Cthulhu, the Necronomicon, and other Curiosities

Cthulhu, the Necronomicon, and other Curiosities

   H P Lovecraft was an American author, mostly of what would be described as ‘pulp fiction’, who gained a small cult following during his lifetime yet, like so many other author of note, only truly became successful after his death. The American pulp magazine, Weird Tales, published his tale ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ in 1928 – the creature existed as part of the ‘Great Old Ones’ within the universe he created for his readers and looked like a hybrid of an octopus and a dragon  somehow combined into a human form.

   

   

Howard Phillips Lovecraft – 1890-1937
 

    A dark, esoteric, if not forbidden, knowledge drives the theme of the majority of Lovecraft's works - his heroes, or anti-heroes, seem to be impelled by curiosity or scientific need. The knowledge uncovered usually consists of such revelations that end up destroying them psychologically, physically, or even at times both which with so many of the characters in his books ending up dead brings us rather neatly onto the ‘Necronomicon’ .

     Lovecraft introduced the Necronomicon as a fictional grimoire and was an account of the history of the ‘Old Ones’ which contained the means for summoning them and it first appeared in his 1924 short story "The Hound" – though in the tale its origins are stated as coming from the works of the "Mad Arab", Abdul Alhazred, who had appeared as a character previously in another of Lovecraft’s works, "The Nameless City".

   After being faced with so many questions as the whether the Necronomicon, its ‘author’, or those beings it described, H P was forced to write a book about the books and even stated in a letter to Willis Conover, a jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America for over forty years -

    ‘Now about the "terrible and forbidden books” — I am forced to say that most of them are purely imaginary. There never was any Abdul Alhazred or Necronomicon, for I invented these names myself. Robert Bloch devised the idea of Ludvig Prinn and his De Vermis Mysteriis, while the Book of Eibon is an invention of Clark Ashton Smith's. Robert E. Howard is responsible for Friedrich von Junzt and his Unaussprechlichen Kulten.... As for seriously-written books on dark, occult, and supernatural themes — in all truth they don’t amount to much. That is why it’s more fun to invent mythical works like the Necronomicon and Book of Eibon ‘.

‘That is not dead which can eternal lie.

And with strange aeons even death may die.’

H P Lovecraft
The Nameless City" (1921) & The Call of Cthulhu" (1928

    In his work ‘The Dunwich Horror ‘(1929) Lovecraft’s character, Wilbur Whateley, at the age of fifteen, locates a copy of the work library of Miskatonic University and finds the following passage -

 ‘Nor is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of earth's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They had trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread. By Their smell can men sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance can no man know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on mankind; and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man's truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them. They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons. The wind gibbers with Their voices, and the earth mutters with Their consciousness. They bend the forest and crush the city, yet may not forest or city behold the hand that smites. Kadath in the cold waste hath known’ Them’, and what man knows Kadath? The ice desert of the South and the sunken isles of Ocean hold stones whereon ‘Their’ seal is engraven, but who hath seen the deep frozen city or the sealed tower long garlanded with seaweed and barnacles? Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can he spy Them only dimly. Ia! Shub-Niggurath! As a foulness shall ye know Them. Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not; and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet. Man rules now where They ruled once; They shall soon rule where man rules now. After summer is winter, after winter summer. They wait patient and potent, for here shall They reign again.’

    After reading that excerpt, you may be surprised to learn that Wilbur dies after being mauled by a guard dog in situ – as to why, well, you’d need to read the book to learn that. I’m not about to spoil it all for you.

   And so, now we’re reaching the end of this post, what of the ‘Curiosities’ mentioned in the title of this piece? Well, the curiosities are in fact my own – to wit, how can people base a belief or even a religion on something that they’ve read?  Now I’m all for people reading , especially if it’s a book I’ve written and, even though what I write is based on observation and personal experience, I don’t expect, or even want ( maybe when I’m older  I might feel differently - who knows ? ) people to build temples and worship me in them as appealing as the thought is . The whole point is a writer writes and hides lies in truths and truths in lies usually with the intention of hopefully entertaining you - so if they tell you something is in fact an invention, a work of fiction, then take note. On the other hand, if they tell you something is completely true and that you should ignore everything else then  maybe it's time to run like hell. I’m not sure who’s the most dangerous in those cases, the author or the reader? And that is all I’m trying to say.

D W Storer August 2018/2019

Once We Were Giants?

Once We Were Giants ? 

   Nephilim & Crystal Skulls:  As a child my interest was aroused on this subject via an unlikely source – Arthur C Clarke’s 'Mysterious Worlds'. I had seen the television programme, bought the book, but wasn’t satisfied. It seemed to me there was something not being said, and I wondered why?

   Back in the 70’s there wasn’t a lot of material available on the subject, even in the local library. And rooting through second hand book shops proved to be frustrating. Nearly forty years later, I finally came to a theory of sorts. It is just a theory, I can’t offer any proof or evidence to back this up, it’s merely a vision that comes now and again and seems to repeat itself, as if a message - one that it is often reflected in those poems and books I have written.

   The first book I came across that offered any real notions on the subject was ‘The Book Of Enoch’ and there I read of “Watchers”  ,“Nephilim” , “Wars”, and “Floods”. It struck me as a peculiar thing- a Jewish text dating from around 300BC that seemed to reflect elements of Gilgamesh, a work preceding it by some 2200 years, about a King born of Gods.

    The more I read of this, and other similar works, the more the thought came to me that these ‘legends’ if they were indeed legends - were being repeated throughout history in one form or another, and was there a reason other than evolving religions and politics? What if there was a great Truth behind them all that had been hidden beneath mistranslations and cultural differences? What if, at one time, a Higher Race had existed? Was there a time of Giants? I had to look further, for I could not shake the feeling that these ‘tales’ would have some bearing on my life.

     I had to first consider ‘Angels’ not so much in the Biblical sense, but as actual entities that were more than just a spiritual force. Were they spiritual beings that were able to take on a physical form, or perhaps already having one - living, breathing, talking, and walking amongst us. What then, if that was possible, would result if they mated with our ancestors? More to the point, what if they actually were our ancestors and humanity has regressed both mentally and physically?

    There is an old saying, “There is no new knowledge, only old knowledge rediscovered” and with that thought I wondered: if all these tales are true, why have they been forgotten and more to the point why are they so often denied? It’s a puzzle, an enigma, that has preyed upon me for years and has only been made worse by learning certain ancient ‘technologies‘ that according to conventional teachings could not have existed.

    Working ‘batteries’ made of clay, the ‘Baghdad battery’ for instance, dated possibly approx. 250 BC; statues electroplated with layers of gold measuring a thickness of mere microns. I had to ask, how was this possible? Are archaeologists and historians mistaken, or do they have something to be hidden? So many questions, they seem to multiply each time I find a new piece of information. And I will say that with the internet and the myriad of sites out there it’s a real task to decipher anything that may be useful, or real, notwithstanding the lack of time to research this subject but as Galileo said ‘All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.’

    And so I needs must continue on this journey, groping blindly in the dark as it were to find the truth. If indeed there is one to be found.

Upon this path

This journey mine

Where echoes come

From Other minds

What hidden dreams

Are there to find?

   Are we the bastard off spring of a higher race?

(a real photo- or a hoax?  what do you think?)

   William Blake once said, “What is now proved was once only imagined.” Are we the bastard off spring of a higher race? By a peculiar instance of chance a bible passage was quoted to me by a friend on face book after I had posted a poem. It seemed coincidental, yet took on a greater meaning when I started to work on this passage, as if I were being urged on ;

    Genesis 6:4, “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bear children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown.” The giant off spring of this union between the sons of God and the daughters of men were called the Nephilim.

    In the collective sub-consciousness of all races, within the creeds and beliefs, perhaps there are channels that can be tapped by not only psychics but also by those who can have a mind to do so- blood memories, for example, amplified by some force unknown that drives us on to seek our beginnings?

    Are all religious texts based upon real events? Altered, then, over the centuries to fit in with the political needs of the times?  Pondering this, another question arose: ‘if there was indeed a higher Race of Giants, did they evolve here or were they in fact from somewhere else?’

   Von Daniken, whose works I read during my teenage years, wrote that Alien races had visited the Earth, taught us various technologies and had been worshipped as Gods, Anunnaki, Fallen Angels, Nephilim ? And so again the puzzle became more complex. Yet, in my search, and I search in ways that may differ from the methods employed by others, I sought a vision. Which came when it, or I, was ready. 

I lay at rest, though not to sleep

And whilst at peace did vigil keep

For sight to come through other eye

When gentle as an autumn sigh

Quick as silvered thread in sky

Though I could never tell the why

What world this was,

I cannot say

Where upon white sand the sea did play

And in this night as bright as day

From waters rose Dark-winged Angel,

And dark-orbed stars joined his refrain

Joyfully, without restrain

"Ar Ya Ma Th e O”

(From The Key of The Storm - D W Storer 2010)

Available on Amazon worldwide

   

What did it mean? I have my thoughts, and leave you to your own. But I will close by saying that I wonder more and more if we are not the lesser children of greater sires, and so I am only sure of one thing - Once, we were giants

May your Gods

Whoever they may be

Walk beside you always

D W Storer 2018/2019

The Lambton Worm

The Lambton Worm 

    Most people reading the posts on this blog will be familiar with the legend of St George yet how many, I wonder, have heard of ‘The Lambton Worm’? It’s almost certain that you have without even realising it. Bram Stoker’s ‘The Lair of The White Worm’ - which itself has proved to be the inspiration for several films and even an opera, was clearly influenced by the tale which has been told and re-told for about 700 years and it set in County Durham in the Tyne and Wear region of North Eastern England.

    The Lambton family actually exist, and during the 13^th century were regarded as respectable landowners albeit not particularly to be counted amongst the rich and powerful- yet by the later part of the 16th and early 17th century they grew considerably richer with some carefully placed investments in both land and in the coal industry. Towards the middle of the 18th century the Lambtons had evolved into one of the richest families in the region with some members even becoming M.P’S.

    The legend tells of a John Lambton who, preferring to go fishing in the River Wear, failed to attend services at the local church one Sunday where, depending on the telling, he meets either an old man or a witch who warns him that his actions will doubtless have dire consequences. Without so much as even a nibble, the hero of the tale catches nothing whilst the church service is in progress - yet as soon as it finishes he manages at last to catch something. Described as a small eel, or lamprey, its size varies, as from anything between the size of a thumb up to a full yard long.

 The old man, or witch, are then informed by John that he has ‘caught the devil’ and that he intends to throw it into a well but by way of a reply give further warnings of  future evils to come. Then, it seems, that some years pass and Mr Lambton goes off to fight in the Crusades for several years.

     

     While John is away the worm grows in strength and size, and the well becomes poisonous to any who partake of its by now less than refreshing waters. Once the locals start to notice that animals are disappearing they investigate the matter further and discover that the worm has left the well and coiled itself no less than seven times around the Penshaw Hill, on which the Penshaw Monument now stands. Alternatively, in others, it seems to be Worm Hill, in Fatfield, which is the local preference for many claim the ‘marks around the site are scars left by the worm itself.

     Free of the well the worm begins its reign of terror- cows stop producing milk, farm animals are devoured, and children disappear. Knights, and villagers, try to kill it but quickly meet with an untimely end.  Not only can the creature somehow reattach bodily parts which are hewed from it, but such is its size that it can uproot trees by coiling its tail around them and use them to batter opponents into. Curiously it is eventually placated, at a price of course, at Lambton Castle where John’s father offers it the milk of ‘nine good cows’ (presumably not local ones) every day.

     With his part in the Crusades done with, John Lambton returns to find the family lands in a ruinous state and, on being told of the cause, concludes that he must seek out the beast and kill it and looks for clues as to how from a wise woman near Durham who reminds him that it is his fault that the worm is there in the first place. Further, she tells him to cover his armour with spearheads and seek out the worm in the River Wear where it was happily enjoying the bucolic atmosphere wrapped around a large rock. If successful in his quest, however, to avert a curse that will haunt his family for the next nine generations he needs must kill the first living thing he comes across afterwards.

   

    Armour duly prepared John arranges with his father that, if successful, he will give three blasts on his hunting horn and that his favourite hound should be released in order that it will come to him whereby he can kill it and then avoid the curse. The fight takes place in the river where those pieces of the worm that are hewed away cannot rejoin its body for they are washed away by the current resulting in the monster’s demise.

     The sound of John’s hunting horn calling causes his father to forget the arrangement whereupon he rushes off to congratulate his son who, unable to kill him, proceeds to kill the hound as soon as possible which unfortunately brings the curse down upon them and so nine generations of the family are doomed not to die peaceful deaths.

Note -
The word ‘worm’ or ‘wyrm’ has its roots in Old German ‘worm’ which in turn has its roots in Norse ‘ormr’, meaning a snake or mythological serpent.

D W Storer 2018/2019

The Mothman

The Mothman

   Whether you’re a lover of Forteana or not, you’ve probably heard of the ‘Mothman’ – it’s even been the subject of a film, ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ made in 2002 with Richard Gere starring which was based on John Keel’s 1975 book of the same name in which he theorized that there were supernatural events related to the sightings and of one in particular that preceded (or predicted ) the collapse of the Silver Bridge which carries ca U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River and connects Point Pleasant, West Virginia, with Gallipolis, in Ohio.

   Reports of the Mothman seem to begin in the Point Pleasant area with sightings reported from November 12, 1966, to December 15, 1967 – the first newspaper to mention it was the Point Pleasant Register which ran a story on November 16, 1966 with the heading "Couples See Man-Sized Bird ... Creature ... Something".

    According to the records so far the first known appearance put in by the creature was witnessed by five gravediggers working in cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia who claimed to see a man-like figure fly low from the trees over the heads on November 12, 1966. 3 days later two young couples, Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette, told police they had been followed by a ‘large grey creature whose eyes "glowed red’ when the car headlights picked it up that resembled a "large flying man with ten-foot wings", car while they were driving in an area outside of town known as ‘the TNT area’, which was the site of a disused munitions plant.

     The tale spread over the next few days with more reports of sightings being announced.  Two volunteer firemen claimed they had seen it but it appeared to be a ‘large bird with red eyes’.  The Mason County Sheriff George Johnson proclaimed that it was no more than an unusually large heron which he termed a ‘shitepoke’ after being informed by a local contractor, Newell Partridge, that when he aimed a flashlight at a creature in a nearby field its eyes glowed "like bicycle reflectors", and even revealed that he believed buzzing noises from his television set and the disappearance of his dog were down to the creature.

    Dr. Robert L. Smith, a Wildlife biologist at West Virginia University, informed the press that the witness descriptions thus far seemed to point to the creature being a 'sandhill crane' , which was almost as high as a man and had a seven-foot wingspan as well as having reddish circles around its eyes, pointing out that the bird was not usually seen in the area and that this was probably a case of mistaken identity.

    The bridge in question, that seems to be the focal point for the Mothman legend really picking up speed, is a suspension eye-bar chain bridge, built in 1928 which collapsed during rush hour. The cause of this disaster isn’t really much of a mystery, for it was traced to a defect in one of the eye-bar links a crack to forming due a defect in one of the eye-bar links. The real mystery was the appearance of a strange visitor sighted several times by the citizens of Point Pleasant during the months leading up to the tragedy- which then became the basis for the film. 

    As for the film, I’ve seen it, directed by Mark Pellington and as state before was based on the 1975 book by Fortean author and parapsychologist John Keel and starred Richard Gere as John Klein, a reporter researching the legend of the Mothman. It had a mixed reception, despite being given a certificate to allow children over the age of 14 to see it, and barely made its costs back.

    Can I recommend it? That’s a tough one – it was advertised as being ‘based on a true story’ – note the ‘based’ .Whenever I see that word used with a film, or even a book, I see it as a warning sign, because in truth the film gets an awful lot wrong and even claims that the cause of the collapse was never found ( which it was in 1971- before the book was even written ) , along with other ‘lapses’ too. Still, saying that, if you’re a fan of matters Fortean then you may well enjoy it for what it is, a reasonable romp for late night viewing even if it does seem to be similar in style to the X-Files series a little too much.

     As a parting shot, curiously, it appears that there have been worldwide sightings for there are some cryptozoology theorists who claim that the Mothman has been seen before many catastrophes, incredibly even 9-11.

    Now it's your turn-  any thoughts or comments , suggestions ( preferably polite ones) , or if you want to mention your own experiences feel free to pop them into the comment box-  

D W Storer 2018/2019 

Headless Horsmen

Headless Horsemen

Scene taken from Tim Burton’s 1999 film The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Headless Horsemen

   The first time I came across the ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ was as a child, way back in the early 1970’s. It was, of all things, a Disney cartoon- one that held my attention rather well despite my being no fan of them even at that tender age. Ichabod Crane and the Headless- Horseman- a tale of a schoolteacher and his “face-to-face” rendezvous with a headless horseman was set in a small village on the banks of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, and told of a Hessian trooper whose head was taken off by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. Buried without his head in Sleepy Hollow’s churchyard, he was believed to hunt the premises at night, desperately searching for his missing head.

  A tale that has endured many different versions, especially in the film world, the latest version (1999) starred Jonny Depp, and most people think it started with Washington Irving’s 1820 work without realising his tale had its foundations laid in tales far older.

Scene from Disney’s 1949 two part film- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad

   The Brothers Grimm had published their versions of folk tales on this subject some years before Irving and, considering the parallels to be seen in their stories, may well have influenced him no small amount. In the tale of Hans Jagendteufel (sometimes Hagen-Teufel ) , set near Dresden, a woman gathering acorns in a place called “Lost Waters” hears a hunting horn and turns around to see the headless “hunting devil” riding by. To her joy it ignores her and continues its hunt for ‘evil-doers’ and the like. In their tale ‘Brunswick’, a “Wild Huntsman” warns hunters not to hunt without dire results- those that decided to go against his advice and entered the woods find themselves to be the prey instead.

Scene taken from tapestry at British Museum showing Arthurian tales

   Travelling further back in time the tale can be seen to have roots in the Arthurian romances, if not even in the far older Celtic legends too. In the 14^th century tale of Gawain and the Green Knight, a mysterious ‘Green knight’ appears at Camelot with the intention of testing the king’s knights’ loyalty and honour. Daring Arthur, or any of his knights, to behead him on condition that whoever took up the challenge would swear to meet him a year and a day after the event to receive the same treatment in return. Although Arthur was first to rise and offer to accept his nephew Gawain, the youngest knight present, argued for the right to perform the deed himself and promptly carried out the decapitation with one blow. The Green Knight, however, instead of dying on the spot merely retrieved his head and reminded all present of the conditions of the challenge before leaving.

    Depending, again on the version told, Gawain rode out the Green Knight’s castle to fulfil his obligation and, without knowing it, was tested 3 times for his honesty and of these tests he passed 2 which was reflected in his treatment by the Knight who takes the same number of swings with his axe at Gawain’s neck with only the third stroke making contact, Honour thus satisfied the tales ends with the usual happy ending as Gawain returns to Camelot.

    The photo above  is of the location where the Headless Horseman  purportedly lost his head - somewhere near this field on the slope of Merrit Hill in White Plains, New York, about nine miles from Sleepy Hollow.  During the last week of October, 1776, this property was the site of hostilities between American and British forces during the American War for Independence.  Today, a small monument topped with an antique cannon marks the site of these events, and a sign nearby describes the historic significance of the location.    The old Celtic legend of the Dullahan, or Gan Ceann, the headless harbinger of death, is thought to possibly be the first ever reference to a headless horseman found in history books, albeit it’s impossible to know where or by whom the Dullahan is first mentioned, but he appears to be tied to the ancient Celtic god, Crom Cruach, the Dark God of the Burial Mound.
   Legend has it that about 15 centuries ago Ireland was ruled by the sacred High Kings. They were god-given rulers, and King Tighermas considered himself to be a direct descendant of this dark lord who demanded human sacrifices to be made in his name each year in order that both the land and women would ‘bear fruit’ and Crom Cruach’s preferred method of sacrifice just happened to be decapitation.
  St. Patrick, in his own legends, is said to have found this stone, sometime during the 6^th century, and smashed part of it to pieces thereby banishing the ‘God’ to hell and ended this ruthless pagan practice, along with the sacrificial religion. The worshiping stone, known as the Killycluggin Stone, actually exists and can be found within the precincts of  the museum of Cavan County .   A collection of ancient texts, known as The Metrical Dindshenchas, tells us that people from Ireland upon their king’s request were duty bound to give up their firstborn in return for a rich harvest the next year- the unfortunate children’s heads would be smashed on a stone representing Crom Cruach.

Replica of Killycluggin Stone

    Even as Christianity replaced the indigenous religion the old fears never completely died out for a god so dark could never perish and would still harvest souls one way or another- if not by a willing sacrifice, then with wrath and fury. Thus rose , in Irish folklore,  the legend of the Dullahan.

     A type of ‘Unseelie’, or dark faery, it appears to be the Celtic equivalent of the Grim Reaper, carrying a whip made out of a human spine in one hand and his rotting head in the other. Some describe him as a headless rider on a headless black horse, whilst others claim he rides on a carriage made out of bones, coffins, and tombstones pulled by six fire-breathing headless horses. Both versions agree on one thing - if you hear him speak, then he is speaking your name, and your time has come.

   Sleepy Hollow, German forests, or Irish fields, the legend persists, Maybe it has its roots in tales far earlier than those I’ve managed to dig up and if you know of any please let us know here – who knows what we could uncover between us all ?

D W Storer 2018/2019

Crowley - A Brief History of The Last Of The Great Explorers

Crowley -
A Brief History of The Last Of The Great Explorers

Part 1

**
Once saw I a lonely Star
Pass oe’r far lonelier shores
Once its fires burned so bright
But now -
They burn no more

D W Storer taken from The Key of The Storm 2016

    So much has been written about Aliester Crowley, so many have jumped on the bandwagon – whether to demonize or canonize depends on your point of view. He asked for, and obtained, the notoriety he craved then realized far too late that it was less of an aid but more a hindrance. Deserted by his friends and followers, I wonder if he’d be laughing now at how his readership has grown due to the efforts of those who saw him not as a great occultist but as a fashion icon to latch onto in order to boost their own popularity.

    An occultist, poet, magician, mountaineer, painter, prophet, and a novelist to boot, Aleister was born on the 12^th October 1875 in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire into a wealthy Plymouth Brethren family whose Christian fundamentalist beliefs he rejected by the time he was educated at Cambridge University where he focused his attentions on mountaineering and poetry – which resulted in several publications on the subjects, and developed his interest in Western occultism.

    Joining the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1898, he was trained in ceremonial magic by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett, and after being denied advancement to the grade of Adeptus Minor by those leaders of the London sect he went directly to Mathers in Paris who granted him the title anyway in 1900. Despite being entitled to the grade, the London sect who disapproved of Crowley’s lifestyle descended into chaos with mass resignations and the eventual deposing of Mathers altogether.

    After a ‘magical‘war between himself and the Golden Dawn, of  which Aleister claimed victory, he moved to Boleskine House by Loch Ness in Scotland and after giving himself the title ‘ Lord Bolskine’ he went to Mexico with Oscar Eckenstein to pursue his passion for mountaineering after which, he then travelled to India  in order to study  the Hindu and Buddhist Yoga disciplines before returning to England.

    Eloping on the 11th August 1903 with Rose Edith Kelly, marrying her the next day in order to save from an arranged marriage, they spent their honeymoon in Cairo, Egypt, the following year where he began within a few days of their arrival, with the help of his new wife to create the first of his major works the ‘Liber Al vel Legis’ or as most know it ‘The Book of The Law. 

G-R-R-R-R-R!

Oh cabbage-heads soaked in rum!

On the blink, on the tum!

It’s right, tight, put out the light!

Putty faces!

Oh Grimaces

At this time of night!

Let me draw, paint, sculp

Your faces of pulp!

Oh gulp!

Put out the light!

Diabolically, divinely bright tight!

What do you know about that?

I’m a cat!

The world’s my rat!

It all goes under my hat

Thin and fat,

Oh my mat,

I’ll paint

You like a saint

Until I faint

Ain’t

That quaint?

Gr-r-r-r!

Gr-r-r-r-r-r-r!

Once more for luck

(Love a duck)

Gr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

Crowley -1916

   

    On 16 March 1904, Crowley tried to "shew the Sylphs" to Kelly by means of the ‘Bornless Ritual’ whereupon she entered into a light trance and told him, "They're waiting for you!" This led to him asking Thoth to clarify the matter and attempting to get his wife to identify Horus as the origin of the message by taking her to the Boulaq Museum where she passed numerous images of the god before pointing out a painted wooden funerary stele, the Stele of Revealing, which depicted Horus receiving sacrifices from the deceased - a priest named Ankh-af-na-khonsu. By a strange coincidence, or moment of synchronicity, the exhibit had been numbered by the museum as artefact 666.

    At Rose’s insistence, for three days beginning 8 April 1904, Crowley at noon then stayed in his room for an hour, where he wrote down what he heard dictated from a presence behind him who he came to know as Aiwass which led to the creation of the three chapters of verse known as The Book of the Law.

    Despite having two children with Crowley: Nuit Ma Ahathoor Hecate Sappho Jezebel Lilith (July 1904 –1906) and Lola Zaza (1907 – 1990) she was divorced in from him 1909 and in 1911 Aleister had her committed to an asylum for alcoholic dementia where she remained until died in 1932.

Notes = 

‘To shew the Sylphs’- (Crowley’s own words) – to show the Sylphs -
 A Sylph, or  Sylphid are invisible beings of the air, according to Paracelsus and are often depicted as cloud beings. It’s entirely possible that the myths of angels, the winged protectors of the Garden of Eden originate with them for  they embody the extremes of nature, mercurial and intense.

The Bornless Ritual  -
or the Invocation of the Heart Girt with a Serpent, is often considered the proper preliminary invocation to the Ars Goetia since it was introduced as such by Aleister Crowley ( also used in Crowley's Liber Samekh)  for establishing contact with the Holy Guardian Angel.

"Thee I invoke, the Bornless one.

Thee, that didst create the Earth and the Heavens:

Thee, that didst create the Night and the day.

Thee, that didst create the darkness and the Light.

Thou art Osorronophris: Whom no man hath seen at any time.

Thou art Iabos:

Thou art Iapos:

Thou hast distinguished between the just and the Unjust.

Thou didst make the female and the Male.

Thou didst produce the Seed and the Fruit.

Thou didst form Men to love one another, and to hate one another.

I am _________ Thy Prophet, unto Whom Thou didst commit Thy Mysteries, the Ceremonies of _________:

Thou didst produce the moist and the dry, and that which nourisheth all created Life.

Hear Thou Me, for I am the Angel of Apophrasz Osorronophris: this is Thy True Name, handed down to the Prophets of _________.

Hear Me: Ar: Thiao: Reibet: Atheleberseth: A: Blatha: Abeu: Eben: Phi: Chitasoe: Ib: Thiao.

Hear Me, and make all Spirits subject unto Me: so that every Spirit of the Firmament and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry Land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire: and every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.

I invoke Thee, the Terrible and Invisible God: Who dwellest in the Void Place of the Spirit: Arogogorobrao: Sochou: Modorio: Phalarchao: Ooo: Ape, The Bornless One: Hear Me!

Hear Me: Roubriao: Mariodam: Balbnabaoth: Assalonai: Aphniao: I: Tholeth: Abrasax: Qeoou: Ischur, Mighty and Bornless One! Hear Me!

I invoke Thee: Ma: Barraio: Ioel: Kotha: Athorebalo: Abraoth: Hear Me!

Hear me! Aoth: Aboth: Basum: Isak: Sabaoth: Iao:

This is the Lord of the Gods:

This is the Lord of the Universe:

This is He Whom the Winds fear.

This is He, Who having made Voice by His Commandment, is Lord of All Things; King, Ruler, and Helper. Hear Me!

Hear Me: Ieou: Pur: Iou: Pur: Iaot: Iaeo: Ioou: Abrasax: Sabriam: Oo: Uu: Ede: Edu: Angelos tou theou: Lai: Gaia: Apa: Diachanna: Chorun.

I am He! the Bornless Spirit! having sight in the Feet: Strong, and the Immortal Fire!

I am He! the Truth!

I am He! Who hate that evil should be wrought in the World!

I am He, that lightningeth and thundereth.

I am He, from whom is the Shower of the Life of Earth:

I am He, whose mouth flameth:

I am He, the Begetter and Manifester unto the Light:

I am He, the Grace of the World:

"The Heart Girt with a Serpent" is My Name!

Come Thou forth, and follow Me: and make all Spirits subject unto Me so that every Spirit of the Firmament, and of the Ether: upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry land, or in the Water: of whirling Air or of rushing Fire: and every Spell and Scourge of God, may be obedient unto me! Iao: Sabao: Such are the Words!

Aiwass –

 the spirit that dictated the Liber Al vel Legis to Crowley whom he described as

‘a ghost-like figure - tall, dark, personable, athletic, aristocratic, Persian-Assyrian in appearance with a face like a savage king ‘ although this was a psychic impression for by his own admission Crowley never actually turned to look at the figure.

D W Storer 2018/2019