A Fourth Way School Classic: The Simon Necronomicon

  I am sure that many of you might be wondering why the images of these three playing cards precedes this post, and what place do they have in our discussio?. Since we have been discussing some aspects of Fourth Way thought recently, I thought that it might be useful to share some thoughts as to how the teachings of Gurdjieff relate to the Necronomicon Tradition. In the Wikipedia article entitled Centers (Fourth Way) we find the following:

“In G.I. Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way teaching, also known as The Work, centers or brains refer to separate apparatuses within a being that dictate its specific functions. There are three main centers: intellectual, emotional, and moving. These three centers in the human body are analogous to a three storey factory: the intellectual center being the top storey, the emotional center being the middle storey, and the moving center being the bottom storey. The moving center, or the bottom storey is further divided into three separate functions: sex, instinctive, and motor.”

According to the information found here, the three main centers of Fourth Way thought are the moving, emotional, and intellectual centers. The intellectual center is at the top, with the emotional center in the middle, and the moving center at the bottom. We can also see this same expression in the playing cards that appear above, which is an exercise that is used in Fourth Way thought.

The Jack represents the moving center, which would relate to the Simon Necronomicon’s Conjuration of the Fire God. According to the Wikipedia article cited earlier we find the definition of the moving center, as follows:

“Moving or physical center. This brain is located in the spinal column. This brain makes beings capable of physical actions, and can be further divided into three distinct centers: ..Motor: Controls motor functions. The acts of walking, the physical aspects of talking, as well as even functions that are considered “reflexive,” are all part of this sub-center. ..Instinctive: Controls faculties which are completely involuntary. This does not typically encompass “knee-jerk” reactions, nor what we would typically consider reflexes. A common example of the functioning of this center is the contracting of blood vessels to facilitate the pumping of blood. …Sexual. Controls sexual functions. This one is exceeding complex, encompassing conversion of energies within a being. This center is implicated in abnormal human development. The Fourth Way uses the disharmonious functioning of this sub-center to explain a very large array of issues. “

According to the description above this center is the motivating force behind our very being. This would effectively correspond to the Conjuration of the Fire God. Francois Lenormant makes an interesting observation, concerning Gibil, in his classic work, Chaldean Magic, where he states:

“He was worshipped principally in the flame of sacrifice, and therefore he was called “the supreme pontiff upon the face of the earth.” But this god was also recognized in the flame which burnt on the domestic hearth, and protected the house against evil influences and demons,…This god, who resided in the flame of sacrifice and in that of the hearth, was also the cosmic fire, distributed throughout nature, which was necessary to her existence, and which shone in the stars. Regarded in this light,  he was adored as the son of Ana,..”

The Queen corresponds to the emotional center. It is interesting to note that in a deck of playing cards, all the Queens, are holding flowers representing the emotional energy that is cut at its ripeness by the King in the playing deck who is always holding a sword. In the Wikipedia article cited earlier, we find this mention of the emotional center:

“Emotional or feeling center. This faculty makes beings capable of feeling emotions. This brain is dispersed throughout the human body as nerves which have been labeled as the “nerve nodes” . The biggest concentration of these nerves is in the solar plexus.^[“

This is a very interesting definition of the emotional center, one that corresponds to the Conjuration of the Watcher. From personal experience the Watcher appears to the Priest as an amazon woman, and to the Priestess of the Necronomicon Tradition, as a dark man. In the deluxe edition of the Atlantean Necronomicon, we find this quote taken from the Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster, translated by Thomas Stanley in 1661:

“The soul of Men will in a manner clasp God to her self; ..Having nothing mortal, she is wholly inebriated from God: ..For she boasts Harmony, in which the mortal Body exists. “

This relates to the Watcher’s description given in the Simon Necronomicon:

“The Watcher is a Race sent by the Elder Ones. It keeps vigil while one sleeps, provided the appropriate ritual and sacrifice has been performed,:”

Later in a commentary about the Chaldean Oracles, we find the following in Thomas Stanley’s translation:

“The Magi that are followers of Zoroaster, as also many others, hold that the Human Soul is immortal; and descended from above to serve the mortal Body, that is, to operate therein for a certain time; and to Animate, and Adorn it to her power; and then returns to the place from which she came. And whereas there are many Mansions there for the Soul, one wholly-bright, another wholly dark, others betwixt both, partly-bright, partly-dark: The Soul, being descended from that which is wholly-bright, into the Body, if she perform her Office well, runs back into the same place; but if not well, she retires into worse Mansions, according to the things which she hath done in Life.”

This shows us that the Watcher communicates to the physical vessel emotionally, or to the Initiate in an emotional manner, most Initiate’s can attest to this personally. I am sure of it. Next we have the intellectual center, which is described in the Wikipedia article cited earlier:

“Intellectual or thinking center. This center is the faculty which makes a being capable of logic and reasoning. This one is located in the head.”

In our depiction of the playing cards above, we see the King always holding a sword to cut the ripe emotional energy at the right time, and use this emotional energy intellectually to obtain the desired effect of the Work. The Simon Necronomicon describes this process very well:

“The passing of the Gates gives the priest both power and wisdom to use it. He becomes able to control the affairs of his life more perfectly than before,”

One thing that even the casual reader will observe concerning the Simon Necronomicon, is that other than the Gate-Walking rituals, the tome is not really a book filled with spells. The Priest becomes more able to control the affairs of his/her life better by the system of self-observation. The ancients knew that we cannot observe ourselves, while in a sleep state, without justifying ever action that we do. Therefore, the Watcher keep vigil while one sleeps, or is able to see the mechanical self and all its complexities. When we summon the Watcher, it becomes a part of us and this 5^th element is what we begin to see reality through gradually. As we continue in this process we begin to see our machine for what it truly is because we are seeing things through the Watcher’s eyes. The Gate deities refer more to intellectual though that exists above us as the celestial bodies, which correspond to some part of our being. Man in general is restricted to the Sun’s energy and pattern of thought since it is the only star that he/she entreats. Most Gate-walkers can testify to the increased lucidity that comes when Walking the path based on certain celestial changes and also with the Moon’s cycle. The more stars we entreat through Gate-Walking the more we open our minds as each part of the dormant 90% percent of the brain corresponds to starry energies that we leave untapped.

I remember meeting a woman who said that she didn’t believe in this process or in astrology in general. So I asked her if she knew of the process of photosynthesis, which she was well aware of, then I asked her: “What happens when the light of other stars reach the planet?” I was actually able to grasp a deeper understanding of Fourth Way thought, though being taught by Fourth way initiates, when I began Gate-Walking. Gurdjieff speaks about the universe having its own aims for man. When we fall asleep at night the energies from planets and stars sink deep within our subconscious giving us a sctipt to follow that we did not write. When we awaken in dreams, whether in waking state, or at night, we are able to alter that fate given to us by the planets. This is confirmed in Thomas stanely’s translation, as cited earlier:

“Stoop not down, for a præcipice lies below on the Earth,
Drawing through the Ladder which hath seven steps; beneath which
Is the Throne of Necessity.” /

He calls the Descention into wickednesse, and misery, a Precipice; the Terrestrial and Mortasl Body, the Earth: for by the Earth he understands mortal Nature, as by the fire frequently the Divine; by the place with seven Wayes, he means Fate dependant on the Planets, beneath which there is seated a certain dire and unalterable Necessity: The Oracle therefore adviseth, that thou stoop not down towards the mortal Body, which being Subject only to the Fate, which proceeds from the Planets, may be reckon’d amongst those things which are at our Arbitrement: for thou wilt be unhappy if thou stoop down wholly to the Body, and unfortunate and continually failing of thy Desires, in regard of the Necessity which is annex’d to the Body.

Did Gurdjieff ever speak about anything relative to the Simon Necronomicon? Or the Mad Arab? Yes in the legends of the Sarmoung Brotherhood. Under a Wikipedia article under this same name, we find the following: