A Meditation on the Simon Necronomicon Contributed by Andrew PernickWednesday, 11 July 2007

Simon's Gate rituals discuss the existence of seven so-called Gates, or doorways to higher planes of consciousness.The book claims that these Gates open to seven zones above the Earth, and that the Gates were known to theChaldeans, followers of Greek texts written in the 2nd cent. BC by Julius the Theurgist. Such followers included, in themodern era, the Golden Dawn, whose membership rolls included, as a high-ranking member, Aleister Crowley.The student, if he attains any success in the following practices, will find himself confronted by things too glorious or toodreadful to be described. It is essential that he remain the master of all that he beholds, hears or conceives; otherwise hewill be the slave of illusion, and the prey of madness. -Aleister Crowley, Liber O  

A Meditation on the Simon Necronomicon and its Rituals and Gates,Being an Argument Against such Practices in 5 Parts by Andrew Pernick

It must first be stated that Simon was a product of his times and, thus, that his Necronomicon, oft mockingly called the 'Simonomicon', is also a product of said times. Simon was a member of the inner sanctum of the Magickal Chylde store in downtown Manhattan, one of the principal centers of metaphysical thought and magickal research during the 1970s-early 1980s. The other members of the inner sanctum were known for throwing rather outlandish parties, involving the imbibing of large quantities of liquor and the ingesting of hallucinogenic substances, as well as the use of other such mechanisms for altering one's state of consciousness via chemical means.

It was at one such party that the inner sanctum, long since tired of having misguided fans of H.P. Lovecraft and his ilk enter their store, convinced that Lovecraft lied when he claimed he invented the Mad Arab's book as a plot device, and further convinced that Magickal Chylde, being an epicenter of magickal thought, had at least one copy available for purchase, decided to craft such a book.

It must be noted that the inner sanctum crafter their fraud whilst under the influence of many strange and assorted chemicals. That said, the book they crafted was replete with lies and omissions, drawn from all and sundry's respective knowledge of the Occult Arts. In other words, they created a book of traps, some more sinister than others. It is by mere negligence that the Simon Necronomicon exists at all – each member of the inner sanctum agreed to destroy the book, then in draft form on various scraps of paper, if they left the party last (it must be noted that Simon also agreed to this stipulation) – Simon broke his word, however, and, instead of destroying the assorted traps, brought them together into a pile and had the collection edited and published.

Thus, the book that was created as an act of passive-aggressive cathartic purging became a book proper. Sales boomed, as the New Age movement hit with tsunami-like force, first along the West Coast of the US, then spreading eastward to New York and Boston (and, it must be noted, suburbia). Through this fad's explosion, sales skyrocketed, and frauds and snake-oil salesman sprung up. Although the so-called 'Simonomicon' should have been lost in the shuffle of fakes, frauds, pretenders, and the high noise, low signal environment, instead it became a best-seller.

The notion that for every bad act done by a person, that person shall suffer as the result of another's bad act was far from unknown to the inner sanctum of Magickal Chylde – they lived by that rule (and its counterpart, that for every good act done by a person, that person shall benefit from the good action of another). Their negligence in not destroying the pages that became Simon's Necronomicon, it has been argued, brought about the store's downfall, as well as many and numerous personal tragedies. Thus, the Simon Necronomicon, a book that was not supposed to exist, destroyed the epicenter of magickal wisdom of its time, and made Simon quite wealthy. Sequels, of course, followed, although their sales never managed to reach the same peak as the original.

{mospagebreak title=Part II&heading=Part I} With this history in mind, we begin our examination of the Ritual of Walkingand its parts,incantations, conjurations, and invocations by first examining the foundations from which the innersanctum of Magickal Chylde drew their inspiration – Aleister Crowley.

Just like the New Age craze that swept the United States, and then parts of Europe, in the late-70sthrough to the modern day, Crowley was a product of his time. Ever the man to lie, cheat, or otherwiseengage in acts of fraud, Crowley invented more than he had actually learned. A member of the OrdoTempli Orientis (O.T.O. - the first and third words are often switched in position), he wrote many

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and numerous works on Ceremonial Magick, which relies upon the position of the stars and planets, andthe latitude and longitude of the Mage, just to determine the exact hour and minute of the exact day aworking must be performed in order for it to work (it is worth noting that most Ceremonial Magiciansstill keep, to some degree or another, this practice in their workings and, accordingly, certain workingscannot be performed until several thousand years from now. It is their system and while they have greatsuccess with it, such slavish devotion to hours, minutes, days, and a multi-axial rotation system of planetsand stars makes the fact that some workings are doomed to failure unless they are performed at 3:02pmon July 9th, 6356 (for example) sound as if the entire practice of Ceremonial Magick is sheer folly).

Crowley, and the O.T.O., wrote many books, on many and numerous subjects, from Yoga to theQabbalah. It is also worth noting that Crowley saw nothing wrong with mixing deities from differentcultures, provided that numerically, under a Qabbalist's numerical system, all of the math worked out to azero-sum game. Simon, and those in the inner sanctum, when writing the rituals, rites, invocations,incantations, conjurations, etc. that became the 'Simonomicon', saw no such need. This is of primeimportance and will be discussed presently.

Simon's Gate rituals discuss the existence of seven so-called Gates, or doorways to higher planesof consciousness. The book (it is useless to pin all of the blame on Simon himself, as it is impossible toknow with any reasonable degree of certainty whether it was Simon or another of the inner sanctum whoindeed wrote the Gate-related portions) claims that these Gates open to seven zones above the Earth, andthat the Gates were known to the Chaldeans, followers of Greek texts written in the 2nd cent. BC by Juliusthe Theurgist. Such followers included, in the modern era, the Golden Dawn, whose membership rollsincluded, as a high-ranking member, Aleister Crowley.

It is from this point on that the Gate rituals become mere folly at best, a disastrous affair at worst,especially if they are performed by one who has not mastered Form. In Ceremonial and/or RitualMagick, it is necessary to be highly familiar with the Form, i.e. the practices, symbols, and what wewould term “Do's and Don'ts” of ritual before one ever attempts even one's first ritual; students ofCeremonial and/or Ritual Magick spend long periods of time learning Form before they dare attempt toperform a Ritual. Simon, and the inner sanctum, were, in a sense, gambling on the idea that the so-called'Simonomicon' rituals would be performed by those who knew not from Form. The current thought onwhether or not a practitioner of Ceremonial Magick can succeed without a knowledge of Form is suchthat it is best to assume that one can indeed succeed, although one's results would most likely not beanywhere near as accurate nor as potent as those of one who did know Form.

{mospagebreak title=Part III}In order to perform the Ritual of Walking, one must purify oneself for a period of a LunarMonth,going from the night before the New Moon to the night before the New Moon. One must abstain fromsex during that time but, in typical circumloqutious fashion, one can engage in pleasuring a woman(which, in the 'Simonomicon', is called, cleverly enough, “worship[ping] at the Temple of ISHTAR” - aveiled reference to the bringing about of orgasm via oral manipulations of the vagina), provided one doesnot achieve orgasm oneself. It is worth noting that the 'Simonomicon' is sexist in that it assumes, rathercorrectly given the demographic that would be buying the book but incorrectly given the demographic ofthe New Age movement itself, that practitioners of its rituals and rites would be male. This is intentionalas it is trying to be in keeping with Crowley and older writers' treatises on the Magickal Arts. During thisLunar Month of purification, one must forgo the consumption of meat for the final week, and of foodaltogether for the final three days, with the exception of water. During this month of purification, thepractitioner is to pray to the God (probably Osiris, given that Simon et al. are using a Crowlean Form,although it could be Enki or any other number of Gods given that the invocations span multiple disparatepantheons) each dawn and to the Goddess (probably Isis, for the Crowlean reason, or Ishtar, given the useof Enki, or any other Goddess one might think of, since the invocations for the Goddess also crossdisparate pantheons).

Once the night of the ritual is at hand, the practitioner is to summon the Watcher. This is acommon Ceremonial practice – Ceremonial Magick has its roots in Christian magical thought, dating asfar back as Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (a.k.a. Agrippa), and it was, and is, widely thoughtin Ceremonial Magick that one can be attacked by a demonic entity during the course of a ritual. Thus,one is all but required to summon a Watcher, a metaphysical being from an astral plane, to act as abodyguard throughout the ritual. This is the point where the trap begins. The 'Simonomicon'“Conjuration of the Watcher” summons Enki, a trickster God (while it is true that Enki is the SumerianGod of water and intellect, there are several legends in which he is a trickster along the same lines as theNorse Loki, or the Greek Goddess of Chaos Eris (the Roman Discordia), though it should be stated that these are distinctcharacters, and have their own stories and personalities). It also calls upon “He of theName Unspeakable, the Number Unknowable.” This is a reference, thinly veiled, to the Hebrew God,whose true name was lost with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem centuries ago, and whose true

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name can only be recovered through the Qabbalistic manipulation of the Torah entire, to find the correcthundreds-of-digits-long number which corresponds to said true name. One is advised, at this point, toresearch the power of names, especially true ones. Especially on-point on this subject is Robert Graves,specifically The White Goddess, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2001), pp. 45-48ff.

This trap requires some careful elucidation. Under the Torah's Ten Commandments, specificallythe Second Commandment, the Hebrew God commands, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (“alpa-nai a-chei-rim e-lo-him yih-yeh-lek-ha lo”, in the transliterated Hebrew).” Thus, to invoke Enki andthe Hebrew God would be an offense to the Hebrew God of such a nature that, at the very least, theperson making said invocation would wind up having the entire invocation being for naught, thus leavinghim (gender assumed from Simon's text) without a Watcher; at worst, it would result in the wrath of theHebrew God. Either way, from this point in the ritual on, the practitioner is without the verymetaphysical being he needs to ensure his safety. This is by design.

Each Step, i.e. each Gate, has its own Seal, diagrams of which are given in the 'Simonomicon'(pages vary depending on edition, and they vary widely). One must carry the Seal engraved on a smallmetal plaque one keeps on one's person, in easy reach of one's right hand. At this point, the practitioner is to mark theEarth before him with the Seal of the Gate through which he wishes to pass. Simon (assumed –it very well might have been any other member of the inner sanctum) makes it clear, in keeping withCrowlean traditions, that one must pass through each Gate one at a time, with a Lunar Month ofpurification, as described above, between each Gate working.

In keeping with standard Ritual and Ceremonial Magick practices, oil lamps (preferably, as theydo not blow out easily in low to medium winds) are to be placed at the North, East, South, and West ofthe ritual space, all an equal distance from an altar at the South, which itself is to face North, and are tobe lit clockwise ('Deosil') from the North. This is a standard practice that is used to separate the ritualspace from the physical world. In Ceremonial workings, it is so that any otherworldly beings outside theritual space before it is sanctified remain on the outside; it also serves so that anything summoned intothe ritual space cannot leave the ritual space. As will be detailed below, this is also part of the trap, as, inCeremonial thought, breaking the circle formed by these Watchtowers (the N,E,S,W oil lamps) can resultin disastrous side-effects such as demonic possession, or worse, depending on who one talks to.

At the altar, a brazier is lit with a flame scented by the star corresponding to the Gate throughwhich the practitioner is trying to pass. A Goddess image (again, probably Isis) and a God image(probably Osiris) must be present on the altar.

The ritual itself is fairly simple. First, one lights the brazier and uses it to light, Deosil, theWatchtowers, starting from the North, summoning each Watchtower via its respective incantation foundin the 'Simonomicon'. Since suitable Crowlean and/or Ceremonial substitutes exist, a discussion of theSimon version of the incantations to the Watchtowers is unnecessary. One next invokes the Watcher(and thus falls victim to the first of two traps) and plants a sword in the Earth, which must remainuntouched until the end of the ritual. The Seal of the Gate, on a small metal plaque, must then be held in the right handof the practitioner, and its name whispered.

It is at this point that the second trap is possible. One is then to loudly recite the Incantation ofthe Walking, while walking Deosil around the depiction of the Gate that the practitioner has drawn on theEarth. The trap here is that the second Gate's Incantation has an invocation to Azathoth. Thus, in orderto pass through the second Gate, one must not only twice invoke Enki, an infamous trickster God, but onemust also twice anger the Hebrew God, and one must also invoke Azathoth. The trap here should beobvious to even the least educated layman. As a hint, remember the purpose, in Ceremonial Magick, ofestablishing Watchtowers to create a ritual space apart from the mundane world.

One recites this incantation as many times as the number corresponding to the Gate throughwhich one is trying to pass. After that many recitations, the practitioner is to approach the Gate that hasbeen drawn upon the Earth from the South and head North until he stands at the center of the Gate, atwhich point he is to fall to his knees and look directly skyward. Looking in other directions, according toSimon et al., will most likely get one eaten by some form of demon. It is at this point that a Messengerappears. If this is one's first Gate ritual, the Messenger is to give the practitioner a special name, apassword. This password must be used each and every time the practitioner wishes to open a gate. Thisis, most likely, a third trap in that it is highly probable, given Enki's involvement, that the name given isthe practitioner's true name (again, see Graves, pp. 30-48ff). Speaking aloud one's true name makes itknown to others – one's true name, in brief, is the key to unlocking one's truest potential, but it is also aninvaluable tool for those who wish true domination over someone as if one knows an entity's true name,he can control every aspect of what that entity does (hence why the Hebrews destroyed the true name oftheir God when their Temple fell centuries ago, lest it fall into enemy hands) – given Enki's involvement,

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it is highly possible that the speaking aloud of one's true name grants permission for whatever entitiesmight be between the Gates to have their way with the practitioner. This is speculative, as, due to thefirst two traps, performing the rites and rituals for the Gate Walking is a suicidal endeavor.

At this point, once the Gate has opened (provided the practitioner has used the correct name hehad been given when he opened the first Gate), the practitioner is to stand, thank the Gods (this is pluralin Simon's text, although why is never made abundantly clear), strike the sword so that the Watcher (whowas never there in the first place) can depart, leave the Earth-inscribed depiction of the Gate, put out thefire on the altar, and snuff the fires at the Quarters (i.e. the North, South, East, and West positions, butdoing so, again, Deosil, starting from the North – there are many warnings in Ceremonial Magick againstever walking 'Widdershins', or 'counterclockwise', in ritual).

It is worth noting that Simon (or whomsoever actually wrote this ritual) did indeed close the ritualaccording to Ceremonial traditions – one does indeed first thank the Gods (and Goddesses, depending onthe ritual and the theological system being used), then thank and dismiss the Watcher, then finally closethe Quarters. Why this order is maintained, when the rest of the ritual is a perversion of Ceremonialpractices, is a mystery. Anything written about this specific portion of the ritual would be nothing morethan idle speculation.

{mospagebreak title=Part IV}A meditation upon this set of rituals would not be complete without also looking at theinvocations and conjurations themselves. Of note is the fact that, like the rest of the 'Simonomicon', theyrely on questionable language. According to several sources, the language is infamous in this book to thepoint where the exorcism ritual is actually a ritual to invoke a demon to possess the practitioner ratherthan to depart from the possessed person. Others translate that ritual as a transfer of the possessingdemon from the possessed person to the person doing the ritual. In either case, the title claims it to be anexorcism when in fact it is an invitation for demonic possession. Thus, the language in the book entire isof questionable merit. Also, the invocations and conjurations cross multiple pantheons which weredisparate in both time and geographic location; this is how the Conjuration of the Watcher has aninvocation to both Enki and to the Hebrew God YHVH.

In other terms, Simon et al.'s Gate Rituals are little more than a series of metaphysical andmagickal traps designed to ensnare and injure those foolish enough to perform them. This is notsurprising, given that they arose out of the deep-seated anger of the inner sanctum of the MagickalChylde, but the extreme degree of risk associated with these rituals in particular does beg the question ofwhether their purpose was truly to purge their anger or, instead, to create a Pandora's Box, knowing thatwhomsoever was the last to leave, in this case Simon, although by necessity it need not have been, wouldpublish them, thus unleashing their creation upon the world.

{mospagebreak title=Part V}In closing, it cannot be repeated enough that this set of rituals is highly dangerous even to themost well-trained Magus (the highest ranking of skill and honour in Crowley's O.T.O.), and thus shouldnever be performed. The 'Simonomicon' is an anthropological curiosity, yes, but it should never be usedas a source for workings one actually intends on carrying out. Also, in keeping with virtually everymagickal system to ever exist, there are two old axioms that must be made abundantly clear: first, onceyou are thinking about doing a working, you have started that working; secondly, never read from anytext aloud, especially texts with portions in a language you do not know idiomatically and fluently –moving your lips is equally a foolish venture. Thus, it is recommended that you purge your knowledge ofthis ritual except inasmuch that you know how it works, why it is a series of traps, and that you know notto carry it out. Doing otherwise is folly and this author accepts no responsibility for any damage to life,limb, property, or otherwise that may result from the failure to abide by the two axioms above; this authoralso does not accept any responsibility for anything arising out of the reader's negligence or the actualperformance of the 'Simonomicon' rituals.

 

Thanks are due to Dan Harms for his attention to this article, which has aided in the correction of several errors.

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