Greeting! It is good to see an increase in the work and expansion of the Necronomicon Tradition, also known as the Asaru Culture. There is always something new to learn in our culture and our tradition. Before we begin, however, there are a few things that I want to clear up.
Over the past few months, I have encountered quite a few misunderstanding as to aspects of our tradition that it is important to clarify before moving on. There is no such thing as working with the Elder Gods, or Ancient Ones. This was appropriated so that the Initiate in the beginning could organize the work with a paradigm in mind and not exert themselves beyond what they are capable of. The Mad Arab wrote these words in his First 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,”
It is almost laughable for one to deny their initiation by the Elder Gods. It’s laughable. Notice what is said about the Elder Gods in the Testimony of the Mad Arab:
“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.”
The Elder Gods are the original man. The Ancient Ones are the forces that the original man used to evolve. The Elder Gods walked the spaces and they were the first to do so. Famous occultist Kenneth Grant wrote the following in his classic work Outer Gateways:
“91 is the number of Man, the power or shakti of whom “is the Power of the Ancient Ones”, the shakti which is described as the ‘covenant’. It is the covenant identified with Set, and it is to be displayed “in the great day of M.A.A.T.”
The “covenant” is invoked when the Watcher is called:
“And the Lord of the Watchers dwells, it is said, among the Wastes of the IGIGI, and only Watches and never raises the Sword or fights the idimmi, save when the Covenant is invoked by none less than the Elder Gods in their Council, like unto the Seven Glorious APHKHALLU.”
This primordial energy was described in ancient Mesopotamia as Tiamat, which means the waters of life. These were the mysteries that were taught in Cutha, the city of Nergal. Today we honor this primordial force in the calling of Kutulu, “the fire of the earth.” The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, page 82 we read:
“The language and manuscript of this rare and eternal monument of light, and of a higher wisdom, are borrowed from the Cuthans, a tribe of the Samaritans, who were called Cuthim in the Chaldee dialect according to the Talmud, and they were so called in a spirit of derision. They were termed sorcerers, because they taught in Cutha, their original place of abode, and afterward, in Samaria, the Kabala or Higher Magic (Book of Kings). Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, the chosen arch-priests, are shining lights among the eastern Magicians. They were both kings and teachers – the first Priest-teachers of this glorious knowledge, and from these Samaritan Cuthans – from these omnipotent priests of the fountain of light, who were called Nergal, according to the traditions of Talmud, originated the Gypsies, who, through degeneracy, lost the consecration of their primordial power.”
The Elder Gods are the embodiment of the Shakti energy. The have become vessels for this unseen force, also known as the Ancient Ones, forces of nature. The Shakti force exists within the “spirits” of nature and stellar forces to a greater or lesser degree. They exist not in this world, but can be brought into this world through the vessel of man, for man is the Gate:
“Man is the Key by which
The Gate of IAK SAKKAK may be flung wide
By which the Ancient Ones
Seek their Vengeance
Upon the face of the Earth.
Through our initiation process we become vessels. We become vessels that harness an “other worldly” energy. This occurs after the ego is slain and we become “Undead Gods.” The human ego is mortal. It is not a soul, but is often mistaken as one. The alien force incarnates in us with our memories, and persona, but the ego is slain. This alien force, Ishtar-Tiamat, is immortal, making us a new, but old creation.
This process takes place during our initiation. This has been alluded to by “Simon” on many occasions. In the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction, we read:
“In both the European and Chinese cultures, 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”
Simon mentions that this chthonic force, referred to as a dragon or serpent in the quote cited above, is the “Power raised by Witches.” I find this an interesting place, for it confirms that the “Elder” side of the rite, presented in the Book of Calling is not the only right in our Tradition. Simon also describes how this power is often associated with “evil.” Based on such, we can say in part that the key to this work is found in Ganzir. Later in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction, we find:
“Therefore, the Goddess of the Witches has two distinct forms: the Ancient One, Goddess of the Dragon-like telluric Power which is raised in Magickal rituals, and the Elder Goddess, Defeater of Death, who brings the promise of Resurrection and Rejuvenation to her followers those who must reside for a time after death and between incarnations in what is called the “Summerland”…. There is also evidence to show that every god and goddess also had both a good and an evil nature, and evil gods were banished in the exorcism formulae of that civilization as well as the lesser forms of demon.”
Simon puts heavy importance on the “serpent” in the tome’s Introduction. This can leave the Initiate with the idea that they should explore the Urilia text, but this path may not be the course work for all involved. Some, after their seven-gate initiation, will call the Watcher (the serpent/Shakti) and use the method listed in the Book of Calling.
Many along the way have noticed that the Watcher comes from the realm of the Egura that being the dark realm of Ereshkigal and have questioned the tome’s authenticity. Carmel Reilly in the book True Tales of Angel Encounters, mentions the following:
“The Sumerians also believed that each person had a ‘ghost’ of some sort (that we would now probably label as ‘guardian angel’) with this entity remaining a constant companion for a person throughout their life. Altars that appear to be dedicated to guardian angels have been found in the excavations of ancient Sumerian homes, along with stone engravings and temple wall paintings of human figures with wings.”
These Watchers, in the Necronomicon Tradition, for the realm of Kur:
“Cease to be the Sleeper of EGURRA.
Cease to lie unwaking beneath the Mountains of KUR.
Rise up, from the pits of ancient holocausts!
Rise up, from the old Abyss of NARR MARRATU!”
From this passage we can see that the Watcher falls in line with the ghost that serves as our guardian angel. It is true to the Sumerian rite. The Calling of the Watcher provides a safe way to work with this force. On some levels, as is mentioned earlier, the watcher is the draconian-force raised in magical rituals, but it does call for a guardian, a ghost. The watcher, as you have probably realized by now, is symbolic, of the kundalini, and an actual guardian spirit, one’s personal god, Kutulu. These “ghost” energies, known today as the jinn in error, reside in “Summerland.”
Ishtar was the goddess of a place called “Summer-land.” This term “summer-land” is interesting indeed, for we should be reminded that H.P. Lovecraft studied and read information about Theosophy for ten years. Famous occultist Donald Tyson, in his book The Dream World of H.P. Lovecraft, wrote concerning Lovecraft:
“He later described the circumstances in his brief essay, “A Confession of Unfaith,” written in 1921. It is worth quoting this passage in full, because it has bearing on the side of Lovecraft we will examine together in later chapters, his esoteric and paranormal side.”
Tyson then goes on to quote Lovecraft as saying the following in the essay A Confession of Unfaith:
“When about seven or eight I was a genuine pagan….I have in literal truth built altars to Pan, Apollo, Diana, and Athena, and have watched for dryads and satyrs…If a Christian tell me he has felt the reality of his Jesus or Jehovah. I can reply that I have seen the hoofed Pan and the sisters of the Hesperian Phaethusa.”
It is in some of the Theosophical books that Lovecraft studied for ten years, according to Dan Harms, that we discover the meaning to the term “Summer-land.” The Theosophical Glossary by H.P. Blavatsky, gives us the following definition for Summerland:
“The name given by the American Spiritualists and Phenomenalists to the land or region inhabited after death by their “Spirits.” It is situated, say Andrew Jackson Davis, either within or beyond the Milky Way. It is described as having cities and beautiful buildings, a Congress Hall, museums, and libraries for the instruction of the growing generations of young “Spirits.”….we are distinctly told that in the Summerland Spirits are given in marriage, beget spiritual children, and are even concerned with politics.”
Based on the notes of H. P. Blavatsky, we can see that in the Theosophical definition of the term “Summerland,” it seems to be a place that occultists travel too after death, but is different from the majority of men. In most mythologies, as with the Sumerian, the dead travel to a barren place where there is no food and drink. Is it possible then that those of a certain magical class have a fate that is different from the rest of mankind? Is it also possible that this paradise called Summerland was borrowed by Christian mythology and termed heaven? J. C. Thomas in a work entitled Manual of Useful Information, states the following:
“Eiysium, among the Greeks and Romans, was the regions inhabited by the bless after death. They were placed by Homer at the extremities of the earth, by Plato at the antipodes, and by others in the Fortunate Islands ( the Canariea ). They were at last transferred to the interior of the earth, which is Virgil’s notion. The happiness of the blessed consisted in a life of tranquil enjoyment in a perfect summer land, where the heroes, freed from all care and infirmities, renewed their favorite sports.”
Thomas continues, as he describes the vast difference that can be found in Hades:
“Hades was originally the Greek name of the lord of the lower or invisible world; afterwards called Pluto….With the ancients Hades was the common receptacle of departed spirits.”
Here we see that in the eyes of the Greeks and Romans, that there were some who enjoyed a paradisiac world during the afterlife, while the majority of man went to a desolate realm. Wikipedia mentions the following concerning Elysium, known as Summerland:
“Elysium is a conception of the afterlife that evolved over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects, and cults. Initially separate from the realm of Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes. Later, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, and indulging in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life.”
So far we have discussed what Summerland is in traditions other than Sumerian. Now let us look at how this term was defined by them. Secret Art and Magical Practice by Rev. Jonathan Ludd describes DinGir Inanna in the following words:
“She was the Queen of the Summerland.”
This brings up another interesting point and question. Ishtar/Inanna is noted in many texts to be the Queen of Summerland. If Summerland is in a specific part of Hades, could it be that the Goddess Inanna transforms what is dead in winter into life in spring and summer? Famous author Jane Meredith had this to say in Journey to the Dark Goddess:
“When Inanna, Persephone and Psyche emerge from the Underworld, things have crucially changed and not only within themselves….Inanna returns from her Underworld sojourn to find a palace revolution; her beloved consort Dumuzi has taken advantage of her absence to set himself up on her throne. She performs an action mirroring Ereshikigal’s greeting of herself, earlier on, consenting as the train of demons who’ve dogged her since she left the underworld seize hold of her disloyal lover.”
This guardian spirit from Summerland is the aid of the priest and priestess of our Tradition. These come from the realm of Arzir. They work with the Initiate as he/she remains in the Netherworld and use the Book of Calling but also make sacrifice to Kutulu/Tiamat. In the Simon Necronomicon Kutulu is described as such:
“Of all the Gods and Spirits of Abomination, KUTULU only cannot be summoned, for he is the Sleeping Lord. The magician cannot hope to have any power over him, but he may be worshipped and for him the proper sacrifices may be made, so that he will spare thee when he rises to the earth. And the times for the sacrifice are the same times as the Sleeping of MARDUK, for this is when Great KUTULU moves. And he is the very Fire of the Earth, and Power of All Magick. When he joins with the Abominations of the Sky, TIAMAT will once more rule the earth!”
When the spark in man, the Kundalini, is further developed and reaches its heights in the heavens, or mental world, a new creation is made. For in the Necronomicon Tradition full possession is obtained and we are made a new creation. The “Abominations in the Sky” refer to the planes of the Igigi. It is when the Initiate has passed the Seven Gates that he/she is prepared to enter the realms of the Igigi. Sacrifice should be made to Tiamat/Kutulu on a regular basis. Kutulu is the “very Fire of the Earth, and Power of All Magick.” Simon associates Kutulu in Dead Names with the Arabic qhadhulu, which he mentions as being the “power of the Jinn.” This is the force of “smokeless fire” that jinn are made of now existing in ourselves. It was the same with DinGir Marduk. Notice what is written in the Magan text:
“With a shouting Voice he called the Spell..With a Blazing Flame he filled his Body”
Reverence for the Netherworld and being a Priest of Priestess of such, while scary to some, is in accord with a priesthood that existed before Babylon. Yes, the rites in the Necronomicon are some of the most ancient mystic forms in the world. I. Tzvi Abusch makes the following observation in the classic work; Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft and Literature:
“Early Mesopotamian religious thought focused upon issues of vegetation and fertility and emphasized the cyclical quality of nature. Gods of life and death, of the earth and netherworld, might once have even been aspects of the same power and possessed a unitary identity, for the earth/netherworld was both the source of life and the receiver of the dead. Initially, Mesopotamian mythology grew out of and gave expression to this religion of fertility and thus recognized the fluidity as well as the cyclical nature of movement between earth and netherworld. These two realms formed a continuum, and thus movement back and forth between the world of the living and that of the dead was possible and was even part of natural order. Life and death themselves were parts of the same continuum. Even the separation of the human and the divine was not yet definitive, or divinity and deathlessness did not coincide, and thus gods, humans, could die and sojourn in the netherworld….Later a sharp distinction was drawn. No longer were the aforementioned realms seen as parts of a single continuum that are set off from each other by means of porous boundaries. Rather, they were now regarded as separate; consequently, one could no longer belong to two realms at the same time, and movement from one realm to another tended to become permanent and irreversible..Accordingly, some of the roles of the netherworld were transferred to the heavens, so we find some gods who have disappeared residing in the heavens rather than the netherworld.”
Basically, there were just two places attributed to life, being the Land of the Living and the Netherworld. They were one. This is the oldest cult of Mesopotamia, and this is what the Necronomicon tradition is geared upon. Some in balance between the two, others are to the right or left, working only with the Watcher or the Urilia text. This material will cover entering the Igigi gates from a Urilia perspective:
“I have, at last, found the formulae by which I passed the Gate ARZIR, and passed into the forbidden realms of the foul IGIGI.
Interestingly, the Mad Arab describes the Igigi as “foul.” Lends us to the idea that it is an Urilia text working. The Supplementary Material To 777 also confirms this:
The chart above appears in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction. We notice how every zodiac sign is compared with some of Tiamat’s brood. This is confirmed by the chart found in the book The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran by E. S. Drower:
It can be seen that while Tiamat is attributed to the creation of the zodiac, she has two different aspects. Simon talks about this in the SN’s Introduction:
“Therefore, the Goddess of the Witches has two distinct forms: the Ancient One, Goddess of the Dragon-like telluric Power which is raised in Magickal rituals, and the Elder Goddess, Defeater of Death, who brings the promise of Resurrection and Rejuvenation to her followers those who must reside for a time after death and between incarnations in what is called the “Summerland”.”
Ishtar is reflects the heavens, the zodiac. Ishtar-Tiamat refers to primarily the zodiac. The “egura” or black waters, is the netherworld aspect that is underneath the earth, or in the stars that are below the horizon. Due to our discussion so far, we can say that the realm of the Igigi is NOT found in the Urilia workings. We come to this due to how the expanse of the heavens was divided. The heavens are the Netherworldin the sense that all other worldly realms was considered to be the netherworld.. So in one aspect it was a dark dreary place, being below the earth, and in other aspects it represented Summerland, a paradisiac place. Summerland and the Igig are the same. We also have the words of the Mad Arab to further reinforce this:
“I have, at last, found the formulae by which I passed the Gate ARZIR, and passed into the forbidden realms of the foul IGIGI.”
The gate to the Igigi is reached through “Arzir” not Ganzir. Arzir (Ar =light) means the Gate of Light. Once the alien force has securely taken shape and has integrated into our being, we are made whole and the world is one. What was new came from that which is old. The formulae for this gate we will now reveal, but not before review our discussion.
I am beginning to see a lot of misconceptions and confusion in this work that I must address. This sort of confusion is one of ignorance and not purposeful intent, partially to my fault for not including some basic principles. I will deal with who is qualified to teach these arts and how these same qualifications are reflected on in the writings of by the Mad Arab. There are basically three aspects to this work. The Mad Arab discusses these in his First Testimony:
“Know, then, that I have trod all the Zones of the Gods, and also the places of the Azonei, and have descended unto the foul places of Death and Eternal Thirst, which may be reached through the Gate of GANZIR, which was built in UR, in the days before Babylon was.”
Here we see that there are three aspects to our initiation. The first is the Zonei, next is the Azonei, then the Apsu, Ganzir. If a person has walked the Seven Gates, he is thus qualified to teach only about the Seven Gates. This idea of walking the Seven Gates and venturing out-of-order, opening up the Urilia text is nonsense and can risk the happiness of all involved.
Some have walked the energies listed in the Urilia Text, the nine sigils and energies discussed in the Atlantean Necronomicon. In such cases, they are qualified to teach about the energies listed in the Urilia Text and the Seven Gates, nothing more.
There are very few Initiates that press on into the realms of the Igigi. The term Igigi means “those who watch.” It is the realm of the Watchers and this is the place where we become a Watcher in heaven, and act as such. It is when the force of the Shakti merges the emotional and mental function as one as the Simon Necronomicon puts it, the waters “become one.” This cannot be done, however, if one remains in a one space, for the Shakti moves as a serpent. It is for this reason that very few have passed into the realm of the Igigi. What usually happens is that many get caught in the Abyss and cannot explain what is happening to them, or why. The have deceived themselves in thinking that they have reached some enlightened status, but their observations are off because they never took the time to master themselves, and the lack the experience to enable them to speak to the gods or understand messages from them.
It is due to this presumption that they invoke Tiamat without any reason, but assuming that it is where they should be in the work. Tiamat is not something you invoke in the ordinary sense of the term. It is something you are after you have effectively awakened all sides of your “self.” Walking the Gates, the Igigi, and the energies listed in the Urilia text, are all sides of self.
It is the five-pointed star, the Arra in the Zonei (5), the Arra in the Azonei (5), and the realm of Ganzir (5). This equals 15; 5 + 5 + 5 = 15.. The Necronomicon Files makes mention of the following on page 110:
“Grant states that the Necronomicon represents an individual magickal current, whose number is 555, as distinct from Crowley’s “Therionic” current,”
The “Grant” referred to in the quote above is none other than the late Kenneth Grant. The Gate-Walker is working to embody Ishtar. Ishtar is the Necronomicon. Notice what the Mad Arab wrote in the Urilia text:
“But the Dead may be always summoned, and many times are willing to rise; but some are stubborn and desire to remain Where they are, and do not rise, save for the efforts of the Priest, who has power, as ISHTAR, both in this Place and in the Other.”
It is Ishtar who has power in all worlds. In the Myth of Nergal and Ereshkigal, the gods call Nergal the “Son of Ishtar,” implying that he has changed into a fertility god due to his relationship with Ereshkigal. Ishtar (Inanna) has long been associated with Ereshkigal beyond merely being sisters. Scholars have suggested that Inanna (Ishtar) and Ereshkigal are actually the same character, but each possessing an opposite aspect of the other: Inanna with life and Ereshkigal with death.
Walking the Seven Gates of Initiation, via the Zonei is a good work. After such occurs a person should move into the Igigi, then the Apsu, then Tiamat. Personally, traveling in the Igigi is a journey through the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apsu are primal emotional forces, the Unborn, the nine of the Urilia text. The Book of Calling states:
“In the Ceremonies of Calling, any type of Spirit may be summoned and detained until It has answered your questions or provided you with whatever you desire. The Spirits of the Dead may be invoked. The Spirits of the Unborn may be invoked. The Spirits of the Seven Spheres may be invoked. The Spirits of the Flame may be invoked. In all, there may be One Thousand-and-One Spirits that are of principal importance, and these you will come to know in the course of your experiments. There are many others, but some have no power, and will only confuse.”
Here we see that the spirits of the Unborn, the spirits of the Apsu may be invoked, but the important thing here to learn is that the Mad Arab mentions that there are One Thousand-and-One Spirits that are of principal importance. We are to always keep moving. Anytime you see an Initiate claim adept-hood and by such, use it as an excuse to remain in a Gate, they have lost their way.
We know that the Necronomicon is equivalent to 555, which is equal to 15. This means that the entire Necronomicon is Ishtar. Ishtar is Tiamat. Lovecraft describes the Necronomicon as a work written in blood, yet the pages were made of human flesh. It is easy to see this as the body of blood and flesh. However, what happens when the body is still for too long, lack of exercise and muscular function? It begins to decay and rot. Notice what is written in the Second Testimony of the Mad Arab:
“Remember that the Essences of the Ancient Ones are in all things, but that the Essences of the Elder Gods are in all things that live, and this will prove of value to thee when the time comes.”
“Remember that the Essences of the Ancient Ones are in all things, but that the Essences of the Elder Gods are in all things that live, and this will prove of value to thee when the time comes.”
The Elder Gods as celestial bodies move through the Igigi. They filter the energies from the stars on man. The stars below the horizon, the dark stars, draw energy down. Notice what is mentioned by the Mad Arab in the Urilia text itself:
“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.”
The Initiate is to then explore the process of immortal breathing by absorbing and exhaling the energy, in other word, circulate the energies. For the beginner, this is done by Walking the Gates, and re-Walking, and visiting Ganzir from time to time. However in the more advanced process of the path, after one has learned about the “season” they will use such to enter the Abyss and discharge, cleansing themselves by use of the celestial clock of the ancient Chaldeans. After understanding the rite and with some degree of work, this process may occur on every new moon, but know that none is more advance than the other and any quick process is more dangerous while being less fulfilling. See the Initiate should be cautious as he can mistakenly assume that obtaining, or seeing the special effects revealed in the workings of the Abyss means that he is on the right path. Simon talks about this in the SN’s Introduction:
“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 truth Death.”
Life is motion. It is the realm of the doer. Staying in a realm like Adar, or Tiamat has nothing to do with immortality. Proof of this can be seen by just asking anyone who remains in these Gates without moving, how it contributes to their process of immortality? But it contributes everything to having a “title” and titles die too.
Another passage that further reinforces this can be found in the Magan Text:
“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.”
Invoking Tiamat requires the sword that has slain eleven men, the eleven spheres need to be walked, the eleven signs of the Igigi, for remember it says that the lord of the Watchers dwells in the Igigi. Taking one step before the other is like trying to be five years of age before being three years of age. Confusion will set in. The Mad Arab talked about this attitude and its negative effects even in the Gate-walking Process:
“..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.”
The passage cited above needs no explanation. However, it is interesting to note that the Mad Arab mentioned that some stop at the third sphere. Isn’t the third sphere Ishtar? Isn’t Ishtar Tiamat? The Rainbow Bridge: A Study of Paganism by John Strong Newberry states on page 45 the following:
“Tiamat was an appellative of Ishtar, who is called Ishara, the scorpion-goddess, and her son and lover, Tammuz, was worshipped as a snake.”
The legendary Rosemary Guilley, in her classic work entitled, The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca, made the following observation on page 180 of the said work:
“The zodiac was known as the “girdle of Ishtar, which also refers to the ancient moon calendar. She was the giver of omens and prophecy through dreams, and through her magic, others could obtain secret knowledge.”
If Ishtar is 555, or 15, then she represents, or each 5 represents an aspect of the Mountains of Masshu, which are the Zonei, the Azonei, and the Netherworld. Remember she is the giver of secret knowledge. The Necronomicon equals 555. The Mad Arab once said:
“These secrets I give to thee at the pain of my life, never to be revealed to the profane, or the banished, or the worshippers of the Ancient Serpent, but to keep within thine own heart, always silent upon these things.”
Remember the term Mad Arab means “your god that daughter of light” in Enochian.
Another silly assumption is that the Initiate no longer needs to call the Watcher. Yes, the Initiate is a Watcher anyone married to Ishtar’s male or female form was regarded as a demi-god. However, it is important that we look at what the Watcher’s role is in our Tradition:
“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. Know that, when Walking thus through the Sea of Spheres, he should leave his Watcher behind that It may guard his body and his property, lest he be slain unawares and must wander throughout eternity among the dark spaces between Stars, or else be devoured by the wrathful IGIGI that dwell beyond.”
Regardless if we consider ourselves the Watcher or not, the Watcher invoked in the Necronomicon mysteries protects the Initiate so that “other worldly things” do not attach themselves to the Initiate. The Mad Arab continues:
“Thou must summon thy Watcher and instruct it perfectly in its duties, providing it with a time and a place whereby it may serve thee and surround thee with a flaming sword, in every direction.”
This use of the Watcher is done in most workings, but is applied differently in the Urilia text. In a recent article posted on the Asaru Clan’s blog page we read:
“First, let me begin by saying that the Watcher in the Necronomicon Tradition is NOT the Lamassu or Sedu of Sumerian lore. I have discussed this at length in other writings as the Atlantean Necronomicon as being relative to Kutulu, or the Seven Evil Spirits heralded by Namtar.”
Readers unfamiliar with this topic should search out the excerpt from the Atlantean Necronomicon entitled Kutulu. This does not mean that we are to worship Kutulu or those forces above the DinGir, for the spirits of the Four Spaces also act as a Watcher. F.A.M. Wiggermann in the book Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, page 152 states:
“Each individual monster is associated with a god that operates in the same field of action, a part of nature, both while the god covers the whole, the monster only represents a slice…The responsibilities of the monsters together circumscribe the essence of supernatural intervention in human affairs: The preservation of life, but also sudden violent death; the protection of peace; but also disruptions of war and weather….(page 153) …For the monsters, outlaws by nature, it is only a small step from unpredictable servant to rebel, and from rebel to defeated enemy. The role of the god in their relation changes accordingly from master to rightful ruler, and from rightful ruler to victor.”
Wiggermann’s observation above pertains specifically to the ancient Mesopotamian paradigm, where the “evil forces” were used for the good. They were used for weapons in many cases. Notice what is recorded by Hibbert Trust in the Hibbert Lectures, published in 1887, we read:
“The primitive inhabitant of Babylonia paid a special worship to the winds. He beheld in them spirits of good and evil. He prayed for the “good wind” which cooled the heats of summer and brought moisture to the parched earth, and he saw in the storm and tempest, in the freezing blasts of winter and the hot wind that blew from the “burning desert, “the seven evil spirits.” They were demons “who had been created in the lower part of heaven,” and who warred against the Moon-god when he suffered eclipse. They were likened to all that was most noxious to man. The first, we are told, was the sword (or lightning) of rain;” the second, “a vampire;” the third, “a leopard;” the fourth, “a serpent;” fifth, “a watch-dog”(?); the sixth, “ a violent temptest which blows against god and king;” and the seventh, “a baneful wind.” But their power caused them to be dreaded, and they were venerated accordingly. It was remembered that they were not essentially evil. They too, had been the creation of Anu, for they came forth from the sky, and all were “the messengers of Anu their king.” In the war of the gods against the dragon of chaos, they had been the allies of Merodach. We read of them that ere the great combat began, the god “created the evil wind, the hostile wind, the tempest, the storm, the four winds, the seven winds, the whirlwind, the unceasing wind.”
Hibbert’s observation reminds me of what the Mad Arab wrote about the Watcher:
“The Watcher comes from a Race different from that of Men and yet different from that of the Gods, and it is said that he was with KINGU and his hordes at the time of the War between the Worlds, but was dissatisfied and did cleave unto the Armies of Lord MARDUK.”
Those may also note that in Hibbert’s work a “vampire” is mentioned among these seven spirits. In the information we just cited the following footnote appears:
“Usumgalu, expressed by ideographs that signify “the solitary monster.” It denoted a fabulous beast which “devoured the corpses of the dead”.., and was therefore not exactly a vampire, which devoured the living, but corresponded rather to one of the creatures mentioned in Is. Xiii, 21, 22, xxxiv. 14”
There is peace in the Igigi. It is the Necronomicon’s greatest trick, but an honest one. If the Gate-walker hasn’t ridden himself of the ego, the human ego, it will attack him in the Urilia text workings. It will become more prominent in his attitude and life, the mortal ego; and though initiated by the Elders Gods, he will bypass them in favor of the “dead gods.” Notice what is written by the Mad Arab:
“For this reason, few have ever opened the Gate of ADAR, and spoken to the Horned One who resideth there and giveth all manner of wisdom regarding the operations of necromancy, and of the spells that hasten unto death. Only when thou hast shown thy power over the Maskim and the Rabishu, mayest thou venture forth to the Land of the IGIGI, and for that reason was this Covenant made, that none shall safely Walk through the sunken valleys of the Dead before having ascended to MARDUK, nor shall they breach the Gates that lie beyond ADAR until they have seen the Signs of the Mad God and felt the fury of the hellish Queen.”
The Gates of the Igigi lie beyond Adar and are not part of the “sunken valleys of the Dead is clearly seen in the words of the Mad Arab, but the ego will insist that one stops at “the Signs of the Mad God and felt the fury of the hellish Queen.” In other words they will take it that the realm of the Mad God is the final resting place of power for the Initiate. It is all a test:
“I have wrestled with the Black Magician, AZAG-THOTH, in vain, and fled to the Earth by calling upon INANNA and her brother MARDUK, Lord of the double-headed AXE.”
This was also observed by Aleister Crowley himself. In a Wikipedia article entitled Thelema we read:
One goal in the study of Thelema within the magical Order of the A∴A∴ is for the magician to obtain the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel: conscious communication with their own personal daimon, thus gaining knowledge of their True Will. The chief task for one who has achieved this goes by the name of “crossing the abyss” completely relinquishing the ego. If the aspirant is unprepared, he will cling to the ego instead, becoming a Black Brother. Rather than becoming one with God, the Black Brother considers his ego to be god. According to Crowley, the Black Brother slowly disintegrates, while preying on others for his own self-aggrandisement.”
The words above are intended as a warning that we are to “cross the Abyss” not remain therein:
“the Ancient Worm, TIAMAT, the ABYSS, also called KUTULU..”
It may seem that much of our discussion has covered many subjects, but it becomes whole when we take into account the myth of Ishtar’s Descent. Ishtar chooses her own, for her own and Dumuzi was chosen to descend into the realm of Ereshkigal. It is interesting to note that Ishtar had to give up a me at every gate of the Underworld, in other words, as mentioned by some scholars, she gave life to the Underworld and brought fertility to such while the upper world, ruled by “man” became a dreary place similar to the dark side of the Netherworld. When Ishtar entered the Land of the Living, the season of spring returns, she brought joy of heart to the land. When Dumuzi entered the place of death with nothing to give, he was assigned the dark gloomy aspect of the Netherworld. This shows us that Ishtar is power behind the resurrection of the Dead. When she leaves the netherworld the Dead live with her and are reborn as stars in heaven. On a grand scale, we who practice the rites of Cutha are brought out of death into life at the appropriate time.
Summerland is the astral temple of the Initiates. It is known in Christian mythology as the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the land of the Gate-Walker. Encyclopedia of the Unseen describe “Summerland” as the “advanced level of existence.” The account of DinGir Ishtar’s travel’s also illustrates why the human ego is linked with death.
This was the fate of the Mad Arab. What is interesting about this formulae, which is found in the Urilia text and the Book of Calling, is that we discover that the Mountains of Masshu exists the plains of the Igigi. If you read the Mad Arab’s Testimony carefully it becomes apparent:
“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,..”
“I came to possess this knowledge through circumstances quite peculiar, while still the unlettered son of a shepherd in what is called Mesopotamia by the Greeks….When I was only a youth, travelling alone in the mountains to the East, called MASSHU by the people who live there,”
Many, due to the ego, will take the course of the abyss in error, but it is due to pride that they do this. Others who seek to improve themselves will never leave any stone unturned. The perspectives are vastly different. The realm of the dead has its place as well. It is explored after the Igigi, then non-existence. The amazing thing about all of this is that all of these paths are the paths of the Elder Gods.
It is almost laughable for an Initiate to deny their initiation by the Elder Gods. It’s laughable. Notice what is said about the Elder Gods in the Testimony of the Mad Arab:
“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.”
The Elder Gods are the original man. The Elder Gods walked the spaces and they were the first to do so. The Elder Gods and the Ancient Ones are one in the same. There is no difference. This can be seen by looking at the passage prior to the one cited above.
“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,”
Here it clearly say that the Ancient Race is made of both gods and demons. It is one. Actually anyone who has read the account of Nergal and Ereshkigal can bear witness to this right away. In the account the Gods of the upper world invited Ereshkigal to a banquet. She sent Namtar to the dinner to represent her. Here we can see that the gods are all one family. Namtar is Enlil’s son by way of Ereshkigal. Ereshkigal is also Enki’s twin sister. So what is often described as Elder and Ancient exist in the same Family.
The Mad Arab reveals that the Urilia text is an Ewlder God rite of calling up demons in the following passage:
“Prepare, then the bowl of TIAMAT, the DUR of INDUR, the Lost Bowl, the Shattered Bowl of the Sages, summoning thereby the FIRIK of GID, and the Lady SHAKUGUKU, the Queen of the Cauldron. Recite the Conjuration IA ADU EN.”
It is good for the Initiate to know what he/she is doing, which we will get into in a minute. Some say that the Dur of Indur, the Cracked Bowl is not the bowl used to call the Watcher. In the section concerning the Watcher, the Mad Arab writes:
“And the Bowl is now called AGA MASS SSARATU, and to be used for no other purpose, save to invoke the Watcher.”
This illustrates that the Aga Mass Ssaratu only serves the purpose of Calling the Watcher. This leads to the question as to what the Dur of Indur really is? The answer to this question will also reveal that the Urilia Text is a rite of the Elder Gods too, and how many in the Tradition have been led astray by spirts that only confuse.
In the book, The Makers of Civilization in Race & History, Waddell makes the following observation:
“This famous magical Stone-Bowl of King Dar or Dur or Sagg or Sakh, the large fragment of which was inscribed by his great-grandson Udu of Kish with the genealogy of the latter back to that first king and deposited by him beneath the central tower of the oldest Sun-Temple in Mesopotamia at Nippur, is frequently referred to in early Sumerian sacred literature as one of the most celebrated war-trophies captured by that first king. And significantly it is specially associated therein with the first Sumerian king under his Sakh title (earlier Sagg) as written on this Bowl, that is the Sig title of Thor in the Nordic Eddas. Thus the first Sumerian king under his Sakh title in the Bilingual Sumerian and Babylonian glossaries (wherein Sakh is shown to be an equivalent of Sagg or Sa-ga-ga and of Adar of the later Babylonians) [Adar we shall find is a Babylonian form of In-dar; but it is also found as a form of one of Thor’s titles in the Nordic Eddas. (Waddell footnote)] is called ‘The Lord (or King) Sakh, UGU the king of the Precious Stone, the Hidden Vessel of Kish Land, the King of that Hidden (or Disappeared) Vessel.’ And it is also called ‘The Serpent-Stone-Vessel’ see below.
This Bowl is disclosed by our new evidence to have been the central fetish magical stone-bowl of the aboriginal Chaldaean Serpent-worshippers. They violently opposed the establishment of King Dur or Sagg’s Civilization with its bland Sun-worship which destroyed the immemorial debasing superstitions of those Serpent and Lion worshippers, with their animal and human sacrifices of devil worship and their swarms of wizards and weirds of that Mother-Son cult who battened on and terrorized the people, yet the latter nevertheless implicitly believed their sorceries as the Serpent and Lion were the totems of their tribes.[Waddell, of course, though Scottish, probably supported the Hanoverians, and generally regards the Usurper to be superior to the Native. He also debunks and downgrades Tibetan Magick and Mysticism, including the excellent Kalachakra, which is merely a debased system of demonolatry and superstitious mummery, while the blandness of the Aryans is of course superior, and undoubtedly the protestantism of John Knox as well.”
Waddell’s writings reveal that the Dur of Indur is actually a reference to the Babylonian god Adar. This reveals that the magical bowl is actually the prize given to the Initiate after his initiation and should be viewed as such. Initiates of this Tradition often make the error of assuming that their experiences while Walking the Gates reveal the true nature of the Elder Gods. This is erroneous. Any initiation will cause ordeals, especially Walking the Gates. This error in judgment usually leads the Initiates into thinking that the Elder Gods are harsh, but this is to the contrary of any true experienced practitioner in our Tradition. These individuals never took the time to Call the Elder Gods other than Walking. The Calling of the Elder Gods as illustrated in the Book of Calling is actually a more potent rite, more than any in the book.
Reasons for such errors usually have to do with the emotional state of the Initiate after he/she has Walked the Gates. Initiation is an ordeal, but the calling of the Elders is of great benefit. Rather than taking their time in understanding the process, the same forces that lashed at the Initiate now convinces them that to side with a rite that they do not fully understand, so it turns out that the Urilia rite becomes their first Calling. Only if they took the time to Call the Elders, minus Walking them, they would see that this rite has benefits too. If you ask them how were they tested during their initiation, they couldn’t really answer that question other than mention some unpleasant experiences. If the Initiate doesn’t know the source of these unpleasant experiences, they have not gained the wisdom required to move on to other realms of Initiation as we discussed earlier in this article.
Now that we know that the Dur of Indur is relative to the Initiate who has reached the Gate of Adar and master of the Spheres, we can safely assume that the they are at the point of Calling the energies that are beyond the solar system. We read the following in the Incantation of the Adar/Ninib Gate:
“Spirit of the Wanderer of the Wastes, Remember! NINIB, Watcher of the Ways of the IGIGI, Remember! NINIB, Knower of the Pathways of the Dead, Remember! NINIB, Gatekeeper of the Astral Gods, Open Thy Gate to me!”
Before we continue on, it is good to take note of something mentioned in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction:
“The Elder Gods evidently possessed a certain Wisdom that was not held by their Parents, yet their Parents held the Power, the Primal Strength, the First Magick, that the Elder Ones tapped to their own advantage, for they were begotten of Her.”
The above passage, as well as information cited earlier, helps us realize that the Elder Gods walked the Igigi. The Elder Gods are known in modern times as the Kami, Jinn, and etc. Some of these too, as in the case of Ishtar were originally human and used certain formulae to become great in this work. The formulae contained in the Necronomicon is that formulae. Man, regardless of various mythology, is begotten by the universe. This is why Simon mentioned in Gates of the Necronomicon, not to commit to either serpents or gods, just take the best at what is given and leave the rest.
All the energies in the Necronomicon Tradition are “other worldly,” even the gates are representative of the 7 stars of the Big Dipper, the planets indicate the mood of the corresponding star. So there is a star in the Big Dipper that has Mars as its representative and etc. Simon alluded to this in gates of the Necronomicon:
“Indeed, just as the Gates of the Necronomicon each have a planetary analogue, so do the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. The five planets and two luminaries familiar to astrologers were believed to be the grosser forms of the seven principal stars of the Northern Dipper.”
Jake Stratton-Kent revealed a similar point in the following observation:
“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. ..Ursa Major is always Igigi, the Seven Heads of the Dragon and the Seven Gods of the World Centre or High Place, the Holy Place of the Stellar Cults: the ‘Northern Height’. “
Kenneth Grant had this to say in Beyond the Mauve Zone, as he identifies what the “Gate to the Outside” really is:
“To state the matter in terms that may be more familiar to readers unacquainted with the terminology of the Necronomicon Gnosis, we may say that the earth is walled in, imprisoned and conditioned by the power of Saturn. In providing a passage through the trans-saturnian planets, Uranus, Chozzar, and Yuggoth, we were able to open communications with Nu-Isis, the throne of S’lba. S’lba therefore designates Typhonian vibrations as received through the prism of these three outer power-zones.”
These three outer power-zones mentioned by Grant are the Three Seals of Masshu, which is the Gate that leads to the Outside:
These are the signs carved upon the grey stone, that was the Gate to the Outside:
The Three Seals of Masshu are symbolic of the three power-zones mentioned by Grant. While we can review some of the work of others in relation to our own, it is we who are Initiates of the Necronomicon Tradition, a hidden work and a system differing from the rest. Here it is we have two aspects of Tiamat, one in heaven and the other is said to reside “beneath the earth.” We can be certain that entering Ganzir is not where the Igigi can be found, especially when the Urilia Text opens with these words:
“defeated by the Elders and the Seven Powers, led by MARDUK, supported by ENKI and the whole Host of IGIGI; defeaters of the Old Serpent,”
The Mad Arab in the Book of Entrance mentions the following:
“For this reason, few have ever opened the Gate of ADAR, and spoken to the Horned One who resideth there and giveth all manner of wisdom regarding the operations of necromancy, and of the spells that hasten unto death. Only when thou hast shown thy power over the Maskim and the Rabishu, mayest thou venture forth to the Land of the IGIGI, and for that reason was this Covenant made, that none shall safely Walk through the sunken valleys of the Dead before having ascended to MARDUK, nor shall they breach the Gates that lie beyond ADAR until they have seen the Signs of the Mad God and felt the fury of the hellish Queen.”
This definitely illustrates that the land of the Igigi is beyond a Ganzir working and Adar. In order to get a true picture of where the Igigi lie and how to access them, we need to look at how the Babylonian cosmos appear to those from ancient Mesopotamia.
Here is another chart appearing below:
We can see that the realm of the Igigi is not relative to either the Apsu, nor the Netherworld in the depiction above. Did the Mad Arab take the formulae for the Igigi with him?
“Know, too, that I have spoken with all manner of spirit and daemon, whose names are no longer known in the societies of Man, or were never known. And the seals of some of these are writ herein; yet others I must take with me when I leave you. ANU have mercy on my soul!”
There is one passage that may lead us to exactly how this formulae works
Over the past few months, I have encountered quite a few misunderstanding as to aspects of our tradition that it is important to clarify before moving on. There is no such thing as working with the Elder Gods, or Ancient Ones. This was appropriated so that the Initiate in the beginning could organize the work with a paradigm in mind and not exert themselves beyond what they are capable of. The Mad Arab wrote these words in his First 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,”
It is almost laughable for one to deny their initiation by the Elder Gods. It’s laughable. Notice what is said about the Elder Gods in the Testimony of the Mad Arab:
“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.”
The Elder Gods are the original man. The Ancient Ones are the forces that the original man used to evolve. The Elder Gods walked the spaces and they were the first to do so. Famous occultist Kenneth Grant wrote the following in his classic work Outer Gateways:
“91 is the number of Man, the power or shakti of whom “is the Power of the Ancient Ones”, the shakti which is described as the ‘covenant’. It is the covenant identified with Set, and it is to be displayed “in the great day of M.A.A.T.”
The “covenant” is invoked when the Watcher is called:
“And the Lord of the Watchers dwells, it is said, among the Wastes of the IGIGI, and only Watches and never raises the Sword or fights the idimmi, save when the Covenant is invoked by none less than the Elder Gods in their Council, like unto the Seven Glorious APHKHALLU.”
This primordial energy was described in ancient Mesopotamia as Tiamat, which means the waters of life. These were the mysteries that were taught in Cutha, the city of Nergal. Today we honor this primordial force in the calling of Kutulu, “the fire of the earth.” The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, page 82 we read:
“The language and manuscript of this rare and eternal monument of light, and of a higher wisdom, are borrowed from the Cuthans, a tribe of the Samaritans, who were called Cuthim in the Chaldee dialect according to the Talmud, and they were so called in a spirit of derision. They were termed sorcerers, because they taught in Cutha, their original place of abode, and afterward, in Samaria, the Kabala or Higher Magic (Book of Kings). Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, the chosen arch-priests, are shining lights among the eastern Magicians. They were both kings and teachers – the first Priest-teachers of this glorious knowledge, and from these Samaritan Cuthans – from these omnipotent priests of the fountain of light, who were called Nergal, according to the traditions of Talmud, originated the Gypsies, who, through degeneracy, lost the consecration of their primordial power.”
The Elder Gods are the embodiment of the Shakti energy. The have become vessels for this unseen force, also known as the Ancient Ones, forces of nature. The Shakti force exists within the “spirits” of nature and stellar forces to a greater or lesser degree. They exist not in this world, but can be brought into this world through the vessel of man, for man is the Gate:
“Man is the Key by which
The Gate of IAK SAKKAK may be flung wide
By which the Ancient Ones
Seek their Vengeance
Upon the face of the Earth.
Through our initiation process we become vessels. We become vessels that harness an “other worldly” energy. This occurs after the ego is slain and we become “Undead Gods.” The human ego is mortal. It is not a soul, but is often mistaken as one. The alien force incarnates in us with our memories, and persona, but the ego is slain. This alien force, Ishtar-Tiamat, is immortal, making us a new, but old creation.
This process takes place during our initiation. This has been alluded to by “Simon” on many occasions. In the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction, we read:
“In both the European and Chinese cultures, 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”
Simon mentions that this chthonic force, referred to as a dragon or serpent in the quote cited above, is the “Power raised by Witches.” I find this an interesting place, for it confirms that the “Elder” side of the rite, presented in the Book of Calling is not the only right in our Tradition. Simon also describes how this power is often associated with “evil.” Based on such, we can say in part that the key to this work is found in Ganzir. Later in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction, we find:
“Therefore, the Goddess of the Witches has two distinct forms: the Ancient One, Goddess of the Dragon-like telluric Power which is raised in Magickal rituals, and the Elder Goddess, Defeater of Death, who brings the promise of Resurrection and Rejuvenation to her followers those who must reside for a time after death and between incarnations in what is called the “Summerland”…. There is also evidence to show that every god and goddess also had both a good and an evil nature, and evil gods were banished in the exorcism formulae of that civilization as well as the lesser forms of demon.”
Simon puts heavy importance on the “serpent” in the tome’s Introduction. This can leave the Initiate with the idea that they should explore the Urilia text, but this path may not be the course work for all involved. Some, after their seven-gate initiation, will call the Watcher (the serpent/Shakti) and use the method listed in the Book of Calling.
Many along the way have noticed that the Watcher comes from the realm of the Egura that being the dark realm of Ereshkigal and have questioned the tome’s authenticity. Carmel Reilly in the book True Tales of Angel Encounters, mentions the following:
“The Sumerians also believed that each person had a ‘ghost’ of some sort (that we would now probably label as ‘guardian angel’) with this entity remaining a constant companion for a person throughout their life. Altars that appear to be dedicated to guardian angels have been found in the excavations of ancient Sumerian homes, along with stone engravings and temple wall paintings of human figures with wings.”
These Watchers, in the Necronomicon Tradition, for the realm of Kur:
“Cease to be the Sleeper of EGURRA.
Cease to lie unwaking beneath the Mountains of KUR.
Rise up, from the pits of ancient holocausts!
Rise up, from the old Abyss of NARR MARRATU!”
From this passage we can see that the Watcher falls in line with the ghost that serves as our guardian angel. It is true to the Sumerian rite. The Calling of the Watcher provides a safe way to work with this force. On some levels, as is mentioned earlier, the watcher is the draconian-force raised in magical rituals, but it does call for a guardian, a ghost. The watcher, as you have probably realized by now, is symbolic, of the kundalini, and an actual guardian spirit, one’s personal god, Kutulu. These “ghost” energies, known today as the jinn in error, reside in “Summerland.”
Ishtar was the goddess of a place called “Summer-land.” This term “summer-land” is interesting indeed, for we should be reminded that H.P. Lovecraft studied and read information about Theosophy for ten years. Famous occultist Donald Tyson, in his book The Dream World of H.P. Lovecraft, wrote concerning Lovecraft:
“He later described the circumstances in his brief essay, “A Confession of Unfaith,” written in 1921. It is worth quoting this passage in full, because it has bearing on the side of Lovecraft we will examine together in later chapters, his esoteric and paranormal side.”
Tyson then goes on to quote Lovecraft as saying the following in the essay A Confession of Unfaith:
“When about seven or eight I was a genuine pagan….I have in literal truth built altars to Pan, Apollo, Diana, and Athena, and have watched for dryads and satyrs…If a Christian tell me he has felt the reality of his Jesus or Jehovah. I can reply that I have seen the hoofed Pan and the sisters of the Hesperian Phaethusa.”
It is in some of the Theosophical books that Lovecraft studied for ten years, according to Dan Harms, that we discover the meaning to the term “Summer-land.” The Theosophical Glossary by H.P. Blavatsky, gives us the following definition for Summerland:
“The name given by the American Spiritualists and Phenomenalists to the land or region inhabited after death by their “Spirits.” It is situated, say Andrew Jackson Davis, either within or beyond the Milky Way. It is described as having cities and beautiful buildings, a Congress Hall, museums, and libraries for the instruction of the growing generations of young “Spirits.”….we are distinctly told that in the Summerland Spirits are given in marriage, beget spiritual children, and are even concerned with politics.”
Based on the notes of H. P. Blavatsky, we can see that in the Theosophical definition of the term “Summerland,” it seems to be a place that occultists travel too after death, but is different from the majority of men. In most mythologies, as with the Sumerian, the dead travel to a barren place where there is no food and drink. Is it possible then that those of a certain magical class have a fate that is different from the rest of mankind? Is it also possible that this paradise called Summerland was borrowed by Christian mythology and termed heaven? J. C. Thomas in a work entitled Manual of Useful Information, states the following:
“Eiysium, among the Greeks and Romans, was the regions inhabited by the bless after death. They were placed by Homer at the extremities of the earth, by Plato at the antipodes, and by others in the Fortunate Islands ( the Canariea ). They were at last transferred to the interior of the earth, which is Virgil’s notion. The happiness of the blessed consisted in a life of tranquil enjoyment in a perfect summer land, where the heroes, freed from all care and infirmities, renewed their favorite sports.”
Thomas continues, as he describes the vast difference that can be found in Hades:
“Hades was originally the Greek name of the lord of the lower or invisible world; afterwards called Pluto….With the ancients Hades was the common receptacle of departed spirits.”
Here we see that in the eyes of the Greeks and Romans, that there were some who enjoyed a paradisiac world during the afterlife, while the majority of man went to a desolate realm. Wikipedia mentions the following concerning Elysium, known as Summerland:
“Elysium is a conception of the afterlife that evolved over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects, and cults. Initially separate from the realm of Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes. Later, it expanded to include those chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, and indulging in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life.”
So far we have discussed what Summerland is in traditions other than Sumerian. Now let us look at how this term was defined by them. Secret Art and Magical Practice by Rev. Jonathan Ludd describes DinGir Inanna in the following words:
“She was the Queen of the Summerland.”
This brings up another interesting point and question. Ishtar/Inanna is noted in many texts to be the Queen of Summerland. If Summerland is in a specific part of Hades, could it be that the Goddess Inanna transforms what is dead in winter into life in spring and summer? Famous author Jane Meredith had this to say in Journey to the Dark Goddess:
“When Inanna, Persephone and Psyche emerge from the Underworld, things have crucially changed and not only within themselves….Inanna returns from her Underworld sojourn to find a palace revolution; her beloved consort Dumuzi has taken advantage of her absence to set himself up on her throne. She performs an action mirroring Ereshikigal’s greeting of herself, earlier on, consenting as the train of demons who’ve dogged her since she left the underworld seize hold of her disloyal lover.”
This guardian spirit from Summerland is the aid of the priest and priestess of our Tradition. These come from the realm of Arzir. They work with the Initiate as he/she remains in the Netherworld and use the Book of Calling but also make sacrifice to Kutulu/Tiamat. In the Simon Necronomicon Kutulu is described as such:
“Of all the Gods and Spirits of Abomination, KUTULU only cannot be summoned, for he is the Sleeping Lord. The magician cannot hope to have any power over him, but he may be worshipped and for him the proper sacrifices may be made, so that he will spare thee when he rises to the earth. And the times for the sacrifice are the same times as the Sleeping of MARDUK, for this is when Great KUTULU moves. And he is the very Fire of the Earth, and Power of All Magick. When he joins with the Abominations of the Sky, TIAMAT will once more rule the earth!”
When the spark in man, the Kundalini, is further developed and reaches its heights in the heavens, or mental world, a new creation is made. For in the Necronomicon Tradition full possession is obtained and we are made a new creation. The “Abominations in the Sky” refer to the planes of the Igigi. It is when the Initiate has passed the Seven Gates that he/she is prepared to enter the realms of the Igigi. Sacrifice should be made to Tiamat/Kutulu on a regular basis. Kutulu is the “very Fire of the Earth, and Power of All Magick.” Simon associates Kutulu in Dead Names with the Arabic qhadhulu, which he mentions as being the “power of the Jinn.” This is the force of “smokeless fire” that jinn are made of now existing in ourselves. It was the same with DinGir Marduk. Notice what is written in the Magan text:
“With a shouting Voice he called the Spell..With a Blazing Flame he filled his Body”
Reverence for the Netherworld and being a Priest of Priestess of such, while scary to some, is in accord with a priesthood that existed before Babylon. Yes, the rites in the Necronomicon are some of the most ancient mystic forms in the world. I. Tzvi Abusch makes the following observation in the classic work; Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Toward a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft and Literature:
“Early Mesopotamian religious thought focused upon issues of vegetation and fertility and emphasized the cyclical quality of nature. Gods of life and death, of the earth and netherworld, might once have even been aspects of the same power and possessed a unitary identity, for the earth/netherworld was both the source of life and the receiver of the dead. Initially, Mesopotamian mythology grew out of and gave expression to this religion of fertility and thus recognized the fluidity as well as the cyclical nature of movement between earth and netherworld. These two realms formed a continuum, and thus movement back and forth between the world of the living and that of the dead was possible and was even part of natural order. Life and death themselves were parts of the same continuum. Even the separation of the human and the divine was not yet definitive, or divinity and deathlessness did not coincide, and thus gods, humans, could die and sojourn in the netherworld….Later a sharp distinction was drawn. No longer were the aforementioned realms seen as parts of a single continuum that are set off from each other by means of porous boundaries. Rather, they were now regarded as separate; consequently, one could no longer belong to two realms at the same time, and movement from one realm to another tended to become permanent and irreversible..Accordingly, some of the roles of the netherworld were transferred to the heavens, so we find some gods who have disappeared residing in the heavens rather than the netherworld.”
Basically, there were just two places attributed to life, being the Land of the Living and the Netherworld. They were one. This is the oldest cult of Mesopotamia, and this is what the Necronomicon tradition is geared upon. Some in balance between the two, others are to the right or left, working only with the Watcher or the Urilia text. This material will cover entering the Igigi gates from a Urilia perspective:
“I have, at last, found the formulae by which I passed the Gate ARZIR, and passed into the forbidden realms of the foul IGIGI.
Interestingly, the Mad Arab describes the Igigi as “foul.” Lends us to the idea that it is an Urilia text working. The Supplementary Material To 777 also confirms this:
|
15. |
Aries | AGRU (XUBUR) |
| 16. | Taurus | KAKKAB U ALAP SHAME (KINGU) |
| 17. | Gemini | RE’U KINU SHAME U TU’AME RABUTI (VIPER) |
| 18. | Cancer | SHITTU (SNAKE) |
| 19. | Leo | KALBU RABU (LAKHAMU) |
| 20. | Virgo | SHIRU (WHIRLWIND) |
| 21. | Jupiter | UMUNPADDU |
| 22. | Libra | ZIBANITUM (Ravening Dog) |
| 23. | Water | BADUR |
| 24. | Scorpio | AKRABU (SCORPION-MAN) |
| 25. | Sagittarius | PA-BIL-SAG (HURRICANE) |
| 26. | Capricorn | SUXUR MASH (FISH-MAN) |
| 27. | Mars | MASTABARRU |
| 28. | Aquarius | GULA (HORNED BEAST) |
| 29. | Pisces | DILGAN U RIKIS NUNI (WEAPON) |
It can be seen that while Tiamat is attributed to the creation of the zodiac, she has two different aspects. Simon talks about this in the SN’s Introduction:
“Therefore, the Goddess of the Witches has two distinct forms: the Ancient One, Goddess of the Dragon-like telluric Power which is raised in Magickal rituals, and the Elder Goddess, Defeater of Death, who brings the promise of Resurrection and Rejuvenation to her followers those who must reside for a time after death and between incarnations in what is called the “Summerland”.”
Ishtar is reflects the heavens, the zodiac. Ishtar-Tiamat refers to primarily the zodiac. The “egura” or black waters, is the netherworld aspect that is underneath the earth, or in the stars that are below the horizon. Due to our discussion so far, we can say that the realm of the Igigi is NOT found in the Urilia workings. We come to this due to how the expanse of the heavens was divided. The heavens are the Netherworldin the sense that all other worldly realms was considered to be the netherworld.. So in one aspect it was a dark dreary place, being below the earth, and in other aspects it represented Summerland, a paradisiac place. Summerland and the Igig are the same. We also have the words of the Mad Arab to further reinforce this:
“I have, at last, found the formulae by which I passed the Gate ARZIR, and passed into the forbidden realms of the foul IGIGI.”
The gate to the Igigi is reached through “Arzir” not Ganzir. Arzir (Ar =light) means the Gate of Light. Once the alien force has securely taken shape and has integrated into our being, we are made whole and the world is one. What was new came from that which is old. The formulae for this gate we will now reveal, but not before review our discussion.
I am beginning to see a lot of misconceptions and confusion in this work that I must address. This sort of confusion is one of ignorance and not purposeful intent, partially to my fault for not including some basic principles. I will deal with who is qualified to teach these arts and how these same qualifications are reflected on in the writings of by the Mad Arab. There are basically three aspects to this work. The Mad Arab discusses these in his First Testimony:
“Know, then, that I have trod all the Zones of the Gods, and also the places of the Azonei, and have descended unto the foul places of Death and Eternal Thirst, which may be reached through the Gate of GANZIR, which was built in UR, in the days before Babylon was.”
Here we see that there are three aspects to our initiation. The first is the Zonei, next is the Azonei, then the Apsu, Ganzir. If a person has walked the Seven Gates, he is thus qualified to teach only about the Seven Gates. This idea of walking the Seven Gates and venturing out-of-order, opening up the Urilia text is nonsense and can risk the happiness of all involved.
Some have walked the energies listed in the Urilia Text, the nine sigils and energies discussed in the Atlantean Necronomicon. In such cases, they are qualified to teach about the energies listed in the Urilia Text and the Seven Gates, nothing more.
There are very few Initiates that press on into the realms of the Igigi. The term Igigi means “those who watch.” It is the realm of the Watchers and this is the place where we become a Watcher in heaven, and act as such. It is when the force of the Shakti merges the emotional and mental function as one as the Simon Necronomicon puts it, the waters “become one.” This cannot be done, however, if one remains in a one space, for the Shakti moves as a serpent. It is for this reason that very few have passed into the realm of the Igigi. What usually happens is that many get caught in the Abyss and cannot explain what is happening to them, or why. The have deceived themselves in thinking that they have reached some enlightened status, but their observations are off because they never took the time to master themselves, and the lack the experience to enable them to speak to the gods or understand messages from them.
It is due to this presumption that they invoke Tiamat without any reason, but assuming that it is where they should be in the work. Tiamat is not something you invoke in the ordinary sense of the term. It is something you are after you have effectively awakened all sides of your “self.” Walking the Gates, the Igigi, and the energies listed in the Urilia text, are all sides of self.
It is the five-pointed star, the Arra in the Zonei (5), the Arra in the Azonei (5), and the realm of Ganzir (5). This equals 15; 5 + 5 + 5 = 15.. The Necronomicon Files makes mention of the following on page 110:
“Grant states that the Necronomicon represents an individual magickal current, whose number is 555, as distinct from Crowley’s “Therionic” current,”
The “Grant” referred to in the quote above is none other than the late Kenneth Grant. The Gate-Walker is working to embody Ishtar. Ishtar is the Necronomicon. Notice what the Mad Arab wrote in the Urilia text:
“But the Dead may be always summoned, and many times are willing to rise; but some are stubborn and desire to remain Where they are, and do not rise, save for the efforts of the Priest, who has power, as ISHTAR, both in this Place and in the Other.”
It is Ishtar who has power in all worlds. In the Myth of Nergal and Ereshkigal, the gods call Nergal the “Son of Ishtar,” implying that he has changed into a fertility god due to his relationship with Ereshkigal. Ishtar (Inanna) has long been associated with Ereshkigal beyond merely being sisters. Scholars have suggested that Inanna (Ishtar) and Ereshkigal are actually the same character, but each possessing an opposite aspect of the other: Inanna with life and Ereshkigal with death.
Walking the Seven Gates of Initiation, via the Zonei is a good work. After such occurs a person should move into the Igigi, then the Apsu, then Tiamat. Personally, traveling in the Igigi is a journey through the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apsu are primal emotional forces, the Unborn, the nine of the Urilia text. The Book of Calling states:
“In the Ceremonies of Calling, any type of Spirit may be summoned and detained until It has answered your questions or provided you with whatever you desire. The Spirits of the Dead may be invoked. The Spirits of the Unborn may be invoked. The Spirits of the Seven Spheres may be invoked. The Spirits of the Flame may be invoked. In all, there may be One Thousand-and-One Spirits that are of principal importance, and these you will come to know in the course of your experiments. There are many others, but some have no power, and will only confuse.”
Here we see that the spirits of the Unborn, the spirits of the Apsu may be invoked, but the important thing here to learn is that the Mad Arab mentions that there are One Thousand-and-One Spirits that are of principal importance. We are to always keep moving. Anytime you see an Initiate claim adept-hood and by such, use it as an excuse to remain in a Gate, they have lost their way.
We know that the Necronomicon is equivalent to 555, which is equal to 15. This means that the entire Necronomicon is Ishtar. Ishtar is Tiamat. Lovecraft describes the Necronomicon as a work written in blood, yet the pages were made of human flesh. It is easy to see this as the body of blood and flesh. However, what happens when the body is still for too long, lack of exercise and muscular function? It begins to decay and rot. Notice what is written in the Second Testimony of the Mad Arab:
“Remember that the Essences of the Ancient Ones are in all things, but that the Essences of the Elder Gods are in all things that live, and this will prove of value to thee when the time comes.”
“Remember that the Essences of the Ancient Ones are in all things, but that the Essences of the Elder Gods are in all things that live, and this will prove of value to thee when the time comes.”
The Elder Gods as celestial bodies move through the Igigi. They filter the energies from the stars on man. The stars below the horizon, the dark stars, draw energy down. Notice what is mentioned by the Mad Arab in the Urilia text itself:
“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.”
The Initiate is to then explore the process of immortal breathing by absorbing and exhaling the energy, in other word, circulate the energies. For the beginner, this is done by Walking the Gates, and re-Walking, and visiting Ganzir from time to time. However in the more advanced process of the path, after one has learned about the “season” they will use such to enter the Abyss and discharge, cleansing themselves by use of the celestial clock of the ancient Chaldeans. After understanding the rite and with some degree of work, this process may occur on every new moon, but know that none is more advance than the other and any quick process is more dangerous while being less fulfilling. See the Initiate should be cautious as he can mistakenly assume that obtaining, or seeing the special effects revealed in the workings of the Abyss means that he is on the right path. Simon talks about this in the SN’s Introduction:
“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 truth Death.”
Life is motion. It is the realm of the doer. Staying in a realm like Adar, or Tiamat has nothing to do with immortality. Proof of this can be seen by just asking anyone who remains in these Gates without moving, how it contributes to their process of immortality? But it contributes everything to having a “title” and titles die too.
Another passage that further reinforces this can be found in the Magan Text:
“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.”
Invoking Tiamat requires the sword that has slain eleven men, the eleven spheres need to be walked, the eleven signs of the Igigi, for remember it says that the lord of the Watchers dwells in the Igigi. Taking one step before the other is like trying to be five years of age before being three years of age. Confusion will set in. The Mad Arab talked about this attitude and its negative effects even in the Gate-walking Process:
“..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.”
The passage cited above needs no explanation. However, it is interesting to note that the Mad Arab mentioned that some stop at the third sphere. Isn’t the third sphere Ishtar? Isn’t Ishtar Tiamat? The Rainbow Bridge: A Study of Paganism by John Strong Newberry states on page 45 the following:
“Tiamat was an appellative of Ishtar, who is called Ishara, the scorpion-goddess, and her son and lover, Tammuz, was worshipped as a snake.”
The legendary Rosemary Guilley, in her classic work entitled, The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca, made the following observation on page 180 of the said work:
“The zodiac was known as the “girdle of Ishtar, which also refers to the ancient moon calendar. She was the giver of omens and prophecy through dreams, and through her magic, others could obtain secret knowledge.”
If Ishtar is 555, or 15, then she represents, or each 5 represents an aspect of the Mountains of Masshu, which are the Zonei, the Azonei, and the Netherworld. Remember she is the giver of secret knowledge. The Necronomicon equals 555. The Mad Arab once said:
“These secrets I give to thee at the pain of my life, never to be revealed to the profane, or the banished, or the worshippers of the Ancient Serpent, but to keep within thine own heart, always silent upon these things.”
Remember the term Mad Arab means “your god that daughter of light” in Enochian.
Another silly assumption is that the Initiate no longer needs to call the Watcher. Yes, the Initiate is a Watcher anyone married to Ishtar’s male or female form was regarded as a demi-god. However, it is important that we look at what the Watcher’s role is in our Tradition:
“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. Know that, when Walking thus through the Sea of Spheres, he should leave his Watcher behind that It may guard his body and his property, lest he be slain unawares and must wander throughout eternity among the dark spaces between Stars, or else be devoured by the wrathful IGIGI that dwell beyond.”
Regardless if we consider ourselves the Watcher or not, the Watcher invoked in the Necronomicon mysteries protects the Initiate so that “other worldly things” do not attach themselves to the Initiate. The Mad Arab continues:
“Thou must summon thy Watcher and instruct it perfectly in its duties, providing it with a time and a place whereby it may serve thee and surround thee with a flaming sword, in every direction.”
This use of the Watcher is done in most workings, but is applied differently in the Urilia text. In a recent article posted on the Asaru Clan’s blog page we read:
“First, let me begin by saying that the Watcher in the Necronomicon Tradition is NOT the Lamassu or Sedu of Sumerian lore. I have discussed this at length in other writings as the Atlantean Necronomicon as being relative to Kutulu, or the Seven Evil Spirits heralded by Namtar.”
Readers unfamiliar with this topic should search out the excerpt from the Atlantean Necronomicon entitled Kutulu. This does not mean that we are to worship Kutulu or those forces above the DinGir, for the spirits of the Four Spaces also act as a Watcher. F.A.M. Wiggermann in the book Mesopotamian Protective Spirits: The Ritual Texts, page 152 states:
“Each individual monster is associated with a god that operates in the same field of action, a part of nature, both while the god covers the whole, the monster only represents a slice…The responsibilities of the monsters together circumscribe the essence of supernatural intervention in human affairs: The preservation of life, but also sudden violent death; the protection of peace; but also disruptions of war and weather….(page 153) …For the monsters, outlaws by nature, it is only a small step from unpredictable servant to rebel, and from rebel to defeated enemy. The role of the god in their relation changes accordingly from master to rightful ruler, and from rightful ruler to victor.”
Wiggermann’s observation above pertains specifically to the ancient Mesopotamian paradigm, where the “evil forces” were used for the good. They were used for weapons in many cases. Notice what is recorded by Hibbert Trust in the Hibbert Lectures, published in 1887, we read:
“The primitive inhabitant of Babylonia paid a special worship to the winds. He beheld in them spirits of good and evil. He prayed for the “good wind” which cooled the heats of summer and brought moisture to the parched earth, and he saw in the storm and tempest, in the freezing blasts of winter and the hot wind that blew from the “burning desert, “the seven evil spirits.” They were demons “who had been created in the lower part of heaven,” and who warred against the Moon-god when he suffered eclipse. They were likened to all that was most noxious to man. The first, we are told, was the sword (or lightning) of rain;” the second, “a vampire;” the third, “a leopard;” the fourth, “a serpent;” fifth, “a watch-dog”(?); the sixth, “ a violent temptest which blows against god and king;” and the seventh, “a baneful wind.” But their power caused them to be dreaded, and they were venerated accordingly. It was remembered that they were not essentially evil. They too, had been the creation of Anu, for they came forth from the sky, and all were “the messengers of Anu their king.” In the war of the gods against the dragon of chaos, they had been the allies of Merodach. We read of them that ere the great combat began, the god “created the evil wind, the hostile wind, the tempest, the storm, the four winds, the seven winds, the whirlwind, the unceasing wind.”
Hibbert’s observation reminds me of what the Mad Arab wrote about the Watcher:
“The Watcher comes from a Race different from that of Men and yet different from that of the Gods, and it is said that he was with KINGU and his hordes at the time of the War between the Worlds, but was dissatisfied and did cleave unto the Armies of Lord MARDUK.”
Those may also note that in Hibbert’s work a “vampire” is mentioned among these seven spirits. In the information we just cited the following footnote appears:
“Usumgalu, expressed by ideographs that signify “the solitary monster.” It denoted a fabulous beast which “devoured the corpses of the dead”.., and was therefore not exactly a vampire, which devoured the living, but corresponded rather to one of the creatures mentioned in Is. Xiii, 21, 22, xxxiv. 14”
There is peace in the Igigi. It is the Necronomicon’s greatest trick, but an honest one. If the Gate-walker hasn’t ridden himself of the ego, the human ego, it will attack him in the Urilia text workings. It will become more prominent in his attitude and life, the mortal ego; and though initiated by the Elders Gods, he will bypass them in favor of the “dead gods.” Notice what is written by the Mad Arab:
“For this reason, few have ever opened the Gate of ADAR, and spoken to the Horned One who resideth there and giveth all manner of wisdom regarding the operations of necromancy, and of the spells that hasten unto death. Only when thou hast shown thy power over the Maskim and the Rabishu, mayest thou venture forth to the Land of the IGIGI, and for that reason was this Covenant made, that none shall safely Walk through the sunken valleys of the Dead before having ascended to MARDUK, nor shall they breach the Gates that lie beyond ADAR until they have seen the Signs of the Mad God and felt the fury of the hellish Queen.”
The Gates of the Igigi lie beyond Adar and are not part of the “sunken valleys of the Dead is clearly seen in the words of the Mad Arab, but the ego will insist that one stops at “the Signs of the Mad God and felt the fury of the hellish Queen.” In other words they will take it that the realm of the Mad God is the final resting place of power for the Initiate. It is all a test:
“I have wrestled with the Black Magician, AZAG-THOTH, in vain, and fled to the Earth by calling upon INANNA and her brother MARDUK, Lord of the double-headed AXE.”
This was also observed by Aleister Crowley himself. In a Wikipedia article entitled Thelema we read:
One goal in the study of Thelema within the magical Order of the A∴A∴ is for the magician to obtain the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel: conscious communication with their own personal daimon, thus gaining knowledge of their True Will. The chief task for one who has achieved this goes by the name of “crossing the abyss” completely relinquishing the ego. If the aspirant is unprepared, he will cling to the ego instead, becoming a Black Brother. Rather than becoming one with God, the Black Brother considers his ego to be god. According to Crowley, the Black Brother slowly disintegrates, while preying on others for his own self-aggrandisement.”
The words above are intended as a warning that we are to “cross the Abyss” not remain therein:
“the Ancient Worm, TIAMAT, the ABYSS, also called KUTULU..”
It may seem that much of our discussion has covered many subjects, but it becomes whole when we take into account the myth of Ishtar’s Descent. Ishtar chooses her own, for her own and Dumuzi was chosen to descend into the realm of Ereshkigal. It is interesting to note that Ishtar had to give up a me at every gate of the Underworld, in other words, as mentioned by some scholars, she gave life to the Underworld and brought fertility to such while the upper world, ruled by “man” became a dreary place similar to the dark side of the Netherworld. When Ishtar entered the Land of the Living, the season of spring returns, she brought joy of heart to the land. When Dumuzi entered the place of death with nothing to give, he was assigned the dark gloomy aspect of the Netherworld. This shows us that Ishtar is power behind the resurrection of the Dead. When she leaves the netherworld the Dead live with her and are reborn as stars in heaven. On a grand scale, we who practice the rites of Cutha are brought out of death into life at the appropriate time.
Summerland is the astral temple of the Initiates. It is known in Christian mythology as the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the land of the Gate-Walker. Encyclopedia of the Unseen describe “Summerland” as the “advanced level of existence.” The account of DinGir Ishtar’s travel’s also illustrates why the human ego is linked with death.
This was the fate of the Mad Arab. What is interesting about this formulae, which is found in the Urilia text and the Book of Calling, is that we discover that the Mountains of Masshu exists the plains of the Igigi. If you read the Mad Arab’s Testimony carefully it becomes apparent:
“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,..”
“I came to possess this knowledge through circumstances quite peculiar, while still the unlettered son of a shepherd in what is called Mesopotamia by the Greeks….When I was only a youth, travelling alone in the mountains to the East, called MASSHU by the people who live there,”
Many, due to the ego, will take the course of the abyss in error, but it is due to pride that they do this. Others who seek to improve themselves will never leave any stone unturned. The perspectives are vastly different. The realm of the dead has its place as well. It is explored after the Igigi, then non-existence. The amazing thing about all of this is that all of these paths are the paths of the Elder Gods.
It is almost laughable for an Initiate to deny their initiation by the Elder Gods. It’s laughable. Notice what is said about the Elder Gods in the Testimony of the Mad Arab:
“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.”
The Elder Gods are the original man. The Elder Gods walked the spaces and they were the first to do so. The Elder Gods and the Ancient Ones are one in the same. There is no difference. This can be seen by looking at the passage prior to the one cited above.
“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,”
Here it clearly say that the Ancient Race is made of both gods and demons. It is one. Actually anyone who has read the account of Nergal and Ereshkigal can bear witness to this right away. In the account the Gods of the upper world invited Ereshkigal to a banquet. She sent Namtar to the dinner to represent her. Here we can see that the gods are all one family. Namtar is Enlil’s son by way of Ereshkigal. Ereshkigal is also Enki’s twin sister. So what is often described as Elder and Ancient exist in the same Family.
The Mad Arab reveals that the Urilia text is an Ewlder God rite of calling up demons in the following passage:
“Prepare, then the bowl of TIAMAT, the DUR of INDUR, the Lost Bowl, the Shattered Bowl of the Sages, summoning thereby the FIRIK of GID, and the Lady SHAKUGUKU, the Queen of the Cauldron. Recite the Conjuration IA ADU EN.”
It is good for the Initiate to know what he/she is doing, which we will get into in a minute. Some say that the Dur of Indur, the Cracked Bowl is not the bowl used to call the Watcher. In the section concerning the Watcher, the Mad Arab writes:
“And the Bowl is now called AGA MASS SSARATU, and to be used for no other purpose, save to invoke the Watcher.”
This illustrates that the Aga Mass Ssaratu only serves the purpose of Calling the Watcher. This leads to the question as to what the Dur of Indur really is? The answer to this question will also reveal that the Urilia Text is a rite of the Elder Gods too, and how many in the Tradition have been led astray by spirts that only confuse.
In the book, The Makers of Civilization in Race & History, Waddell makes the following observation:
“This famous magical Stone-Bowl of King Dar or Dur or Sagg or Sakh, the large fragment of which was inscribed by his great-grandson Udu of Kish with the genealogy of the latter back to that first king and deposited by him beneath the central tower of the oldest Sun-Temple in Mesopotamia at Nippur, is frequently referred to in early Sumerian sacred literature as one of the most celebrated war-trophies captured by that first king. And significantly it is specially associated therein with the first Sumerian king under his Sakh title (earlier Sagg) as written on this Bowl, that is the Sig title of Thor in the Nordic Eddas. Thus the first Sumerian king under his Sakh title in the Bilingual Sumerian and Babylonian glossaries (wherein Sakh is shown to be an equivalent of Sagg or Sa-ga-ga and of Adar of the later Babylonians) [Adar we shall find is a Babylonian form of In-dar; but it is also found as a form of one of Thor’s titles in the Nordic Eddas. (Waddell footnote)] is called ‘The Lord (or King) Sakh, UGU the king of the Precious Stone, the Hidden Vessel of Kish Land, the King of that Hidden (or Disappeared) Vessel.’ And it is also called ‘The Serpent-Stone-Vessel’ see below.
This Bowl is disclosed by our new evidence to have been the central fetish magical stone-bowl of the aboriginal Chaldaean Serpent-worshippers. They violently opposed the establishment of King Dur or Sagg’s Civilization with its bland Sun-worship which destroyed the immemorial debasing superstitions of those Serpent and Lion worshippers, with their animal and human sacrifices of devil worship and their swarms of wizards and weirds of that Mother-Son cult who battened on and terrorized the people, yet the latter nevertheless implicitly believed their sorceries as the Serpent and Lion were the totems of their tribes.[Waddell, of course, though Scottish, probably supported the Hanoverians, and generally regards the Usurper to be superior to the Native. He also debunks and downgrades Tibetan Magick and Mysticism, including the excellent Kalachakra, which is merely a debased system of demonolatry and superstitious mummery, while the blandness of the Aryans is of course superior, and undoubtedly the protestantism of John Knox as well.”
Waddell’s writings reveal that the Dur of Indur is actually a reference to the Babylonian god Adar. This reveals that the magical bowl is actually the prize given to the Initiate after his initiation and should be viewed as such. Initiates of this Tradition often make the error of assuming that their experiences while Walking the Gates reveal the true nature of the Elder Gods. This is erroneous. Any initiation will cause ordeals, especially Walking the Gates. This error in judgment usually leads the Initiates into thinking that the Elder Gods are harsh, but this is to the contrary of any true experienced practitioner in our Tradition. These individuals never took the time to Call the Elder Gods other than Walking. The Calling of the Elder Gods as illustrated in the Book of Calling is actually a more potent rite, more than any in the book.
Reasons for such errors usually have to do with the emotional state of the Initiate after he/she has Walked the Gates. Initiation is an ordeal, but the calling of the Elders is of great benefit. Rather than taking their time in understanding the process, the same forces that lashed at the Initiate now convinces them that to side with a rite that they do not fully understand, so it turns out that the Urilia rite becomes their first Calling. Only if they took the time to Call the Elders, minus Walking them, they would see that this rite has benefits too. If you ask them how were they tested during their initiation, they couldn’t really answer that question other than mention some unpleasant experiences. If the Initiate doesn’t know the source of these unpleasant experiences, they have not gained the wisdom required to move on to other realms of Initiation as we discussed earlier in this article.
Now that we know that the Dur of Indur is relative to the Initiate who has reached the Gate of Adar and master of the Spheres, we can safely assume that the they are at the point of Calling the energies that are beyond the solar system. We read the following in the Incantation of the Adar/Ninib Gate:
“Spirit of the Wanderer of the Wastes, Remember! NINIB, Watcher of the Ways of the IGIGI, Remember! NINIB, Knower of the Pathways of the Dead, Remember! NINIB, Gatekeeper of the Astral Gods, Open Thy Gate to me!”
Before we continue on, it is good to take note of something mentioned in the Simon Necronomicon’s Introduction:
“The Elder Gods evidently possessed a certain Wisdom that was not held by their Parents, yet their Parents held the Power, the Primal Strength, the First Magick, that the Elder Ones tapped to their own advantage, for they were begotten of Her.”
The above passage, as well as information cited earlier, helps us realize that the Elder Gods walked the Igigi. The Elder Gods are known in modern times as the Kami, Jinn, and etc. Some of these too, as in the case of Ishtar were originally human and used certain formulae to become great in this work. The formulae contained in the Necronomicon is that formulae. Man, regardless of various mythology, is begotten by the universe. This is why Simon mentioned in Gates of the Necronomicon, not to commit to either serpents or gods, just take the best at what is given and leave the rest.
All the energies in the Necronomicon Tradition are “other worldly,” even the gates are representative of the 7 stars of the Big Dipper, the planets indicate the mood of the corresponding star. So there is a star in the Big Dipper that has Mars as its representative and etc. Simon alluded to this in gates of the Necronomicon:
“Indeed, just as the Gates of the Necronomicon each have a planetary analogue, so do the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. The five planets and two luminaries familiar to astrologers were believed to be the grosser forms of the seven principal stars of the Northern Dipper.”
Jake Stratton-Kent revealed a similar point in the following observation:
“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. ..Ursa Major is always Igigi, the Seven Heads of the Dragon and the Seven Gods of the World Centre or High Place, the Holy Place of the Stellar Cults: the ‘Northern Height’. “
Kenneth Grant had this to say in Beyond the Mauve Zone, as he identifies what the “Gate to the Outside” really is:
“To state the matter in terms that may be more familiar to readers unacquainted with the terminology of the Necronomicon Gnosis, we may say that the earth is walled in, imprisoned and conditioned by the power of Saturn. In providing a passage through the trans-saturnian planets, Uranus, Chozzar, and Yuggoth, we were able to open communications with Nu-Isis, the throne of S’lba. S’lba therefore designates Typhonian vibrations as received through the prism of these three outer power-zones.”
These three outer power-zones mentioned by Grant are the Three Seals of Masshu, which is the Gate that leads to the Outside:
These are the signs carved upon the grey stone, that was the Gate to the Outside:
The Three Seals of Masshu are symbolic of the three power-zones mentioned by Grant. While we can review some of the work of others in relation to our own, it is we who are Initiates of the Necronomicon Tradition, a hidden work and a system differing from the rest. Here it is we have two aspects of Tiamat, one in heaven and the other is said to reside “beneath the earth.” We can be certain that entering Ganzir is not where the Igigi can be found, especially when the Urilia Text opens with these words:
“defeated by the Elders and the Seven Powers, led by MARDUK, supported by ENKI and the whole Host of IGIGI; defeaters of the Old Serpent,”
The Mad Arab in the Book of Entrance mentions the following:
“For this reason, few have ever opened the Gate of ADAR, and spoken to the Horned One who resideth there and giveth all manner of wisdom regarding the operations of necromancy, and of the spells that hasten unto death. Only when thou hast shown thy power over the Maskim and the Rabishu, mayest thou venture forth to the Land of the IGIGI, and for that reason was this Covenant made, that none shall safely Walk through the sunken valleys of the Dead before having ascended to MARDUK, nor shall they breach the Gates that lie beyond ADAR until they have seen the Signs of the Mad God and felt the fury of the hellish Queen.”
This definitely illustrates that the land of the Igigi is beyond a Ganzir working and Adar. In order to get a true picture of where the Igigi lie and how to access them, we need to look at how the Babylonian cosmos appear to those from ancient Mesopotamia.
Here is another chart appearing below:
We can see that the realm of the Igigi is not relative to either the Apsu, nor the Netherworld in the depiction above. Did the Mad Arab take the formulae for the Igigi with him?
“Know, too, that I have spoken with all manner of spirit and daemon, whose names are no longer known in the societies of Man, or were never known. And the seals of some of these are writ herein; yet others I must take with me when I leave you. ANU have mercy on my soul!”
There is one passage that may lead us to exactly how this formulae works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3MdcG2awjo&feature=g-upl
You might enjoy this Urilia Chant, a symbiosis between myself and Cthulhu cultist Madguten.
Very powerful article,there are so many info i dont know where to start lol,i have to start dealing with the dingir!!!
@Dagod973..feel free to send me an email anytime warlockasylum@gmail.com
wow…that is alot of great info Brother Warlock. there has been much posted since i was last able to comb the site. my computer blew up a couple of months back, so i have been using my daughters kindle, which has been a pain in the buttocks. i am glad to be able now to get involved with the blog again, for i have sorely missed you all. Cheers and Blessings,
Kingu Darkly
@Kingu Darkly…thank you very much for the donation and it is good to have you back on boards!
Stay blessed
The article is very clear and it shows Brother Warlock went from knowledge to wisdom. Great deep read.
Thanks brother!
Swallows, rubs tummy and belches: ” The good stuff. “