Short intro to the Necronomicon Options

Greetings,

The Necronomicon is not to be taken lightly. I cannot stress this point enough. Most people in the magick community find this “grimoire” a joke at best and dangerous in any case. While I do agree with them that it can be dangerous I do believe it can be worked in a safe manner if you know what you are doing and take necessary precautions.

Before we start getting into details lets discuss a little background on the book. Some common questions are, is this book real or a fake? Well what do you mean real? Do you mean is it the original and dreaded tome that H.P. Lovecraft spoke of, the book of terror with rites to call the great old ones? If so, then yes it is a fake. Do you mean does the book actually work and if I try and summon the entities listed in the book will they come? If so, then yes it is and yes they will. The Necronomicon was published in 1977 by a mysterious Simon. I believe that this book was created for the simple purpose to make money off the legend from the gullible. I believe that the name “Simon” was lifted from a story of Lovecraft’s called The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. (A very good story by the way…) I also believe that either this Simon knew a little something about magick or was a very good researcher and copied the styles of older know grimoires. Due to either of these facts the Necronomicon system follows a lot of known magical systems that have been proven to work time and time again. Additionally the author also included a lot of known Sumer/Babylonian entities into the work along with made up or created thought forms. These thought forms were either created by the author or authors for the work or came into being since the book has been published. Either way these entities have drawn more power from the collective mind for the last twenty-five years and now find themselves along side god forms that have been worshiped by ancient people for centuries.
Now that we have established the ground work behind the reasons the book works in the first place we now have some added problems. Due to the works of Lovecraft and the continuing popularity of the Simon edition the tome has taken on a life of its own. What I mean by this is the book itself is acting as a magical thought form in its own right. The book itself can be used as a talisman alone. Additionally many people report creepy sensations or bad luck following them just from reading or owning the text without trying out a single ritual! With the book acting as a thought form leads into some dangerous territory. The Simon text speaks over and over about the lack of banishing and uncontrollability of the entities described. Therefore even if all safety precautions are taken you can still sometimes find yourself having “problems”. Now having said this many people would wonder why anyone in their right mind would still want to work with this system. Well, why not? Many things in magick and life are dangerous. What is life without risk? Other magical systems have the same dangers and unpredictability but are still highly thought of, Enochian being one of the main ones. So in the end work with what you feel drawn to and see what shakes loose.

I hope you have enjoyed this short introduction to the Necronomicon and be sure to look for future articles on theory and practice to follow soon. Until then good luck my gentle reader and be careful!

Amor et Lvx,
Frater NERO

This is an area I would no more want to go into than bomb disposal with thermo-nuclear devices. I think you are right to say risk taking in the arts is often a prime requisite, but this is an area where I feel the danger outweighs the benefits. Not for me thanks!