of these (S. 2013) is of some importance because it speaks of one object which was in the “upper Tiâmat” , and of another which was in the “lower Tiâmat” . This shows that the Babylonians thought that one half of the body of Tiâmat, which was split up by Marduk, was made into the celestial ocean, and the other half into the terrestrial ocean, in other words, into “the waters that were above” and “the waters that were beneath” the firmament respectivel.”

When we consider what is mentioned by the Mad Arab in the Urilia Text and what is mentioned by Budge, in the material cited above it seems evident that the Realm of the Igigi is what Christians refer to as the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jake-Stratton-Kent mentions the following in Stellar Lore Essay:

“The two rivers are reminiscent of crossing rivers in Greek and Semitic legend. They also suggest the White and Blue Nile of Egypt. Originally they were associated with Sumeria’s Tigris and Euphrates. The Goddess Tiamat, the Celestial Dragon, has been identified with the Milky Way by some students. But the Underworld Dragon was always the Zodiac itself, through whose body the traveller made their way. On the other hand Tiamat has been identified with the cloak of mist over the rivers of Sumeria, spread out on the plain like an immense serpent. It is more likely however that Tiamat had a physical as well as a celestial counterpart. The dragon of the zodiac is necessarily circular, the serpent with its tail in its mouth in fact. Not only is the serpent said to encircle the world in this form, but to coil about World Mountains and Trees. In Greek and Semitic mythology it guards the ‘forbidden fruit’ at what is recognisably an archetypal World Centre. Draco has been identified with all these mythological Dragon Guardians.

We should also note that the Sumerio-Babylonian Stellar Lore recognised two kinds of celestial spirit. The first kind are the children of Anu, the infernal judges, the Anunnaki – identified with the oarsmen of Argo Navis. These are the spirits of stars below the horizon, in the Underworld. The other kind, the Igigi are spirits of the stars above the horizon, and were also associated with Anu, the Sumerian Sky and Heaven God. In Mesopotamia (and points north) Draco, Ursa Major and the Circumpolar stars are Igigi, they never set. Canis Major, Argo Navis and Orion are invisible much of the time in northern latitudes and are thus Anunnaki. Tiamat fulfills both roles, as celestial dragon she is Igigi, as Underworld River Anunnaki.”0

Kent comments clearly illustrate that the “Igigi” are representative of the upper heavens. It seems that this cosmology is also expressed in the Simon Necronomicon:

“The lines of my life have been oblitered by my wanderings in the Waste, over the letters writ in the heavens by the gods. And even now I can hear the wolves howling in the mountains as they did that fateful night, and they are calling my name, and the names of Others. I fear for my flesh, but I fear for my spirit more.”

The “wanderings” that the Mad Arab is referring to, is the continual process of Walking and re-Walking the seven gates of initiation as they appear in the Simon Necronomicon. Evidently, the Mad Arab is explaining such as a warning against these sort of ignorant actions. we can be certain of this by his description of the Igigi:

“For this is the Book of the Dead, the Book of the Black Earth, that I have writ down at the peril of my life, exactly as I received it, on the planes of the IGIGI, the cruel celestial spirits from beyond the Wanderers of the Wastes.”

Here we see that the Igigi are described as dwelling beyond the “Wanderers of the Wasters.” we can therefore conclude that when the Mad Arab speaks about his “wanderings in the Waste,” he is referring to Walking and re-Walking the seven gates of initiation. The Initiate can call upon one of the seven gates after initiation by using the proper method of drawing out the seal of the Gate and invoking it in a fashion that is similar to how the 50 Names are invoked, or the could use the method in the Book of Calling.

Other passages in the Simon Necronomicon help us to appreciate that the term “Spaces” is also a reference to the realms of the Igigi. Let us look at a few examples of these. The first is taken from the Book of Calling:

“THIS is the Book of the Ceremonies of Calling, handed down since the time the Elder Gods walked the Earth, Conquerors of the Ancient Ones.”

The above passage relates to the rituals used by the Elder Gods when calling upon “earthly powers.” This is vastly different when we read the Mad Arab’s Frist Testimony:

“Let all who read this book be warned thereby that the habitation of men are seen and surveyed by that Ancient Race of gods and demons from a time before time, and that they seek revenge for that forgotten battle that took place somewhere in the Cosmos and rent the Worlds in the days before the creation of Man, when the Elder Gods walked the Spaces, the race of MARDUK, as he is known to the Chaldeans, and of ENKI our MASTER, the Lord of Magicians.”

This part of the text indicates that the Elder Gods were first Walkers the plains of the Igigi, or the “spaces,” before Earth was settled and that this was the reason that it was probably referred to as the Abode of the Gods. In the work cited before by Budge, we find the following:

“Not content with Ummu-Khubur’s brood of devils, Tiâmat called the stars and powers of the air to her aid, for she “set up” (1) the Viper, (2) the Snake, (3) the god Lakhamu, (4) the Whirlwind, (5) the ravening Dog, (6) the Scorpion-man, (7) the mighty Storm-wind, (8) the Fish-man, and (9) the Horned Beast. These bore (10) the “merciless, invincible weapon,” and were under the command of (11) Kingu, whom Tiâmat calls “her husband.” Thus Tiâmat had Eleven mighty Helpers besides the devils spawned by Ummu-Khubur. We may note in passing that some of the above-mentioned Helpers appear among the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac which Marduk “set up” after his conquest of Tiâmat, e.g., the Scorpion-man, the Horned Beast, etc. This fact suggests that the first Zodiac was “set up” by Tiâmat, who with her Eleven Helpers formed the Twelve Signs; the association of evil with certain stars may date from that period. That the Babylonians regarded the primitive gods as powers of evil is clear from the fact that Lakhamu, one of them, is enumerated among the allies of Tiâmat.

The helpers of Tiâmat were placed by her under the command of a god called KINGU  who is TAMMUZ. He was the counterpart, or equivalent, of ANU, the Sky-god, in the kingdom of darkness, for it is said in the text “Kingu was exalted and received the power of Anu,” i.e., he possessed the same power and attributes as Anu. When Tiâmat appointed Kingu to be her captain, she recited over him a certain spell or incantation, and then she gave him the TABLET OF DESTINIES and fastened it to his breast, saying, “Whatsoever goeth forth from thy mouth shall be established.” Armed with all the magical powers conferred upon him by this Tablet, and heartened by all the laudatory epithets which his wife Tiâmat heaped upon him, Kingu went forth at the head of his devils.”

From the onset of our discussion it seems that the Gate-Walker finally gains full initation when, he or she, travels from the lower worlds and reaches the realms of the Igigi. this is what is meant by the Mad Arab’s words:

“When the Great KUTULU rises up and greets the Stars, then the War will be over, and the World be One.”

We can determine this based on another passage that talks about the Igigi:

” Only when thou hast shown thy power over the Maskim and the Rabishu, mayest thou venture forth to the Land of the IGIGI,”

It is only when the Gate-Walker has reached a level of spiritual maturity and purity that they are allowed to enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens. This is the purpose of the qliphotic alchemy so integral to the Necronomicon Tradition, and it is for this reason that we find the Mad Arab’s words in the Magan Text, and appropriate conclusion:

“For what is new
Came from that which is old
And what is old
Shall replace that which is new
And once again the Ancient Ones
Shall rule upon the face of the Earth!
And this is too the Covenant!”

“Only when thou hast shown thy power over the Maskim and the Rabishu, mayest thou venture forth to the Land of the IGIGI,…Only when ADAR has been obtained, may the Priest consider himself a master of the planes of the Spheres, and able to wrestle with the Old Gods. Once Death Herself has been stared in the Eye, can the Priest then summon and control the denizens of Death’s darkly curtained halls. Then can he hope to open the Gate without fear and without that loathing of the spirit that slays the man.”

Warlock Asylum