The Necronomicon, also known as the book of the dead, is a completely fictional work, but its creator, the writer of fantasy horror novels HP Lovecraft, managed to place it on the border between reality and fiction .
Thus, many still believe in the real existence of the Necronomicon, a compendium of ancient rituals that is believed to drive those who read it to madness and death .
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ARTICLE CONTENT
1. What is the Necronomicon
? 2. How is the Necronomicon?
3. Fragments of the Necronomicon.
What is the Necronomicon, the book of the dead?
HP Lovecraft, American writer author of successful horror-fiction novels, became famous for his success in creating a world that, being false, pure science fiction, opened a door to existence real monsters and aliens. His mixture of fiction and reality created a true legion of followers of the Cthulhu Mythos.
In 1921, in one of the novels, he spoke of Abdul Alhazred, the author of a supposedly cursed book of ancient spells and rituals, whose name was revealed in 1922 in the story The Hound. Although Lovecraft himself reiterated on different occasions the non-existence of the book, lovers of the occult have always speculated on its real existence.
The author himself had opened the door to the real existence of the book in The Horror of Dunwich (1929) where he assured that there were some copies in the University of Buenos Aires, in the Widener Library, in Harvard, in the National Library of Paris, in the British Museum, and in the non-existent Miskatonic University, in the mythical city of Arkham.
The enthusiasm to find the Necronomicon, the cursed book that was said to lead to death and madnessTo those who read it, it seemed to have results when in 1962 Lyon Sprague de Camp, science fiction writer and disciple of Lovecraft, announced the discovery of the codex in some excavations in northern Iraq.
Occult experts linked the inscriptions of magical formulas and ancient rituals in the cryptic Durian language (a form of archaic Syrian) with the content of the authentic Necronomicon, although many years later an investigation by Carl Tusk in Vienna proved this to be a mistake.
How is the Necronomicon?
According to the Cthulhu Mythos, the book was written in the year 730 with the title Kitab Al-Azif (“the rumor of insects at night”), although etymologically the Greek version Necronomicon is composed of the words “dead” and “law”(“the law of the dead”). In the Arab tradition, the noise of insects at night is attributed to demons and evil spirits.
The Kitab Al-Azif was written by Abdul Alhazred just before his mysterious death, and is believed to respond to revelations he received from beings from other worlds during his exile in the desert. After his death, the manuscript passed through the hands of several occultists until Theodorus Philetas arrived, who translated it into Greek in the 10th century.
Both its version in Greek and the later versions in Latin were prohibited by the ecclesiastical authorities and copies of the that were known were burned . But why is it considered a cursed book
The Necronomicon consists of four parts. In the 42 chapters of the first part, he recounts the greatness of the Ancient Ones, while in the second part, made up of 19 chapters, what happened in the year of death is described; The most important information is collected in the third part, where a series of spells and rituals are summarized .
The necromantic content of the Necronomicon relates it to other ancient books of the occult tradition and includes spells, revelations, rituals and black magic spells that open the door to another world, and that would allow, among other things, to speak with the dead.
However, and this is fundamental to understanding the spirit of the Necronomicon,the content of the cursed book of the dead is inaccessible . And it is that Lovecraft hints at its content on many occasions, and reveals some of the less harmful fragments, but never reveals the apparently most devilish parts, and that increases the mystery that surrounds it.
Fragments of the Necronomicon
According to the chronicles of HP Lovecraft, the mathematician, astrologer and occultist John Dee translated the Necronomicon into English in 1600 in a version from which the most interesting fragments are extracted below.
1. About those who come from abroad
“And among them there were those who decided to reign over various stars and worlds of this universe, but many others descended on this Earth. And the elder Gods swore to pursue their rebellious vassals to any corner of existence to which they had fled, where they would fall on the so-called Ancient Ones and would ensnare them with mighty spells and forever imprison Those who had dared to defy their Creators.”
2. To erect the stones
“To form the Door through which They can manifest from the Outer Void, you must place the stones in a fence of eleven.
First you will erect the four cardinal stones and these will mark the direction of the four winds as their seasons roar.
To the north place the stone of the Great Coldness that will shape the Gate of the Winter Wind, engraving on it the sign of the Bull of the Earth.
During the day you will erect the stone of Intense Heat, through which the summer winds blow, and make on the stone the mark of the Lion-Serpent.
The stone of the swirling air will be placed to the East, where the first equinox appears and is sculpted with the sign of the one who carries the waters.
You will cause the gate of the Rushing Torrents to open at the innermost western point, where the Sun dies at sunset and the cycle of night returns. Emblazone the stone with the Sign of the Scorpion whose tail reaches the stars.”
3. Hastur’s voice
Hear the Voice of the feared Hastur, hear the gloomy sigh of the whirlwind, the mad impetuousness of the Last Wind that swirls darkly among the silent stars
. Endless roar always fills the eternal skies of the hidden Leng
His power is capable of uprooting the forest and crushing the city, but none will know the hand that strikes and the soul that destroys, because the Damned wanders frightening and faceless, with His manner unknown to men. Hear then His Voice in the dark hours, answer His call, bow down and pray as He passes, but do not speak His name aloud.”
4. To make Ibn Ghazi powder
“Take powder from the tomb (in which the body has lain for at least two hundred years), three parts. Take powder of amaranth, two parts; leaves of the Ivy of the earth, one part; fine salt, one part. Macerate it all together in an open mortar on the day and hour of Saturn. Make upon these ingredients thus mixed a Sign of Voor, and enclose the powder within a leaden urn upon which the seal of Koth shall be engraved.
Whenever you wish to observe the ethereal manifestation of the spirits, blow a pinch of the dust in the direction of its arrival, be it the palm of the hand or the blade of the Magical Bolyne.Keep in mind to make the Elder Sign at the moment of its appearance, because of Otherwise the tendrils of darkness will penetrate your soul.”
5. The abjuration of the Great Cthulhu
“A supplication to the great Cthulhu for those who want to have power over their favourites. On the day and hour of the Moon with the Sun in Scorpio prepare a waxed tablet and engrave on it the seals of Cthulhu and Dragon; fumigate with Kzauba incense and set it aside.
On All Hallows’ Eve you should go to some solitary place where you can see the ocean from a high ground. Raise the tablet with your right hand and make the sign of Kish with your left hand.
Recite the incantation three times, and when the final word of the third address dies in the air, cast the tablet into the waves saying: ‘In his mansion of R’lyeh Late Cthulhu waits ringing, but He will rise and His kingdom will cover the Earth’.”
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