Greetings! I would like to welcome everyone to the Papers in the Attic blog page. If this is your first time here, please feel free to review some of our previous articles and share some of your thoughts and experiences by posting a comment.
Once again, we come across a critic of the Necronomicon Gnosis who tries to substantiate their argument by writing an essay that relies on outdated critique of the Simon Necronomicon. The Necronomicon and the Misappropriation of Ancient Text is an article written by Gabriel Mckee that appears on New York University’s website under the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
The author of the article approaches the topic of the Simon Necronomicon from a prejudiced opinion that is no fault of his own. Such forms of criticism have become popular and can easily be distinguished by simply looking at the sources used in the article. In most cases, none of these critics will ever interview or discuss some of the opinions held by practitioners of the Necronomicon by Simon as it will corrupt their argument. For example, Mckee’s article he states that “Simon’s text plagiarizes the work of pioneering Assyriologists like R.C. Thompson, from whose Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia.” In making such a blanket statement, Mckee provides us with no comparative analysis as to how he reached this conclusion.
First of all it must be stated that the Necronomicon by Simon gives a complete bibliography of various sources, in which the occultist can further research some of the ideas expressed in the Simon tome. Mckee’s statement is further flawed by the fact that ancient incantations used for spiritual purposes are not in the copyright of a book that examines the religious history of an ancient people any more than a historian’s essay of the Lord’s Prayer, would make that historian the copyright owner of the Biblical incantation. What is so ironic about all of this is that McKee accuses Simon of plagiarism while eighty-five percent of his essay is derived from Wikipedia’s page on the Simon Necronomicon.
Evidence of Mckee’s prejudiced opinion is constantly in motion throughout this entire essay, making it more of an editorial that and real informative reports. In one section, Mckee states:
“Prankish rumors that the Necronomicon was an actual, historical text have circulated since the 1930s, leading to several hoax editions that claim to present the “real” text of this fictional book.”
Mr. Mckee has a hard time understanding that just because a word appears in science fiction, doesn’t devalue its usage in legitimate science or occultism. An example of this is brought to light on The Ninzuwu Shinto Monastery of the Necronomicon Tradition’s blog page, a group incorporates the Simon Necronomicon into its religious practices. Under the topic of Necronomicon Tradition, we read:
“While the term necronomicon is derived from the fictional texts of author H. P. Lovecraft, it should be remembered that it is common practice, in the fields of religious and scientific study, to apply academic meanings to words that originate in fictional literature. For example, terms like genetic engineering, robotics, and zero gravity, are just a few words that are used by scholarly institutions, which find its origin in fictional novels.”
If we were to take Mckee’s reasoning about the Simon Necronomicon being a hoax because the term Necronomicon originated in Lovecraftian fiction and apply it to modern-day science, then ideas associated with the terms genetic engineering and zero gravity must also be a hoax, as these phrases originate in science fiction and were actually applied to true life sciences. So it is the same with the Necronomicon. The term does appear in fiction, and was later applied to a true life grimoire, which is available at most bookstores, including Barnes and Nobles.
Mckee concludes his argument by saying we know more about the near East that at the time the Necronomicon by Simon was written, as if to say that none of the information in it is consistent with ancient Mesopotamian lore, when in fact, the opposite is true. Papers in the Attic blog page has verified most of what appears in the Simon Necronomicon with historical Babylonian occult practices. Perhaps, Mckee would be better off admitting that now since the Necronomiocon by Simon has come to the fore, we have can now charged critics who write editorials, passing off as reports as hoaxes. All you have to do is open up the Necronomicon by Simon to see its intent:
“These were the sorcerer’s handbooks, and generally not meant as textbooks or encyclopedias of ceremonial magick. In other words, the sorcerer or magician is supposed to be in possession of the requisite knowledge and training with which to carry out a complex magickal ritual, just as a cook is expected to be able to master the scrambling of eggs before he conjures an “eggs Benedict”; the grimoires, or Black Books, were simply variations on a theme, like cookbooks, different records of what previous magicians had done, the spirits they had contacted, and the successes they had. The magicians who now read these works are expected to be able to select the wheat from the chaff, in much the same fashion as an alchemist discerning the deliberate errors in a treatise on his subject…… While the latter was a sophisticated psychological structure, intended to bring the initiate into contact with his higher Self, via a process of individuation that is active and dynamic (being brought about by the “patient” himself) as opposed to the passive depth analysis of the Jungian adepts, Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos was meant for entertainment. Scholars, of course, are able to find higher, ulterior motives in Lovecraft’s writings, as can be done with any manifestation of Art.” – The Necronomicon by Simon
Once again, we come across a critic of the Necronomicon Gnosis who tries to substantiate their argument by writing an essay that relies on outdated critique of the Simon Necronomicon. The Necronomicon and the Misappropriation of Ancient Text is an article written by Gabriel Mckee that appears on New York University’s website under the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
The author of the article approaches the topic of the Simon Necronomicon from a prejudiced opinion that is no fault of his own. Such forms of criticism have become popular and can easily be distinguished by simply looking at the sources used in the article. In most cases, none of these critics will ever interview or discuss some of the opinions held by practitioners of the Necronomicon by Simon as it will corrupt their argument. For example, Mckee’s article he states that “Simon’s text plagiarizes the work of pioneering Assyriologists like R.C. Thompson, from whose Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia.” In making such a blanket statement, Mckee provides us with no comparative analysis as to how he reached this conclusion.
First of all it must be stated that the Necronomicon by Simon gives a complete bibliography of various sources, in which the occultist can further research some of the ideas expressed in the Simon tome. Mckee’s statement is further flawed by the fact that ancient incantations used for spiritual purposes are not in the copyright of a book that examines the religious history of an ancient people any more than a historian’s essay of the Lord’s Prayer, would make that historian the copyright owner of the Biblical incantation. What is so ironic about all of this is that McKee accuses Simon of plagiarism while eighty-five percent of his essay is derived from Wikipedia’s page on the Simon Necronomicon.
Evidence of Mckee’s prejudiced opinion is constantly in motion throughout this entire essay, making it more of an editorial that and real informative reports. In one section, Mckee states:
“Prankish rumors that the Necronomicon was an actual, historical text have circulated since the 1930s, leading to several hoax editions that claim to present the “real” text of this fictional book.”
Mr. Mckee has a hard time understanding that just because a word appears in science fiction, doesn’t devalue its usage in legitimate science or occultism. An example of this is brought to light on The Ninzuwu Shinto Monastery of the Necronomicon Tradition’s blog page, a group incorporates the Simon Necronomicon into its religious practices. Under the topic of Necronomicon Tradition, we read:
“While the term necronomicon is derived from the fictional texts of author H. P. Lovecraft, it should be remembered that it is common practice, in the fields of religious and scientific study, to apply academic meanings to words that originate in fictional literature. For example, terms like genetic engineering, robotics, and zero gravity, are just a few words that are used by scholarly institutions, which find its origin in fictional novels.”
If we were to take Mckee’s reasoning about the Simon Necronomicon being a hoax because the term Necronomicon originated in Lovecraftian fiction and apply it to modern-day science, then ideas associated with the terms genetic engineering and zero gravity must also be a hoax, as these phrases originate in science fiction and were actually applied to true life sciences. So it is the same with the Necronomicon. The term does appear in fiction, and was later applied to a true life grimoire, which is available at most bookstores, including Barnes and Nobles.
Mckee concludes his argument by saying we know more about the near East that at the time the Necronomicon by Simon was written, as if to say that none of the information in it is consistent with ancient Mesopotamian lore, when in fact, the opposite is true. Papers in the Attic blog page has verified most of what appears in the Simon Necronomicon with historical Babylonian occult practices. Perhaps, Mckee would be better off admitting that now since the Necronomiocon by Simon has come to the fore, we have can now charged critics who write editorials, passing off as reports as hoaxes. All you have to do is open up the Necronomicon by Simon to see its intent:
“These were the sorcerer’s handbooks, and generally not meant as textbooks or encyclopedias of ceremonial magick. In other words, the sorcerer or magician is supposed to be in possession of the requisite knowledge and training with which to carry out a complex magickal ritual, just as a cook is expected to be able to master the scrambling of eggs before he conjures an “eggs Benedict”; the grimoires, or Black Books, were simply variations on a theme, like cookbooks, different records of what previous magicians had done, the spirits they had contacted, and the successes they had. The magicians who now read these works are expected to be able to select the wheat from the chaff, in much the same fashion as an alchemist discerning the deliberate errors in a treatise on his subject…… While the latter was a sophisticated psychological structure, intended to bring the initiate into contact with his higher Self, via a process of individuation that is active and dynamic (being brought about by the “patient” himself) as opposed to the passive depth analysis of the Jungian adepts, Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos was meant for entertainment. Scholars, of course, are able to find higher, ulterior motives in Lovecraft’s writings, as can be done with any manifestation of Art.” – The Necronomicon by Simon
