Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred
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By his necromancy he has rendered himself deathless, and though he appears outwardly to age, his body remains forever youthful and strong. If, by some mischance, his body were shattered into pieces, and death came upon him in such a way that it could not be forestalled, he would rise again, such is the command he has of the arts of the grave; for from his essential salts he would rise, and the bones that once wore flesh would be clothed in flesh anew. He fears not the assassins of the Sons of Sirius, who ever seek to penetrate his walls as punishment for his theft of their precious scrolls, for his walls are impregnable to men; nor does he concern himself with the wandering bands that worship Shub-Niggurath who threaten him because of his revelation of the secrets of her covenant; the malice of the captive spawn of Cthulhu, which has never forgiven him for his betrayal beneath the library of the monastery of the magi, is his amusement, for what power has that being entrapped within its iron cage?
For as long as his essential salts persist upon the face of this world, so long shall the poet endure and mock his enemies in verse. There is no death that would erase his substance so utterly that he cannot arise renewed and reborn. It is in this dual assurance of impregnability and immortality that he offers his journey of life within these pages, which are illuminated for the wise but remain shadowed from the gaze of fools. Here are secrets found in no other book, for they are known to no other man. Their purchase is beyond price, but it is the whim of the poet to scatter them upon the dust, and through the future years, like precious pearls, either to be gathered up by men of perception or trodden beneath the hooves of swine.
You who read this book first will bless the name Alhazred; yet when you read it for the second time will you curse his name bitterly and lament with tears that you ever held it; yet there are a few who will read it a third time and give blessing once again, and to those few all doors lie open.
Table of Contents
Prefatory Note
Concerning the Life of Abdul Alhazred
Necronomicon
Howlings in the Desert
Rapture of the Empty Space
Lustful Demons and Angry Demons
The Eaters of the Dead
Many-Towered Irem, Its Wonders and Pitfalls
The Dweller in the Caverns
The Lost City Beneath Irem
The Starlit Chamber of Seven Gates
The First Portal, Leading to the Plateau of Leng
The Second Portal, Leading to the City of Heights
The Third Portal, Leading to Sunken R’lyeh
The Fourth Portal, Leading to Yuggoth
The Fifth Portal, Leading to Atlantis
The Sixth Portal, Leading to Kadath
The Seventh Portal, Leading to the Temple of Albion
What May Be Safely Written of the Old Ones
Yig, Corresponding with the Sphere of Saturn
Yog-Sothoth, Corresponding with the Sphere of Jupiter
Cthulhu, Corresponding with the Sphere of Mars
Azathoth, Corresponding with the Sphere of Sol
Shub-Niggurath, Corresponding with the Sphere of Venus
Nyarlathotep, Corresponding with the Sphere of Mercury
Dagon, Corresponding with the Sphere of Luna
The Great Seal of the Old Ones, Known As the Elder Seal
The Underground River A’zani
Memphis, City of Mummies
Concerning the Tombs of Wizards
The Uncanny Ways of Cats, and Their Cult
The Riddle of the Sphinx Interpreted
The Resurrectionists in the Storehouse of Kings
The Essential Salts and Their Use
The Valley of the Dead
Walking Corpses Above the Second Cataract
The Book Markets of Alexandria
The Ziggurats and the Watchers of Time
The Tower of Babel and the Fall of the Watchers
The Ruins of Babylon
U’mal Root and Its Manner of Harvest
The Valley of Eden
The Wisdom Seat
The Monastery of the Magi
Inner Grounds of the Sons of Sirius
The Secret Purpose of the Magi
Why the Stars Are Not Right
The Thing Beneath the Library
Why the Old Ones Do Not Die
Concerning Shoggoths
The Formula of Yug
The Well of Life
The Relic of the Hebrews
Wanderers on the Road to Damascus
The Rite of the Companion
Terms of the Covenant with Shub-Niggurath
Soul Bottles
The Lane of Scholars
The Secret of Damascus Steel
The Burial Ground at Damascus
The Conclusion to the Journey