Al Azif: Is The Necronomicon Real?

Hello again ATS,

For some of you, this thread is going to be immediately interesting, but I am afraid that many of you will be left scratching your head wondering, “What is a Necronomicon, and why do I care?”.

Well, there is the strong possibilty that someone you know, maybe one of your children or grandchildren, will someday come waltzing in to the room, all smug with their goth little selves, and slap down a copy of this hoary old grimoire, declaring, “Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!”.

And you are going to want to know what to do. I hope to give you the ammo here on this thread to Deny Ignorance, should you ever encounter The Necronomicon.

For those that do not know and are unaware that there is a problem in the first place: I would suggest that you merely Google (Google spellcheck will, of course, correct your spelling of Necronomicon, if you don't get it right ), “Is the Necronomicon real?”, or something thereabouts, and see what happens.

Now, what is it?...

The Necronomicon was simply a literary device that H.P. Lovecraft used to enrich his stories, give them depth and gravitas, and to link them together in a meaningful way. H.P.L. Attributed the writing of The Necronomicon to 'Abdul Alhazred', who was a childhood persona developed when Lovecraft was a boy.



Lovecraft actually mentions the tome very few times, and briefly, at that, in his works of fiction. Which is important to know for keeping things in perspective. Lovecraft attracted the admiration of many other writers in his brief stay on Earth, and what became known as "Lovecraft's Circle", quickly developed around him once his stuff started getting published. The circle included Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and others.

And it was this intense fan base, made up greatly of other writers, that propelled the Necronomicon to the level of a literary hoax. And still fuels the preponderance of the legend to this day.

Is it real?

No. I am going to keep this part short and I am going to draw from two sources: one for Lovecraft's invention, and another for the modern publication that seems to persist in being controversial.

As I said, The Necronomicon is entirely the invention of Lovecraft. Abdul Alhazred was a boyhood alter-ego. And I am going to let Howard speak for himself here. These are actual letters written between Robert E. Howard (the creator of the Conan novels) and H.P. Lovecraft...

August 14th, 1930

“The Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred is likewise something which must yet be written in order to possess objective reality. Abdul is a favourite dream-character of mine—indeed that is what I used to call myself when I was five years old and a transported devotee of Andrew Lang’s version of the Arabian Nights.

A few years ago I prepared a mock-erudite synopsis of Abdul’s life, and of the posthumous vicissitudes and translations of his hideous and unmentionable work Al Azif...—a synopsis which I shall follow in future references to the dark and accursed thing.

Long has alluded to the Necronomicon in some things of his—in fact, I think it is rather good fun to have this artificial mythology given an air of verisimilitude by wide citation."

May 7th, 1932
"As for writing the Necronomicon—I wish I had the energy and ingenuity to do it! I fear it would be quite a job in view of the very diverse passages and intimations which I have in the course of time attributed to it!

I might, though, issue an abridged Necronomicon—containing such parts as are considered at least reasonably safe for the perusal of mankind! When von Juntz’s Black Book and the poems of Justin Geoffrey are on the market, I shall certainly have to think about the immortalisation of old Abdul!"

www.hplovecraft.com...

I think that is pretty funny that H.P.L. Seems to have invented the 'Mythos' sense of humor, as well.

Anyhow, you can all see there plain as dirt that Lovecraft himself had the time and the wherewithal to make it clear that the Necronomicon is purely his own invention and not some ancient text with spells that might protect humanity from the impending onslaught of Cosmic forces and entities that want to make us dinner and steal our planet (which was never ours in the first place).

Now, on to the modern version, which is the tougher nut to crack.

The Simon Necronomicon.



This is the one that causes problems. It was published in 1977 and is commonly referred to as The Simon Necronomicon. Inside, one discovers that the book is merely introduced by Simon, and Simon denies authorship. This is the one that you may find being carried around by a friend or loved one. Let's take an axe to it, shall we?

In short, although he will swear up and down it is not him, the author of the Simon Necronomicon is Peter levenda; yes, the same guy that wrote Sinister Forces. I like him, he is a great guy, and he wrote the book in question.

There were a lot of people hanging around a particular book store in the mid to late 70's that was called the Magickal Childe. Peter Levenda was one of them and it was at the magickal Childe bookstore that the Simon Necronomicon was developed. Like I said, there were lots of folks hanging around, how do I know? Because one of them was Alan Cabal, who wrote a very good article called The Doom That Came To Chelsea, and in that article, Cabal drops the dime on Simon/Levenda.

Ultimately, ATS, the best I can do is to is to hand you the axe and point to the tree, you will have to do the chopping.

That is because Simon/Levenda is masterful at damage control and has actually been rather forthcoming, on radio and in print, about his involvement in the Simon Necronomicon. In the end he will say that he was 'involved but did not write the book'.

So I am going to let Simon/Levenda go first followed by Alan Cabal. Here is Peter levenda being interviewed by Tracy Twyman at Dagobert's Revenge magazine...

Peter Levenda

The story is told, I think, in other places and I have been asked this before -- also on the Internet -- so to summarize: in the 1970s a couple of Eastern Orthodox monks pulled off the biggest rare book heist in the history of the United States.

It was a continuing crime, the books being taken from libraries and private collections all over the country (and, it was said, Canada and Mexico). They were finally busted, and did federal time, but most of the books were never recovered.

The Necronomicon was part of this swag as were a lot of occult books. It was in Greek, handwritten, but the problem was that much of the Greek was unintelligible. My modest contribution to this was recognizing that some of the Greek was an attempt to phoneticize Babylonian and Sumerian words.

I am not one of the people arguing that this Necronomicon is THE Necronomicon, or that Lovecraft was even aware that it existed. I think Lovecraft heard the name through one of his friends in the Golden Dawn, and used it creatively.

quintessentialpublications.com...

Well, Simon/Levenda, Alan Cabal tells a different story...

Alan Cabal

In 1977, the book made its debut in the window of Hermans little shop of horrors in Chelsea (ed. Magickal Childe books). It generated a scene of its own, a scene bursting with mad, unfocused creativity and slapstick mayhem. Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea had just published their Illuminatus trilogy, and interest in secret societies and occult lore was sweeping through counterculture circuits.

Into this bubbling swamp of spiritual fecundity stepped Peter Levenda, aka "Simon." Charming, soft-spoken and aloof, well-versed in all aspects of occult theory and practice, he eased his way to the center of the scene.

The Necronomicon was a team effort. Herman provided the sponsorship, while the design and layout were the work of Jim Wasserman of the OTO, a raving cokehead from Jersey named Larry Barnes whose daddy had the production facilities and a fellow who called himself Khem Set Rising (who also designed the sigils). The text itself was Levenda's creation, a synthesis of Sumerian and later Babylonian myths and texts peppered with names of entities from H.P. Lovecraft's notorious and enormously popular Cthulhu stories.

Levenda seems to have drawn heavily on the works of Samuel Noah Kramer for the Sumerian, and almost certainly spent a great deal of time at the University of Pennsylvania library researching the thing. Structurally, the text was modeled on the wiccan Book of Shadows and the Goetia, a grimoire of doubtful authenticity itself dating from the late Middle Ages."

Simon" was also Levenda's creation. He cultivated an elusive, secretive persona,giving him a fantastic and blatantly implausible line of bull# to cover the books origins. He had no telephone. He always wore business suits, in stark contrast to the flamboyant Renaissance fair, proto-goth costuming that dominated the scene.

www.scribd.com...

There you go ATS, there is more to come, but that should suffice, for the moment, to help us get some perspective on the background of the Necronomicon, and maybe assuage our eldritch horror a bit.



X.

So its not real.

reply to post by phroziac


Nay, my fine friend, it existeth not.

I think.

X.

I thought The Necronomicon was the work of H.P. Lovecraft.

The Phraseology and style of writing would seem to indicate such.

Okay, nevermind, my speed skim read different.

Necronomicon = H.P.Lovecraft.

Then, there's always the Bruce Campbell contribution

When I here Necronomicon I automatically think.

"This is my boom stick"

Great thread and research I have always wondered if there was a real book. All my investigation led to a dead end. Thanks for this. S/F

reply to post by Druscilla

I thought The Necronomicon was the work of H.P. Lovecraft.

"As for writing the Necronomicon—I wish I had the energy and ingenuity to do it! I fear it would be quite a job in view of the very diverse passages and intimations which I have in the course of time attributed to it! I might, though, issue an abridged Necronomicon—containing such parts as are considered at least reasonably safe for the perusal of mankind! When von Juntz’s Black Book and the poems of Justin Geoffrey are on the market, I shall certainly have to think about the immortalisation of old Abdul!"

H.P.L. in correspondence to Robert E. Howard.

www.hplovecraft.com...

No. He only ever referred to it as though it were an existing text in his own fiction writing.

So since it does not exist, I have to ask...

The Phraseology and style of writing would seem to indicate such.

What phraseology and writing style? Have you got a copy of The Necronomicon?



X.

reply to post by JValhalla

"This is my boom stick"

These days, me too. I am glad you found something that you were looking for in the thread. Thanks for coming by.

X.

Originally posted by Xoanon


What phraseology and writing style? Have you got a copy of The Necronomicon?

X.

I read it once back in Highschool back to back with some H.P. Lovecraft along with some Clive Barker stories when I was on a horror kick.

The style of writing, in such close conjunction with reading H.P. Lovecraft gave me the impression that the work was indeed his.

A small appendix to the story of the Necronomicon I'm fairly sure Lovecraft's fans will enjoy because despite the fact it is true it sounds like something Lovecraft himself might have written.
A little over twenty years ago a paperback came out called something like 'Bizarre Murders'.
One of the murders it described was that of a cult leader and his family, a wife and two daughters.
The nature of the cult was never discovered as after the murder all the members disappeared and none were ever found.
It has been over twenty years so forgive an old memory but either the husbands arms had been removed and the arms of his family hacked in an unsuccessful attempt to remove them or the other way around. The wife and daughter had their arms removed and an attempt was made to remove his. I really don't remember.
What makes this murder relevant to this thread is that the leader of the cult claimed to be writing a 'true history of the world' as it was dictated to him at two or three every morning by a demon.
Although the accounts of the story spell the name several different ways it is referred to at least twice as 'The Necronomicon'.
This, by the way, all occurred when H.P.L. was only 11-years-old and so it is doubtful anyone drew any inspiration from him.
The Necronomicon? The Starry Wisdom Sect? An attempt to remove evidence of webbed digits?
Of course not. Let's not get silly. Just coincidences. Nothing to see here. Let's all move along now.
For what it's worth.

what do you mean its not real?!!!!
i even bought the necronomicon spell book so i would have a complete set!!!!

i too purchased this book when i was getting heavy into h.p.l.
i actually still have my original copy,along with the really cheesy spell book that came along later.
(you too can accumulate wealth and power and love!!! )
my favorite necronomicon will always be the one from 'evil dead'!
"the book was inked in human blood,and bound in human flesh"
cool thread!!!!

just to recap the back cover:
"this is the testimony of all that i have seen,and all that i have learned...
for this is the book of the dead,the book of the black earth,that i have writ down at the peril of my life"

wow! scary stuff eh!

OP I wonder if its related to the Codex Gigas



or the Devils bible?

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


Hi Ophiuchus13

I am going to say no, the Codex Gigas is not the Necronomicon...

According to one version of a legend that is already recorded in the Middle Ages the scribe was a monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive. In order to forbear this harsh penalty he promised to create in one single night a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge.

Near midnight he became sure that he could not complete this task alone, so he made a special prayer, not addressed to God but to the fallen angel Lucifer, asking him to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The devil completed the manuscript and the monk added the devil's picture out of gratitude for his aid. In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated that reproducing only the calligraphy, without the illustrations or embellishments, would have taken 5 years of non-stop writing

This whole story is suspect as I happen to have it on good report that the monk was not walled up alive.

No, the Codex Gigas appears to be purely a hoax related to medieval Europe, while the Necronomicon is full of Mesopotamian mythology and spells in what scholars seem to think is Sumerian.

Totally nothing to worry about in either case.

Thanks for coming by.

reply to post by Xoanon


Thanks I always wondered if there was a relation

Klaatu, verata, n....necktie....ni*cough*

One of the best movies ever.

Yes, it's true, Necronomicon is nearly a household word since it has been taken up by popular culture and satirized in movies.

One of the things that I hope to express on this thread is that there are folks out there that take it very, very seriously.

I am going to add some posts to the thread soon that will highlight this for you all.

In the meantime, here is the actual interview that I cited above where Tracy Twyman interviews Peter Levenda, who is Simon, the author of the Simon Necronomicon, even though he denies it.

He begins to speak of the book at 44 seconds.

Enjoy...

Originally posted by Xoanon
reply to post by phroziac

 

Nay, my fine friend, it existeth not.

I think.

X.

Well..... it doesn't, Lovecraft uses it as part of his folklore. Does the ring exist that Tolkein spoke of? You can debate about where Lovecraft stands in modern literature, but he introduced a mythos, that's all. Having said that, on ATS people will deny Atlantis is Plato's invention even though there is no mention of it before him so - this I guess is the place where such things can be debated without regard to fact.

Yeah its fiction. But....

Like all good fiction it draws from truth for inspiration.
Love craft was a good writer that told a good story. He used all sorts of sources and people for inspiration.

But yeah. Fiction.


He probably knew a real Arab that practiced jinn magic (which i still done) for inspiration for his mad Arab character.

Manson thinks otherwise.

You have forgotten The Book of Eibon, De Vermis Mysteriis, The G'harne Fragments, The Parchments of Pnom, and many more! Having attended Miskatonic University (GO C'POD's!!!) you do not have to be a Goth to browse the restricted section of the Library.

Being there are genuine copies of the aforementioned works, you must be a graduate student working on a thesis, a professor or a wealthy alumni/benefactor of the University to be allowed access, due to the nature of the material and the age of the manuscripts.

Living in Arkham or its surrounding arears may also get you access. If you are granted access your research must state that any of the reference materials will not be uttered, thought, or otherwise incantated in any sort of way. If you are a translator that you will not dwell too long on the text your translating

Again...If you are a translator it is asked that you will not dwell too long on the text you’re translating and best to believe any visions or apparitions you may see are only illusion or hallucinations. If you do happen to summon something, open a portal or bring about the end of your sanity you will most likely be left to your own devices as the University has a strict non-involvement policy after a few events in the 1920’s-30's

Now as for the text being real, well there are some private collectors that would have you believe they are fantasy so they will keep making millions or Billions. There is a reasons there are Gates to the other realms and Gates is one of the richest men here.

But do not bother yourself with such nonsense, keep thinking they are make-believe made up writings of a silly author(s) and stay in the shallow end of the pool otherwise you might drown.
Yes…Keep your research to the interwebs and word of mouth, and stay on that path, best not to dig to deep unless you are prepared to lose all you have ever known uncovering the horrid truth…