The Necronomicon
by Simon
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Book Summary Information
Author: SimonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1980-03-01
ISBN: 0380751925
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Avon
Book Reviews of The Necronomicon
Book Review: No way to know for sure
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the more intriguing copies of the so-called Necronomicon.
There is a great deal of debate and confusion as to whether the ancient book of magick ever truly existed (exists?) or whether it was an invention of H.P. Lovecraft. This debate will probably never end, as there is a wealth of information and dis-information to support either argument.
Regardless of who is correct, this book is intensely interesting. Scholars of religion and archeology will find that there are some shocking "coincidences" in the book. Much of the book IS consistent with the traditions, parables, and beliefs of Sumerian and other ancient Middle Eastern peoples, as well as more "modern" religious texts.
Aleister Crowley himself while publicly denouncing the Necronomicon, derived his own system of magick using the same Enochian magick that had been "created" by the alchemist Dr. John Dee and his assistant William Kelley. They supposedly had obtained a copy of a Greek translation of Alhazred's manuscript,the Necronomicon. More than just a book of magick, the Necronomicon was a record of the traditions of the dead- hence the name of the book. Alhazred's intention (at least in part) was to create a historical work chronicling the ancient gods and traditions from the very birth of civilization in Mesopotamia. -One of the most interesting passages in this book is a creation story quite similar to Genesis, but more than 2000 years OLDER.
A more historically accepted parallel to the Necronomicon is The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The primary difference being that the Necronomicon was intended as a resource for the living. The Book of the Dead was intended to help the Ka, or spirit, in the afterlife. But I digress...
Dee and Kelly employed the magick in the Necronomicon, and derived the system of magick which they dubbed Enochian (referring to another ancient tome, The Book of Enoch.) Dee later translated the Necromomicon into English. This is supposedly how some copies of the myserious book made their way through time.
Whether THIS book is the real thing or not, many of the entities and parables talked about are the same ones which appear in the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud, and farther back in the mythology of the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Sumerians. The etomology of the names is strikingly similar. In fact, sometimes the names are the same. Of course, we could never know how much of this is from Abduhl Alhazred himself, and how much of it was added, paraphrased, and just plain mistranslated over the centuries.
The fact that the same parables and entities appear again and again in the records of man, albeit with varying degrees of similarity, makes me wonder. Are these merely the creations of man, our human attempt to answer why we are here? Or are there truly unseen entities which have been in contact with man, or influenced mankind by one means or another?
In conclusion, I'd say the entities referred to here are just as real as ghosts, angels, or demons. And the tales are as believeable as those from the more "acceptable" texts of existant religions. So take it for what it's worth.
Summary of The Necronomicon
In the past 31 years, there has been a lot of ink?actual and virtual?spilled on the subject of the Necronomicon. Some have derided it as a clumsy hoax; others have praised it as a powerful grimoire. As the decades have passed, more information has come to light both on the book's origins and discovery, and on the information contained within its pages. The Necronomicon has been found to contain formula for spiritual trans-formation, consistent with some of the most ancient mystical processes in the world, processes that were not public knowledge when the book was first published, processes that involve communion with the stars.
In spite of all the controversy, the first edition sold out before it was published. And it has never been out of print since then. This year, the original designer of the 1977 edition and the original editor have joined forces to present a new, deluxe hardcover edition of the most feared, most reviled, and most desired occult book on the planet.
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