I stopped teaching gate-walking for quite some time due to this passage found in the introductory notes of the Simon Necronomicon. One of the essential steps for the true initiate is proper training and an understanding of magical concepts before one enters the ritual work of the Simon tome. Often times, newcomers, however sincere they may be, will misinterpret metaphors and symbolism for a literal representation of the words being rendered. This often leads to actions that encourage self-hypnosis, misappropriate imitation, and an infatuation with techniques. Gurdjieff’s wisdom is well applied to this in the book In Search of the Miraculous by P. D. Ouspensky. Legend has it that when Gurdjieff was asked about a man who could sleep on a bed of nails his reply was as such:
“It is difficult to explain in two words,” answered G. “First of all the man is not, of course, a ‘fakir’ in the sense in which I have been using the word. At the same time you are right in thinking it is not altogether a trick. But he does not know himself how he does it. If you bribed him and made him tell you what he knows he would probably tell you that he knows a certain word which he has to say to himself, after which he is able to lie down on the nails. He might even consent to tell you this word. But it would not help you in the least, because it would be a perfectly ordinary word which would have no effect whatever on you. This man has come from a school, only he was not a disciple. He was an experiment. They simply experimented with him and on him. He had evidently been hypnotized many times and under hypnosis his skin had been rendered first insensitive to pricks and afterwards able to resist them. In a small way this is quite possible even for ordinary European hypnotism. Then afterwards both the insensitiveness and impenetrability of the skin were made permanent in him by means of post-hypnotic suggestion.”
Unfortunately, a lot of people who claim to have an essential knowledge of the Necronomicon Tradition are either under the influence of self-hypnosis or misappropriate forms of imitation. The phrase, misappropriate imitation, involves mistakenly taking one teaching for another. For example, we live in a predominately Christian world. The Christian belief is the most widespread belief in the world. Often times, I have seen students of the Simon tome replace their fascination for Jesus Christ with a newfound infatuation for the Mesopotamian pantheon. it’s almost as if the Simon Necronomicon becomes their lord and savior in the literal sense of the term. Every magical teaching or ritual found on earth mimics a function of the human body which reveals what the true Necronomicon is, Self.
The other default action is self-hypnosis where the potential student is just getting “high” from different experiments and thinking that they are gaining a knowledge of self. In such cases, the practitioner will mistaken ritual call and response for some great epiphany of Divine Self. Many ancient spirits are nothing more than emotions. So if you call upon an emotion in ritual you will see it in your life. It is there because you called it not because it is an aspect of your true nature that you discovered while doing a ritual.
So how is the student supposed to approach the mysteries of the Necronomicon? Where can they find the necessary training? First, it must be understood that the purpose of the Necronomicon workings is twin-fold, the obtainment of unity with Divine Self and to defend the planet against negative forces. This is exemplified in the notes provide in the Simon Necronomicon’s introduction:
“Yet, there are many terrors on the Way to the Self, and an Abyss to cross before victory can be declared. Demons, vampires, psychic leeches, ghastly forms accost the aspiring magician from every angle, from every quarter around the circumference of the magick circle, and they must be destroyed lest they devour the magician himself.” – The Necronomicon by Simon
“The initiatory structure in its pages is designed for a different type of initiate: a kind of black bodhisattva, spiritually enlightened and empowered sage whose task it is to defend the race against these creatures before he or can make their own escape — an occult general, a master the mystic arts of offense and defense, a human being set apart from the rest who must monitor the Gates and the influx of evil influences that threatens to destroy the planet and enslave its inhabitants.” – Gates of the Necronomicon
The terrors mention by Simon that an initiate must encounter on the Way to Divine Self cannot be Self. We are always to reduce the negative aspects of ourselves and cultivate the divine seed within that is anchored to the Divine World. While it is possible for a newcomer to educate themselves in regards to occult law and its deeper meaning, the work upon oneself must be accompanied by an experienced teacher or school. Continuing the discussion found In Search of the Miraculous, Gurdjieff states:
“Black magic does not in any way mean magic of evil. I have already said earlier that no one ever does anything for the sake of evil, in the interests of evil. Everyone always does everything in the interests of good as he understands it. In the same way it is quite wrong to assert that black magic must necessarily be egoistical, that in black magic a man strives after some results for himself. This is quite wrong. Black magic may be quite altruistic, may strive after the good of humanity or after the salvation of humanity from real or imaginary evils. But what can be called black magic has always one definite characteristic. This characteristic is the tendency to use people for some, even the best of aims, without their knowledge and understanding, either by producing in them faith and infatuation or by acting upon them through fear. “
But it must be remembered in this connection that a ‘black magician,’ whether good or evil, has at all events been at a school. He has learned something, has heard something, knows something. He is simply a ‘half-educated man’ who has either been turned out of a school or who has himself left a school having decided that he already knows enough, that he does not want to be in subordination any longer, and that he can work independently and even direct the work of others. All ‘work’ of this kind can produce only subjective results, that is to say, it can only increase deception and increase sleep instead of decreasing them. Nevertheless something can be learned from a ‘black magician’ although in the wrong way. He can sometimes by accident even tell the truth. That is why I say that there are many things worse than ‘black magic.’ Such are various ‘occult’ and theosophical societies and groups. Not only have their teachers never been at a school but they have never even met anyone who has been near a school. Their work simply consists in aping. But imitation work of this kind gives a great deal of self-satisfaction. One man feels himself to be a ‘teacher,’ others feel that they are ‘pupils,’ and everyone is satisfied. No realization of one’s nothingness can be got here and if people affirm that they have it, it is all illusion and self-deception, if not plain deceit. On the contrary, instead of realizing their own nothingness the members of such circles acquire a realization of their own importance and a growth of false personality.”
Gurdjieff clearly points out how a true magician of the perverse is created. People of this sort are more infatuated with techniques than the meaning of the real work and how to inculcate such. Of course they can share all the Necronomicon gimmicks of ritual, but at heart they really can’t explain how these things work.
The Brotherhood of the White Temple and the Simon Necronomicon
Out of all the schools that one can enter, the most qualified as a preliminary school for those wishing to venture into the Simon Necronomicon workings would be the oldest organization known for using Lovecraftian symbolism as a part of its occult teachings. Jason Colavito covers this subject in depth in an article entitled The Emerald Tablets of Thoth: A Lovecraftian Plagiarism, where the author makes this observation:“In discussing this with Jeb J. Card yesterday, Card pointed me toward facts I was not aware of but which help to confirm the important role the Lovecraft Mythos played in the development of fringe history and ufology. Card told me about the Lovecraftian influence on the neo-Theosophist Maurice Doreal (Claude Doggins), the author of the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean, often cited in fringe literature as genuine ancient texts from Atlantis.”
While Colavito is under the assumption that Doreal stole many of his ideas from Lovecraft, he does establish that the Emerald Tablets of Thoth The Atlantean is linked to the Lovecraftian Mythos. In other words, the Simon Necronomicon pays tribute to Doreal’s work in its use of the term Azag-Thoth, which ultimately derives from the Emerald Tablets of Thoth The Atlantean. The work of Maurice Doreal and the organization he founded known as Brotherhood of the White Temple was the largest influence in the development of the Simon Necronomicon. This must be understood ad Doreal was the first occultist to draw upon Lovecraftian symbolism for occult purposes. The Brotherhood of the White Temple offers free literature, affordable teachings and an accredited college course for those seeking the real training that is requisite for Simon Necronomicon workings. This exposes another “blind” unknown to many Simon Necronomicon Practitioners. It is often thought that Thelema and the teachings of Aleister Crowley are the main ingredient foundation for the gate-walker, which is only partially true. The Brotherhood of the White Temple is a thorough course into the Greater Mysteries
The Brotherhood of the White Temple offers an array of books and pamphlets at an affordable price. The deeper work is more costly. However, they do have a nice program that costs about six dollars a month called The Fellowship of the Avatar, a necessary initiation and attunement required for one to begin the work necessary. There are others schools that are useful in the development of Necronomicon practice. However, it is vital to understand that one must hold form understanding and a certain initiation, a certain lineage, before undergoing this practice.
