“Henceforth, from that fateful night in the Mountains of MASSHU, I wandered about the country-side in search of the key to the secret knowledge that had been given me. And it was a painful and lonely journey, during which time I took no wife, called no house or village my home, and dwelt in various countries, often in caves or in the deserts, learning several tongues as a traveller might learn them, to bargain with the tradespeople and learn of their news and customs. But my bargaining was with the Powers that reside in each of these countries. And soon, I came to understand many things which before I had no knowledge, except perhaps in dreams.”
While the spiritual processes described in the Necronomicon can be classed among what are known as “accelerated paths”, newcomers to this tradition should not have any illusions about the process being either quick or easy. Making significant progress and accomplishment in any spiritual tradition requires years of dedicated practice and disciplined effort. This practice need not be as repetitive or tedious as some of the “traditional” practices of either ceremonial magic or “meditation’, but they do require both a continual effort to overcome obstacles as well as an awareness of the state of one’s practice and status at any given time along the path. It is entirely possible to start enjoying the benefits of the Necronomicon right after obtaining it and putting its formulas to work, and magic for the most of history has been a practical tradition that helps an initiate to take care of their pressings issues and problems precisely so they CAN focus on more spiritual matters. Nonetheless, those who seek great wisdom and/or power (and the two are complementary) should settle in for the long haul. Don’t be discouraged, because there is support and blessings all along the way – through the gates and beyond them.
One of the things that took me a long time to learn in my own practice is that there is no need to hurry when it comes to matters of the soul and spirit! Our lives are timed in such a way in regards to our circumstances and attitudes that we pass the gates in a natural and orderly fashion and timing that is ideal to our personal nature and circumstances. The guardians of our tradition will not move us along before our time, or (conversely) leave us behind when its come time to move to a new level.
“Long long journey through the darkness
Long long way to go
But what are miles across the ocean
to the heart that’s coming home?”
These words come from an Enya song that is very dear to me. Ideally, I would wish that all of us would be able to undertake this spiritual quest and journey with all the mundane support we need and all the material and temporal circumstances we desire. But because of both the nature of this knowledge and the world’s rejection of it en-masse, those who walk this path should be prepared to handle and overcome great adversity, both in the mundane and spiritual planes. Hopefully none of us will have to live in caves and be shunned to the extent our Mad Arab was, but I have yet to meet someone who made it very far in the mysteries who didn’t have to deal with great hardship. Many of us were born into it, and most of us will have to deal with much more of it as we strive to discover the truth about ourselves, our world, and our place in history.
Travel is an important and exciting aspect of the Gatewalking journey. An initiate will find themselves exploring both inner and outer space, and depending on their nature and inclinations will journey to very interesting locations both on Earth and among the other dimensions. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself relocating once or twice, and even having to rough it for awhile. I am not saying that the gods are going to kick you out on your tukus (though they have been known to get persnickity when insulted), but that the changing nature of your own mind and identity will drive you to explore new places and seek new outlets and locations for both creativity and fulfillment. Follow your heart and dreams, but be prepared to work long and hard to achieve your goals. Success with the grand and central things will usually require not just one, two, or even three tries, but a hundred! “You can get it if you really want, but you must try and try, try and try…”
“I wandered as a beggar, being fed from town to town as the local people saw fit, often being stoned instead and threatened with imprisonment. On occasion, I was able to convince some learned man that I was a sincere scholar, and was thereby permitted to read the ancient records in which the details of necromancy. sorcery, magick and alchemy are given. I learned of the spells that cause men illness, the plague, blindness, insanity, and even death. I learned of the various classes of demons and evil gods that exist, and of the old legends concerning the Ancient Ones. I was thus able to arm myself…”
Rejection is another problematic issue that gatewalkers will deal with from time to time. It is not something that should be actively cultivated, as I’ve noticed there is a certain pride that many people treasure in being “persecuted”. Nonetheless, it happens from time to time because for the most part, our race is still under the control of fear and prejudice. Even otherwise kind and good people have certain “buttons” and issues that transform them into hostile and irrational animals, much like the “strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Through our journeys, we seek to break the hold of such fears over our own lives and personalities, through facing them head-on. But do not look down on your fellow humans because they have not yet been able to do so themselves. Forgiveness flows naturally from the humble realization that we are all prone to go off the deep end given the right (or rather, wrong) circumstances. We are a traumatized species living on a planet in pain, and we cannot expect everyone to “get with the program” so easily after so many centuries of pain and conditioning.
Research, training, and personal study and networking with teachers both formal and informal are an essential part of your tradition. You must think critically, but also use your intuition to seek out for yourself the truth about the gods and the history of Earth. One of the most important disciplines you should study, and which our author recommends, is language and linguistics. Try to learn and master at least one other language, and learn as much etymology as you can. Learning other languages helps your brain to think outside its traditional boxes and opens up many new areas of exploration that are not necessarily available in your standard tongue. Etymology is especially important because it provides a trail throughout history through which the origins, evolution, meanings, and stories of people, places, and things can be tracked down. Warlock and I have both made many unique discoveries regarding the Necronomicon’s tradition by just discovering the connection between certain key phrases and words. There are many spirits that can assist you in this endeavour – check the grammars for more information.
Synchronicity will guide you throughout your journey. Pay attention to the signs that surround you on any given day. With time, practice, and the assistance of your spirits, you will learn to read the world in a very clear and pentrating manner. You will know when and where to go, what to do, and what is going on with people and place at any given time. This clarity emerges both through removing your own blinders and increasing your knowledge of both human nature and the cycles of life in our world. Remember that ALL of your instincts, emotions, and thoughts are valid, but they must be sorted and put into their proper places to be effective. Gatewalkers can follow the paths both right and left, light and dark, jedi and sith, in regards to their base natures, but steadfastness and good technique are essential. Even the most indulgent spirtual traditions require that we indulge deliberately and with full consciouness, and not haphazardly. As Saint Paul said, “All things are lawful to me, but not all are advisable.” Use your freedom well, but do not let any one thing rule you or your destiny – even the gods (they actually grow tired of full responsibility after awhile, and in the longterm are seeking more equal relationships of cooperation and cocreation with humanity).
“In my solitary ceremonies in the hills, worshipping with fire and sword, with water and dagger, and with the assistance of a strange grass that grows wild in certain parts of MASSHU, and with which I had unwittingly built my fire before the rock, that grass that gives the mind great power to travel tremendous distances into the heavens, as also into the hells, I received the formulae for the amulets and talismans which follow, which provide the Priest with safe passage among the spheres wherein he may travel in search of the Wisdom.”
Friends are treasured along the way and will only become more important that farther you go and the older you get. But for the most part, your most profound realizations and discoveries will come about individually. It is said that we are each come into this world on our own, and must leave it on our own. It makes sense then that our defining moments come about through our selves and our own natures. Don’t be afraid to take a stand and do what you believe you must. Fortune favors the bold.
One last point that I must mention, and which our author deems requisite, is to make your own copy of the Necronomicon. This is an important and traditional practice that is commanded in many grammars of magic, such as the Book of Abramelin. Having undertaken the process of hand-copying both texts, I can tell you that it is both very time-consuming and very rewarding. All of the grammars are written in such a way as to mask a lot of their most critical information. This is done for several reasons, both for the protection of the initiate, those in his sphere, and that of the work itself. Hearkening back to the times before printing presses, when ALL books had to be manually copied, this practice becomes something of a meditation in itself upon the work at hand. It forces you to pay close attention to every detail of the book, and this will naturally cause you to both contemplate, question, and discover new things about the text and tradition. There are sections of the Necronomicon that are comparible to the genealogies of the Bible, in that they are often skipped over and seem pointlessly tedious and repetitive. But it is in these very sections that key phrases are hidden from those who aren’t paying close attention. Copying is also a devotional practice that will lead to great and reciprocal respect between you and the gods and spirits. It is a sacrifice in itself that is honored in this world and the next.
In a deeper sense, all of us must eventually “write our own Necronomicon” as a personal work. The Mad Arab says to use his work as a jumping off-point, and to write down our own findings and pass them along ourselves when the time is right. The sphere of the Igigi – the sephira of Wisdom and the realm of Father Enki – is where our author drew from in order to compose the Necronomicon. Its interesting to note that the task of the corresponding degree of Magus is, to paraphrase Crowley, “to declare and live our own word and law”. Anyone who gets to this point may very well come to author a magical grammer of their own and make a unique contribution to the world of spirituality and the earthly occult community. What lies beyond verges on the indescribable, so it is no surprise that our author closed the book upon his initiation into the higher spheres of the Great Unknown.
I wish you the best upon your journeys, and hope our paths will cross again soon 🙂
“Long long journey out of nowhere
Long long way to go
But what are sighs and what is sadness
to the heart that’s coming home?”
David S. – “Optimystic”
While the spiritual processes described in the Necronomicon can be classed among what are known as “accelerated paths”, newcomers to this tradition should not have any illusions about the process being either quick or easy. Making significant progress and accomplishment in any spiritual tradition requires years of dedicated practice and disciplined effort. This practice need not be as repetitive or tedious as some of the “traditional” practices of either ceremonial magic or “meditation’, but they do require both a continual effort to overcome obstacles as well as an awareness of the state of one’s practice and status at any given time along the path. It is entirely possible to start enjoying the benefits of the Necronomicon right after obtaining it and putting its formulas to work, and magic for the most of history has been a practical tradition that helps an initiate to take care of their pressings issues and problems precisely so they CAN focus on more spiritual matters. Nonetheless, those who seek great wisdom and/or power (and the two are complementary) should settle in for the long haul. Don’t be discouraged, because there is support and blessings all along the way – through the gates and beyond them.
One of the things that took me a long time to learn in my own practice is that there is no need to hurry when it comes to matters of the soul and spirit! Our lives are timed in such a way in regards to our circumstances and attitudes that we pass the gates in a natural and orderly fashion and timing that is ideal to our personal nature and circumstances. The guardians of our tradition will not move us along before our time, or (conversely) leave us behind when its come time to move to a new level.
“Long long journey through the darkness
Long long way to go
But what are miles across the ocean
to the heart that’s coming home?”
These words come from an Enya song that is very dear to me. Ideally, I would wish that all of us would be able to undertake this spiritual quest and journey with all the mundane support we need and all the material and temporal circumstances we desire. But because of both the nature of this knowledge and the world’s rejection of it en-masse, those who walk this path should be prepared to handle and overcome great adversity, both in the mundane and spiritual planes. Hopefully none of us will have to live in caves and be shunned to the extent our Mad Arab was, but I have yet to meet someone who made it very far in the mysteries who didn’t have to deal with great hardship. Many of us were born into it, and most of us will have to deal with much more of it as we strive to discover the truth about ourselves, our world, and our place in history.
Travel is an important and exciting aspect of the Gatewalking journey. An initiate will find themselves exploring both inner and outer space, and depending on their nature and inclinations will journey to very interesting locations both on Earth and among the other dimensions. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself relocating once or twice, and even having to rough it for awhile. I am not saying that the gods are going to kick you out on your tukus (though they have been known to get persnickity when insulted), but that the changing nature of your own mind and identity will drive you to explore new places and seek new outlets and locations for both creativity and fulfillment. Follow your heart and dreams, but be prepared to work long and hard to achieve your goals. Success with the grand and central things will usually require not just one, two, or even three tries, but a hundred! “You can get it if you really want, but you must try and try, try and try…”
“I wandered as a beggar, being fed from town to town as the local people saw fit, often being stoned instead and threatened with imprisonment. On occasion, I was able to convince some learned man that I was a sincere scholar, and was thereby permitted to read the ancient records in which the details of necromancy. sorcery, magick and alchemy are given. I learned of the spells that cause men illness, the plague, blindness, insanity, and even death. I learned of the various classes of demons and evil gods that exist, and of the old legends concerning the Ancient Ones. I was thus able to arm myself…”
Rejection is another problematic issue that gatewalkers will deal with from time to time. It is not something that should be actively cultivated, as I’ve noticed there is a certain pride that many people treasure in being “persecuted”. Nonetheless, it happens from time to time because for the most part, our race is still under the control of fear and prejudice. Even otherwise kind and good people have certain “buttons” and issues that transform them into hostile and irrational animals, much like the “strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Through our journeys, we seek to break the hold of such fears over our own lives and personalities, through facing them head-on. But do not look down on your fellow humans because they have not yet been able to do so themselves. Forgiveness flows naturally from the humble realization that we are all prone to go off the deep end given the right (or rather, wrong) circumstances. We are a traumatized species living on a planet in pain, and we cannot expect everyone to “get with the program” so easily after so many centuries of pain and conditioning.
Research, training, and personal study and networking with teachers both formal and informal are an essential part of your tradition. You must think critically, but also use your intuition to seek out for yourself the truth about the gods and the history of Earth. One of the most important disciplines you should study, and which our author recommends, is language and linguistics. Try to learn and master at least one other language, and learn as much etymology as you can. Learning other languages helps your brain to think outside its traditional boxes and opens up many new areas of exploration that are not necessarily available in your standard tongue. Etymology is especially important because it provides a trail throughout history through which the origins, evolution, meanings, and stories of people, places, and things can be tracked down. Warlock and I have both made many unique discoveries regarding the Necronomicon’s tradition by just discovering the connection between certain key phrases and words. There are many spirits that can assist you in this endeavour – check the grammars for more information.
Synchronicity will guide you throughout your journey. Pay attention to the signs that surround you on any given day. With time, practice, and the assistance of your spirits, you will learn to read the world in a very clear and pentrating manner. You will know when and where to go, what to do, and what is going on with people and place at any given time. This clarity emerges both through removing your own blinders and increasing your knowledge of both human nature and the cycles of life in our world. Remember that ALL of your instincts, emotions, and thoughts are valid, but they must be sorted and put into their proper places to be effective. Gatewalkers can follow the paths both right and left, light and dark, jedi and sith, in regards to their base natures, but steadfastness and good technique are essential. Even the most indulgent spirtual traditions require that we indulge deliberately and with full consciouness, and not haphazardly. As Saint Paul said, “All things are lawful to me, but not all are advisable.” Use your freedom well, but do not let any one thing rule you or your destiny – even the gods (they actually grow tired of full responsibility after awhile, and in the longterm are seeking more equal relationships of cooperation and cocreation with humanity).
“In my solitary ceremonies in the hills, worshipping with fire and sword, with water and dagger, and with the assistance of a strange grass that grows wild in certain parts of MASSHU, and with which I had unwittingly built my fire before the rock, that grass that gives the mind great power to travel tremendous distances into the heavens, as also into the hells, I received the formulae for the amulets and talismans which follow, which provide the Priest with safe passage among the spheres wherein he may travel in search of the Wisdom.”
Friends are treasured along the way and will only become more important that farther you go and the older you get. But for the most part, your most profound realizations and discoveries will come about individually. It is said that we are each come into this world on our own, and must leave it on our own. It makes sense then that our defining moments come about through our selves and our own natures. Don’t be afraid to take a stand and do what you believe you must. Fortune favors the bold.
One last point that I must mention, and which our author deems requisite, is to make your own copy of the Necronomicon. This is an important and traditional practice that is commanded in many grammars of magic, such as the Book of Abramelin. Having undertaken the process of hand-copying both texts, I can tell you that it is both very time-consuming and very rewarding. All of the grammars are written in such a way as to mask a lot of their most critical information. This is done for several reasons, both for the protection of the initiate, those in his sphere, and that of the work itself. Hearkening back to the times before printing presses, when ALL books had to be manually copied, this practice becomes something of a meditation in itself upon the work at hand. It forces you to pay close attention to every detail of the book, and this will naturally cause you to both contemplate, question, and discover new things about the text and tradition. There are sections of the Necronomicon that are comparible to the genealogies of the Bible, in that they are often skipped over and seem pointlessly tedious and repetitive. But it is in these very sections that key phrases are hidden from those who aren’t paying close attention. Copying is also a devotional practice that will lead to great and reciprocal respect between you and the gods and spirits. It is a sacrifice in itself that is honored in this world and the next.
In a deeper sense, all of us must eventually “write our own Necronomicon” as a personal work. The Mad Arab says to use his work as a jumping off-point, and to write down our own findings and pass them along ourselves when the time is right. The sphere of the Igigi – the sephira of Wisdom and the realm of Father Enki – is where our author drew from in order to compose the Necronomicon. Its interesting to note that the task of the corresponding degree of Magus is, to paraphrase Crowley, “to declare and live our own word and law”. Anyone who gets to this point may very well come to author a magical grammer of their own and make a unique contribution to the world of spirituality and the earthly occult community. What lies beyond verges on the indescribable, so it is no surprise that our author closed the book upon his initiation into the higher spheres of the Great Unknown.
I wish you the best upon your journeys, and hope our paths will cross again soon 🙂
“Long long journey out of nowhere
Long long way to go
But what are sighs and what is sadness
to the heart that’s coming home?”
David S. – “Optimystic”
