The Mystical Agenda of the Necronomicon Tradition: Neither Left-Hand or Right-Hand Path

Greetings! I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our visitors and regular subscribers. If this is your first time here, you may find it useful to check some of our previous articles that appear on the menu section, located to the right of this page. Stay blessed!

I just wanted to inform our readers that I am thankful for the support and hard work that is being done by Gate-Walkers worldwide in various fields of study. I would like to extend an extended note of thanks to NightCaller, Optimystic, Ben Nixx, Arshinkoff, and many other Initiates of the Necronomicon Tradition who have taken the time to share their perspectives in how this ancient paradigm can be used in our modern era. However, I have noticed that there are many others who read the blog page that may have some questions about the work and its purpose in our day-to-day lives.

I think one of the things that would be useful in answering questions, such as these, is to illustrate the structure of the Necronomicon Tradition. While reading this information our readership may notice that many Initiates of this sacred Tradition are also working behind the scenes to help re-establish principles for daily living. Based on the teachings of the Necronomicon Tradition, as expounded upon in the words of the Mad Arab, we find that it is neither a work of the Right-Hand Path, nor the Left-Hand Path, but one of Being. There is no superiority in either RHP of LHP, but the way of “Being,” we find is the way of the wise. The Mad Arab emphasizes this fact twice, once in the Urilia Text, and then later in his Second Testimony. Let us first look at the passage in the Urilia Text:

“And a man may cry out, what have I don’t, and my generation that such evil shall befall me? And it mean nothing, save that a man, being born, is of sadness, for he is of the Blood of the Ancient Ones, but has the Spirit of the Elder Gods breathed into him. And his body goes to the Ancient Ones, but his mind is turned towards the Elder Gods, and this is the War which shall be always fought, unto the last generation of man; for the World is unnatural. When the Great KUTULU rises up and greets the Stars, then the War will be over, and the World be One.”

In the later part of this passage we see that the world will be “One” when Kutulu rises to the stars. This is the same oneness that existed before the world of “duality.” Notice what is written in the Magan Text:

“When on High the Heavens had not been named,
The Earth had not been named,
And Naught existed but the Seas of ABSU,
The Ancient One,
And MUMMU TIAMAT, the Ancient One
Who bore them all,
Their Waters as One Water.”

The Magan Text describes a time when the ‘Waters were One,’ or a time when the microcosm and macrocosm were unified in perception as One. The Mad Arab emphasizes this unitary consciousness in his Second Testimony:

“Know that the Seven Spheres must be entered in their times and in their seasons, one at a time, and never the one before the other. Know that the Four beasts of the Spaces claim the blood of the initiate, each in their own time and season. Know that TIAMAT seeks ever to rise to the stars, and when the Upper is united to the Lower, then a new Age will come of Earth, and the Serpent shall be made whole, and the Waters will be as One, when on high the heavens had not been named.”

In the above passage we see again what is referred to in the Magan Text as a “Oneness” of the Waters, or a time when the world of duality transforms to a single consciousness. This singular consciousness is the essential element in understanding the goal of all authentic magical and mystical traditions. For one to think otherwise indicates a lack of understanding the work, and tends to lead to a drunkenness and enchanted with the cosmetic aesthetics of a system. Notice what is mentioned in the classical work Secrets of the Dragon’s Gate, written by Dr. Steven Liu and Jonathan Blank, as this legendary book expounds upon the goal of Taoist practice, page 71 states:

“From the Taoist perspective, which sees the physical universe as the infinite interplay of yin and yang, there can be no happiness without the existence of unhappiness since each element of reality is defined by its opposite. It is only once we have completely unified with the Tao, or all that is, that we are freed from this basic law of the universe and we move from dualistic consciousness (yin/yang, self/other) to unitary consciousness where everything is perceived as being Tao.”

All this talk about the Elder Gods versus the Ancient Ones, or The Right-Hand Path versus the Left-Hand Path, has nothing to do with the Necronomicon Tradition. Usually people who contemplate such things only seek to prove their right to be complacent, by remaining in a room in their heads, drunk from the enchantment of how a path is presented, rather than the wisdom of the path, which is obtained through the application of it. The Mad Arab admonished us to avoid such thinking with the following words:

“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, and many have been content to merely pass the first three Gates and then sit down and go no further than that, enjoying the benefits that they have found on the preliminary spheres. But this is Evil, for they are not equipped to deal with the attack from Without that must surely come, and their people will cry unto them for safety, and it will not come forth. Therefore, set thy face towards the ultimate goal and strive ever onward to the furthest reaches of the stars, though it mean thine own death; for such a death is as a sacrifice to the Gods, and pleasing, that they will not forget their people.”

We are encouraged, in the passage cited above, to Walk to the “furthest reaches of the stars.” This is done until the Initiate progresses from the state of dualistic consciousness to singular consciousness, which is described by the Mad Arab as “thine own death.” This death is not literal of course, but refers to the “worship of self,” not the egotistical self, but the unified self, embellished by the force of the kundalini, or Kutha. Notice is written in the Simon Necronomicon’s introduction, under topic, The Mythos and The Magick, we read:

“Yet, there are many terrors on the Way to the Self, and an Abyss to cross before victory can be declared. Demons, vampires, psychic leeches, ghastly forms accost the aspiring magician from every angle, from every quarter around the circumference of the magick circle, and they must be destroyed lest they devour the magician himself. When Crowley professed to have passed the obstacles, and crossed the Abyss of Knowledge, and found his true Self, he found it was identical with the Beast of the Book of Revelation, 666, whom Christianity considers to represent the Devil. “

Later in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction, under the subheading, The Devil, we read:

“Man’s power to alter the nature of his environment must develop simultaneously with his ability to master his inner environment, his own mind his psyche, soul, spirit. Perhaps, then, the lunar landing was the first collective initiation for humanity, which will bring it one step closer to a beneficial Force that resides beyond the race of the “cruel celestial spirits”, past the Abyss of Knowledge. Yet, he must remember that the occult powers that accompany magickal attainment are ornamental only, indications of obstacles overcome on the Path to Perfection, and are not to be sought after in themselves, for therein lies the true Death. Lovecraft saw this Evil, as the world passed from one War and moved menacingly towards another. Crowley prepared for it, and provided us with the formulae. “

In the information cited above, we see a few things. First, in the example of Crowley, we see that man in his true nature is bestial and must go through a refining process, which is in accord with ancient Mesopotamian thought. In the epic of Gilgamesh, Enkidu had to go through a tantric refinement process, or intercourse with the priestess of Ishtar, known as Shamhat. It is said that he was like an animal until they made love for six days and seven nights. It was at this time that he was transformed to a “man” who possessed the strength of a demigod. In order to begin a path of self-transformation, we must be honest with ourselves. We are fragmented. We respond more to the animal calling than we would like to consider. When Crowley found that true Self to be the Beast of Revelation, he was being completely honest. How can spend your entire life searching for true Self and it be anything other than a beast? The time you spent searching for true Self is the time that Self was left uncultivated! Here you have all these religions and new Age groups selling people candy. You can be this or that, and right away the false ego overtakes our person and we become intoxicated with a “title,” as if your “salvation” hangs on an adjective, having to second guess your actions because the title you are given still has left you unaware of your commitments, responsibilities, and your inner and outer environment. take what is useful and disregard the rest. You need only to survive and a part of survival demands that we are not preoccupied in telling others how we are surviving, especially with a title, or a path that has one. Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu lost out on their opportunity for achieving immortality because the disrespected the rites of Kutha, Kundalini, also known as the way of the Goddess Ishtar. The point here, however, is that a refinement process is needed on ones’ path, an initiation to develop. For the true self is bestial. In the “logical mind” people can tell you whatever you want to hear. They have assimilated concepts that make sense in their experience, but behind closed doors they are of a different nature. While the seem to have conquered the “logical mind” they still are left unaware of how the “desire body” works because they are not initiated. They do not know self. We can see even in reputable organizations like the Catholic Church, priest performing some of the most hideous acts behind closed doors. This is due to the fact that they have not taken the time to be initiated into the ways of the “Abyss.” Physically the underworld is perceived as existing from the waste down, and until a person has mastered this side of their character, their outer experience will still produce “demons.” Notice what the Mad Arab stats in the Book of Entrance:

“Thou mayest not call upon NANNA till thou hast passed the Gate of NANNA. Thou mayest not call NEBO until his Gate hast thou passed. Similarly for the rest of the Gates. When thou hast ascended to the limit of the Ladder of Lights, thou wilt have knowledge and power over the Spheres, and wilt be able to summon them thereby in times of need….This will not give thee power over the ABSU, however, this power being obtained differently by the Ritual of Descent. This Ritual thou wilt undertake in the fifteenth day after the thirteenth of the month when thou hast summoned the Gate of MARDUK to open. For MARDUK slew the Fiends, and INANNA, the Goddess of the Fifteen, conquered the Netherworld, where some of theirs still dwell. This is a most perilous Rite, and may be undertaken by any man who as the formulae, whether he has passes the previous Gates or not, save that it is best advised to have passed through MARDUK Gate before venturing forth into the Pit.”

The Gates deal with the process of how light translates to thought. The Absu, or the Abyss deals with our deepest “desires.” I see why many people avoid the Urilia Text workings as it deals with this aspect more directly, but until that side of us is understood, observed, and cultivated we will always be at war within ourselves. Remember what is mentioned by Simon in the tome’s introduction:

“Man’s power to alter the nature of his environment must develop simultaneously with his ability to master his inner environment, ..”

The though process is dictated from the movement of the stars an other signals created in the phenomenal world, but our desires and emotions come from the sexual center. The sexual center is the astral plane. In the book entitled Gurdjieff: An Introduction To His Life and Ideas, by John Shirley, where we find the following:

“The sex center works with a very fine energy, which is all too often stolen and used wrongly by other centers. Various mechanical, useless behaviors are associated with the theft of sexual energy by the emotional and moving and intellectual centers: political persecution, religious fanaticism, obsessions with sport, and so forth. The sex center is more than just an organic sexual function. Fine sexual energy can be used for spiritual transmutation. This may be the true origin of the tradition of celibacy in many monasteries: it might have originally been more a matter of preserving precious resource than worrying about sex as sinful. Possibly the real purpose of this celibacy–which is not necessary in most cases for the right utilization of sex energy–was forgotten over the centuries.”

The rites of the Necronomicon Tradition works primarily on the integration of stellar energies with the sexual center. A Gate-Walker is one who literally has “intercourse with the stars.” Notice what is mentioned in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction, under the subheading Worship of the Ancient Ones in History:

“..the Dragon or Serpent is said to reside somewhere “below the earth”; it is a powerful force, a magickal force, which is identified with mastery over the created world; it is also a power that can be summoned by the few and not the many…For the orgone of Wilhelm Reich is just as much Leviathan as the Kundalini of Tantrick adepts, and the Power raised by the Witches. It has always, at least in the past two thousand years, been associated with occultism and essentially with Rites of Evil Magick, or the Forbidden Magick, of the Enemy, and of Satan . . . . . and the twisting, sacred Spiral formed by the Serpent of the Caduceus, and by the spinning of the galaxies, is also the same Leviathan as the Spiral of the biologists’ Code of Life : DNA”

The above cited passage illustrates that the same force that is behind the movement of the galaxy is the same force that is behind the DNA, the Dragon Tiamat, also known as the refined sexual energy kundalini. this is clearly stated by Simon in Gates of the Necronomicon page 167:

“The Serpent, of course, is also Kundalini: a symbol once again for occult power.”

Simon continues on pages 137-138 in Gates of the Necronomicon:

“These practices involved the cultivation of jing (ching) or the divine, transforming power that is carefully tended within the body of the initiate(s). Jing, although often visualized as a luminous essence or spirit in the initiate’s body, was the same stuff as the stars, an astral fluid or power that was not similar to–or approximated–the astral matter, but was the same as the essential stuff of the stars. “The ching are essentially bodies of light.”…..Both types of adepts are quite concerned about cultivating the sexual energy in their own bodies and redirecting it towards magickal, spiritual ends.”

The sexual energy that we speak of here, is not the energies limited to reproduction in itself, but the dimension that stands behind this. This is what the Mad Arab has to say about the matter in his Second Testimony:

“Remember the Scorpion Man who dwells in the Mountains. He was of old created by TIAMAT to fight the Elder Gods, but was permitted to stay below the Mountains by Them. But He has deceived us once, and may do so again. But call upon him if there be something concerning the Outside that you would know, that I have not told thee….And again: His is the dark times….And again: He knows of the Gate, but not the Gate.”

Scorpio in associated with the sexual glands. So it is that the Scorpion Man knows of the Gate, but not the Gate.” In other words,  the Gate is a sexual energy but is not found in the act of sex itself. Earlier in our discussion, we spoke of ‘Walking to the furthest reaches of the stars, though it may mean thine own death.’ This death is symbolic of transformation, but it is also equated to sex. Secret of the West by D. Merejkowski, we find the following on page 219:

“Sex has its content and the position of a transcendental noumenon. It is the second, dark face of man. it issues from within the boundaries of nature; it is within nature and above it….This is an abyss, which passes into the antipode of existence, here, and only here, as it looks out upon our world,” says Rosanov, as if he had heard with his ears and seen with his eyes what passes in the Eleusinian anaktoron or in the Samothrace santuary. This means: “Dionysus and Hades are one and the same god”; sex and death are one and the same abyss, issuing from this world into the other. Sex is the only-living, blood-bodily “contact with other worlds,” the only issue from one body into another, from I into Thee, from the secret of One into Two.”

In the ancient mythologies of the Greater Mysteries, the lifting of the veil, the transition from the world of duality to a singular consciousness is often depicted in folklore as ascending to “heaven.” When the Initiate begins to awaken, he/she, begins to observe natural phenomena from a different perspective. You begin to see how the internal consciousness creates the external environment. The astral plane and the physical plane are one. they are only separated in the mind of those who have not reached that stage in their path. In the book Gurdjieff, we find the following on page 51:

“It is also interesting to note that, according to Gurdjieff, “Man lives in all these worlds, but in different ways. This means that he is first of all influenced the nearest world, the one immediate to him, of which he forms a part.” In other words, in spite of his three-dimensional structure, man potentially has difficult, but not impossible, access to other dimensions.”

The “gifts” acquired on our path to perfection, sometimes manifest as magical abilities, reveal to a point, the unification process, but are not in themselves the process. The Self must be cultivated. The structure of the Necronomicon Tradition consists of Calling the Watcher, a process where the focus on kundalini energy is nurtured. Afterwards, the Initiate spends a little less than a year Walking the Initiatory Gates, and entering Ganzir. Later, we find the word of the Mad Arab appropriate to our discussion:

“THIS is the Book of Entrance to the Seven Zones above the Earth, which Zones were known to the Chaldeans, and to the ancient races that preceded them among the lost temples of UR. Know that these Zones are governed by the celestial spirits, and that passage may be had by the Priest through those lands that border on the Unzoned Wastes beyond.”

Here we see that the the 7 Zones, or Zonei, are governed by the celestial spirits, of the zodiac. these celestial energies are described earlier in the Mad Arab’s First Testimony:

“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.”

These stellar energies are expressed in the workings of the Azonei. it is around this time that the Initiate learns how to work with deeper consciousness in the realms beyond by opening up the  Gate of Ganzir. When one learns the lessons, and principles of divinity, and becomes as a Jinn unto themselves, they are then given authority over the “Beast.” Simon alludes to this heavily in his book Dead Names. On page 235, we read:

“One is not certain what the Magan text is doing in the Necronomicon, unless it is a history of how these demonic forces came to be loosed upon the Earth in order to educate the magician and inform him of certain secret formulae that can be gleamed from a careful reading of the text. That this may be so is indicated by the next chapter of the book, which is entitled “The Urilia Text,” or “The Book of the Worm.”

The formulae is presented in the Magan Text, only to find itself explained more thoroughly in the Urilia Text:

“Know that our years are the years of War
And our days are measured as battles
And every hour is a Life
Lost to the Outside
Those from Without
Have builded up charnel houses
To nourish the fiends of TIAMAT
And the Blood of the weakest here
Is libation unto TIAMAT
Queen of the Ghouls
Wreaker of Pain
And to invoke her
The Red Water of Life
Need be split on a stone
The stone struck with a sword
That hath slain eleven men
Sacrifices to HUBUR
So that the Strike ringeth out
And call TIAMAT from Her slumber
From her sleep in the Caverns
Of the Earth.

And none may dare entreat further
For to invoke Death is to utter
The final prayer.”