Remembering Kenneth Grant’s Understanding of The Necronomicon Tradition

Greetings!

In our recent post, The Greatest Gate-Walker of the 20th Century, we annouced the sad news of Kenneth Grant’s death. From my own observation, I must say that his contribution to the occult world is priceless. Kenneth Grant had a deep respect for various schools of esoteric thought, and was able to recognize the connecting force between varying traditions as being the same, while the modern-day adepts and novice debate on issues of folly and authenticity.

The works of Kenneth Grant are revered by Chaos Magicians, Simon Necronoicon Practitioners, fans of H.P. Lovecraft, Lovecraftia Magicians, Cthulhu Cultists, memebers of the Typhonian O.T.O, Caliphate O.T.O, Sex Magicians, Tantirkas,  Santeros, Yoruba Priests and Priestesses, Vodun Spriritualists, and he list goes on. Grant understood that all of these different schools of thought were either mere reflections of each other, or fragments of a body of knowledge that was once whole.

Sadly, the era of magicians and mystics of Kenneth Grant’s caliber is ending, and the world of modern-occultism, or should I say internet-occultism, is being replace by uninitiated individuals who claim adepthood in either, RHP or LHP paths, and are nothing more than a novice who has read a lot of books, as they appear dumber and dumber to the Initiate of the Greater Mysteries and the Necronomicon Tradition overall. These fools continually try to explain emotional and subconscious movements in a logical way and have limited their perception of reality to what is absorbed through the five senses, which means that  they consider their emotions and thoughts as unreal, and do not recognize the fact that true occultism is the study of these things.

There are two books written by Kenneth Grant, which explore in-depth the heart and soul of the Necronomicon  Tradition., these are The Nightside of Eden and Outer Gateways. I highly suggest these works for members of the Necronomicon Tradition. Listed below are excerpts from both of these books that address controversial Necronomicon topics and Kenneth Grant’s understanding of these things:

In Outer Gateways, Grant writes the following concerning Kutulu:

“Thus, “Kutulu or Cutalu (Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Sumerianized) would mean ‘The Man of Kutu … the Man of the Underworld’, Satan or Shaitan, as he is known to the Yezidis (whom Crowley considered to be the remnants of the Sumerian Tradition)”. Note the reference to the Yezidis whose power-zone on the Tree of Life is assumed to Yesod, the Foundation or Seat. The number of Yesod is the number of ZAA, the name of the Aethyr containing the word Tutulu. The number 9 relates to the Moon of the Tarot….Whatever the interpretation of Tutulu, or Kutulu, there can be little doubt that Cthulhu surfaced in the Aeon of Zaa and was ‘heard’ by Crowley two decades before Lovecraft wrote (in 1926) The Call of Cthulhu which was not published until 1928. These considerations do not preclude the possibility of earlier published records of the name, but they do affirm the ‘objectivity’ of the concept and its independence of Lovecraft’s individual subjective range…..The serial number, 205, is the sum of the letters ОТО + KLU (Kutulu), which points directly at the terrestrial instrument of the Outer Ones, particularly of Cthulhu. It is also the number of the word OMPEHDA (AL.III.54) which has not yet been fully interpreted; and of ‘penis’, the mundane vehicle of the Force of Coph Nia glyphed in the Sigil of Aossic.”

Interestingly, Grant makes the following statement earlier in this writing:

“Crowley admitted to not having heard correctly certain words during the transmission of Liber L, and it is probable that he misheard the word Tutulu. It may have been Kutulu, in  which case it would be identical phonetically, but not qabalistically, with Cthulhu. The Schlangekraft recension of the Necronomicon (Introduction, p.xix) suggests a relationship between Kutulu and Cutha,..”

 

“As Austin Spare was unaware of the Salem provenance of Black Eagle, so also was Crowley unaware42 of the true identity of the Beast, of the Tower, and of the deepest significance of the Old Aeon of Osiris. Osiris was the Black God whose terrestrial emissary was Nyarlathotep, the faceless or headless god, the god below the horizon, the god of the mystical hollow earth. There is a ‘Hollow One’ (Kotha) celebrated in Liber Samekh,43 and although Crowley gives no clue to its inner meaning, Lovecraft, in Through the Gates of the Silver Key, identifies a Tower named Koth situated on the borderland between dreaming and waking. Kotha suggests the Cutha mentioned in The Necronomicon, and signifies the dwelling place of the spirits of the dead. This, in turn, resembles Cuthalu, also mentioned in the Necronomicon and having obvious affinities with Cthulhu. If the Hollow One refers to the mystical Amenta, it could also refer, in a physical sense, to the Hollow Earth which has been, correctly or incorrectly, connected with UFOs and the curious phenomena of coloured lights noted by arctic explorers.44 It has been suggested that these colours or kalas are due to massive clouds of tropical plant-pollen driven by great winds to the earth’s surface through the Polar Gateway; the kalas from Outer Space issuing from inner space….The Deep Ones of Inner space {dream state), the Outer Ones of Outer Space (sleep) are represented by Depth and Height. They must be invoked in the waking state. When this occurs, and when the ‘stars are right’, the Great Old Ones will manifest again upon earth; that is, in the waking state. This must be a conscious invocation, i.e. a deliberate act of will. Then the Eye will open. The significance of this formula is implicit in the initials, O.T.O.. In this context, the two Os denote the Old or Outer Ones. О is the ayin or ‘eye’, and the Τ typifies the headless or faceless god, Nyarlathotep, who is the messenger or mercury of the Old Ones. He is described as a black god…It is then pointed out that this description might fit Cthulhu, or perhaps, Nyarlathotep…”

Amazingly, Grant compares Crowley’s (his teacher and mentor) Book of Law to the Necronomicon.

“A way of understanding the use of these keys is by examining their application to the mysteries of the Book of the Law, the Necronomicon myth-cycle and Zos Kia Cultus. It is my intention therefore to treat of these aspects before exploring other relevant matters…..The magical power of transformation into an insect (in this case the beetle22), which the author attributes to his nameless entity, reminds us that The Necronomicon — the most notorious of grimoires concerning traffic with the Outer Ones — was originally entitled AL AZIF, …It is not difficult to see in this symbolism an adumbration of that future aeon characterized by the beetle, the drone of whose wings is already disturbing the dreams of sensitives and artists the world over. It is therefore incumbent upon those who are initiated into the techniques of dream control to utilize the relevant formulae24 in an attempt to investigate more closely the entities that are feeding on terrestrial energies and consolidating their power prior, perhaps, to a massive invasion of this planet.”

Grant provides us with his definition of the Ancient Ones:

“Great Old Ones (Nec): Also known as the Ancient Ones. They are the hidden powers ruling this planet at the present time. The spells for communicating with Them are concealed in grimoires such as the Necronomicon, the Book of the Law, and the Wisdom of S’lba. The emissaries of the Old Ones are usually nameless, but members of Their race delegated to traffic with terrestrials have appeared to specially prepared individuals (Al Hazred, Crowley, Austin Spare, etc), for purposes of communicating certain keys to the Outer Gateways…..The compartments are further conceived as being connected with the house that contains them, by a series of conduits or tunnels. The house represents trans-terrestrial consciousness. The invoked forces — Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Azathoth, etc., — are then understood, not as malignant or destructive entities but as the dynamic energies of consciousness the functions of which are to blast away the delusion of separate existence (the rooms of our illustration). Such is the rationale of the ‘demonic’ forces known in the Cthulhu Mythos as the Outer Ones, the Deep Ones, the Great Old Ones; in traditional Qabalistic lore, the Qliphoth, Elementals, Larvae, etc., none of which should be confused with disembodied human, or animal, spirits.”

Kenneth Grant gave a tremendous contribution, not only to the occult world, but the Necronomicon Tradition as a a whole. we will explore the Nightside of Eden in a future post. Stay Blessed!