by Donald Tyson
The great work of personal transformation is the central task of spiritual alchemy, and also of all major schools of ceremonial magic. In this grimoire it takes the form of seven paths, each represented by a lord of the Old Ones, who acts as a kind of spiritual mentor. The disciple chooses one of the lords as a personal teacher who exemplifies the higher ideals of that path of attainment. Fulfillment is marked by a pledge made on the astral level before the throne of Azathoth to serve the great work of the Old Ones, the purification and restoration of the Earth to her former spiritual glory.
The intention of the Old Ones to cleanse and elevate our world, if we take it seriously as a possible future event, may not be fulfilled for centuries, or even millennia. Perhaps it is not destined to happen in a material sense at all, but may have a more symbolic meaning that applies to the astral realms and an inner mental reality, rather than to the physical substance of this planet. Whatever its ultimate realization, it provides a model for personal spiritual transformation and perfection, and it is used in this way in this grimoire. The disciples of the Order of the Old Ones will walk seven paths to attainment, each path presided over by one of the seven lords.
Chaos Magic and the Apocalypse
This system of magic is a kind of chaos magic, and it cannot be otherwise, since Azathoth is the god of chaos and Nyarlathotep is his soul and messenger. It bears similarities with the doctrines of the Gnostics, who had as their ultimate purpose the elevation of humanity from its condition of ignorance and despair to its rightful state of spiritual enlightenment among the stars. This involved recognizing the ultimate unimportance of lower, physical matters in favor of higher, spiritual concerns.
To Christians, the religion of the Gnostics appeared Satanic. A similar uncharitable view might be taken regarding the great work of the Old Ones and those who seek to forward it in this world. The difference between an angel and a demon is often only a matter of perspective—one culture’s god is another culture’s devil. To those who believe that their religion is the sole true faith, all other religions are false, and all other believers are heretics.
There are aspects of the higher teaching of Aleister Crowley in his Book of the Law that seem at first consideration quite devilish. They shocked even Crowley himself when he recorded them, as they were dictated by his guardian angel Aiwass. Similarly, some of the statements of the Enochian angels, as delivered psychically to John Dee and Edward Kelley, have a devilish cast. Kelley was as shocked and disturbed by the instructions of the Enochian angels as Crowley was over the communications of Aiwass.
It is useful to bear in mind that in the stories of Lovecraft, the Old Ones are presented as evil monsters intent on destroying our world. However, it is possible to look behind the surface and form a quite different picture. From their own point of view, they were not trying to destroy the world but to save her from her fallen state. This involved a period of cleansing, which may be very similar to the cleansing period described in the biblical book Revelation. Crowley’s Aiwass predicted a coming time of turmoil and violence, as did the Enochian angels. It is very possible that they were all talking about the same thing, and that it is evil only from a lower human perspective.
Fundamentalist Christians have come to this realization about the violent times described in Revelation—they welcome them and look forward to them, since they will mean that a select few of the chosen of God will put off their lower nature and ascend into heaven in a higher and more spiritual nature. For those with a different perspective, these end times might be regarded with horror as the destruction of the present world, or at least as the end of the present state of the world. Change is often viewed with dread, as something evil in itself.
The great work of the Old Ones may be identical to the apocalyptic vision foretold in the biblical book Revelation. It will be marked by a transformation that necessitates widespread destruction of the present existing state of the world, followed by the emergence of a more spiritual condition. In Lovecraft’s fiction, those who survive the great work of the Old Ones will be those chosen by the Old Ones, who have put off their lower earthly natures and been transformed into something less tangible that approaches pure mind.
The chaotic nature of the magic of the Old Ones is represented in the rituals by circumambulation around the altar of practice in a leftward, or widdershins, direction. It is the usual practice to move around the altar in a sunwise direction during rituals. Counterclockwise circumambulation is often considered to be the mark of black magic, but it is more accurate to look upon it as a significator of chaos magic, since in general it results in the release and expansion of force, as opposed to its concentration in the center. Witches sometimes used this kind of turning in malefic spells since it liberates large amounts of raw occult energy.
The Long Chant
The Long Chant that forms so crucial a part in the personal great work of members of the Order was described by Lovecraft as necessary to invoke the Old Ones into the stone circle, but the chant was never actually given by him. Lovecraft indicated that it occupied a certain page of the English translation of the Necronomicon made by the great sage Dr. John Dee, who is famous in history as the advisor to Elizabeth the First, Queen of England, but is better known in occult circles as the magician who ushered the Enochian language and Enochian teachings into the world.
Unfortunately, Dee’s translation of the Necronomicon does not exist. It was necessary to compose the Long Chant using the same kind of scrying technique that was employed by Dee’s seer, the alchemist Edward Kelley, who communicated with the Enochian angels through a globe of crystal—a technique of spirit communication as old in England as Merlin. In consideration of its stated origin, I have rendered the chant into the Enochian language, which has immense potency in the invocation of spirits. It is quite possible that had Dee translated the Necronomicon, he would have used the Enochian tongue for the Long Chant, as a language best suited for drawing down spiritual beings. The link between the Long Chant and John Dee is not spurious but was explicitly made by Lovecraft himself.
In connection with the personal great work pursued by members of the Order of the Old Ones, the Long Chant is used to draw Nyarlathotep to the edge of the ritual stone circle, so that this lord can fulfill his function as messenger to Azathoth, and lead the disciple to the very throne of chaos itself, for the purpose of inscribing his name into the true Necronomicon, as a loyal follower of the Old Ones and a willing partner in their larger great work, the cleansing and elevation of the planet Earth to her former spiritual estate. This greater purpose is not unlike the higher destiny embraced by the Gnostics, who were so reviled by the Christian church in the early centuries of the present era.
It is part of the lore of European witchcraft that the apprentice witch inscribed his or her name in a great book under the watchful gaze of the Black Man of the sabbat, and received a mark from the Black Man in token of the event. Lovecraft described just such a scene in one of his stories, where Nyarlathotep presides as the Black Man of the sabbat, and the signing is held before the throne of Azathoth at the center of chaos. It is for this reason that the fulfillment of the personal great work of the disciples of the Order of the Old Ones takes place on the astral level before the throne of Azathoth, and is presided over by Nyarlathotep.
The Enochian Language
Differences of opinion exist as to the correct way to vocalize Enochian words. I have provided a phonetic version of the Long Chant that gives the pronunciation that I use in my own work. It is similar to the pronunciation used by Aleister Crowley. Consideration was given to the sonorous effect of the words when vibrated on the air, and to the rhythms of speech. It was for this reason that Crowley’s practice of always pronouncing the letter z as zode was retained. Crowley was a showman and had a good sense of the emotional power of the spoken word.
The most important matter to bear in mind when pronouncing Enochian is that e
ach letter of Enochian embodies a separate noncorporeal intelligence. Enochian words are not merely composed of letters—they are composed of spirits. It is important that none of the letters be completely silent. Unless the letter is voiced on the air, the spiritual being it represents is not invoked and actualized during the ritual. The power that being would have contributed to the success of the ritual is lost.
An error made by scholars of Dee and the Enochian language is to simplify its pronunciation. This seems like a good idea, since it makes speaking Enochian words much easier, but it fails to take into account the realities of practical magic, which these scholars usually do not understand. It is significant that many Enochian names are unpronounceable without the insertion of additional vowels. This suggests that these names, and Enochian words in general, were never intended to be pronounced like the words of common languages, but in a ritualistic manner that gives balanced attention to each individual letter.
Those who prefer to pronounce the Long Chant in another manner will easily be able to do so, since I have provided the original Enochian text below the phonetic Enochian text. It is possible to voice the Long Chant only in Enochian, or even to voice it only in English, but it is structured so that it will be most potent if the English wording of each line is spoken directly following the Enochian wording. In this way a kind of echo or response for each Enochian line is achieved, which serves to clarify the meaning of the text. If the Long Chant is worked by ritualists whose common tongue is other than English, the English text may be translated into that language, while the Enochian remains unchanged.
The Seals of the Old Ones
The seals of the seven lords of the Old Ones and of the twelve dancing gods that play so important a part in the rituals of practical magic in this grimoire were composed using my system of power glyphs, which I find to be a versitile tool for making seals of all kinds and for all purposes. The basis for the power glyphs is quite simple—the letters of the English alphabet, reduced to twenty-four by combining the I and J, and the U and V, are transformed into simple graphic shapes that possess fundamental esoteric energies. By joining these glyphs together, names and words can be represented and expressed as graphic patterns.
There are many possible ways the power glyphs can be fitted together to form the seal of a name. Which pattern is ultimately selected is a matter for intuition and meditation. Sometimes the final pattern comes easily, and other times it requires hours of manipulation as dozens of possible patterns are tried and rejected. The formation of seals is guided by several general principles. All letters in the name should be clearly expressed in the seal—two similar glyphs should not be overlapped so that one completely hides the other, for example, nor should two glyphs be joined so that they appear to represent another glyph entirely that is not among the letters of the name. The glyphs should all touch, or smaller glyphs should be contained in the centers of larger glyphs—it is not good practice to have single glyphs floating apart from the rest of the seal. The patterns should be balanced and centered. In general the glyphs should not be rotated or excessively distorted, although this is sometimes necessary to a limited degree to achieve a pleasing result.
The seals created with power glyphs are individual and unique, each an expression of the psyche of its maker. Enterprising users of this grimoire may wish to construct their own seals of the Old Ones. For this purpose I have included a chart showing the separate power glyphs. Good results should be achieved by using the seals I have provided. Each has its own resonance and unique personality. A more complete examination of the power glyphs and their use will be found in my book Familiar Spirits (Llewellyn, 2004).
Beyond Good and Evil
In offering this grimoire of the magic of the Old Ones for publication, I am conscious that it will be decried as Satanic in some religious quarters. This places me in excellent company. The teachings in Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law have been similarly characterized. So were the beliefs of the Gnostics. So were the Enochian conversations recorded by John Dee. Indeed, so were the beliefs and practices of witches in Europe, who were burned alive by the thousands during the Renaissance. The working of any magic of any kind has been condemned in the past, and in the present, as devilish by devout Christians, and by fervent religious believers of other major religions.
I do not regard the teachings in this grimoire as evil. In Lovecraft’s stories, the Old Ones are presented as evil beings, but this is merely the common human reaction to their purpose, which is the restoration of this world to her former spiritual estate. It is not the intention of the Old Ones to exterminate humanity in order to cause human suffering, but rather it is a necessity of their great work of many ages that humanity either be transformed into a more spiritual condition that will not hinder the elevation of the Earth, or be removed from this planet. Since the Old Ones do not have human emotions or sympathies, they are not concerned with the survival of our race. It is a matter of indifference to them.
This does not mean, however, that humanity must perish when this work is fulfilled. If human beings are able to transform and spiritualize their own natures by achieving gnosis or enlightenment, as the great sages of past ages are reported to have done, they will no longer obstruct the work of the Old Ones, and will be elevated to a higher estate along with the purified body of the Earth. Perhaps this higher dimension of reality may be called heaven by religious believers. It may even be that this elevation of a spiritualized portion of humanity has been prophesied in the book of Revelation and other ancient prophetic texts.
The Power Glyphs
The Old Ones care nothing for human beliefs and human religions. However, Lovecraft’s tales indicate that it is possible for human beings to invoke them and interact with them for human purposes through the use of magic, and it is for this practical benefit that this grimoire was written. Whatever their ultimate reality, the Old Ones now have existence on the astral plane, conceived in the minds of millions of readers of Lovecraft’s fiction, and of the books of other writers that are based on Lovecraft’s mythos.
It is my own conviction that Lovecraft was more than merely a writer of horror stories. I have come to believe that he was a sleeping seer who drew forth from his dreams archetypal realities that lie on the edges of human consciousness, and which have found expression in various veiled forms in our religious myths. Magic deals with such archetypes and the potencies they embody. Through magic they can be summoned and even manipulated for human purposes. Such was the greatest secret wisdom of the priests of ancient Egypt, who not only worshipped their gods, but actively directed their power. The same may be done with the Old Ones, for the considerable benefit of those willing to invoke them.
The Old Ones may care nothing for the hopes and fears of the human race, but magic cares nothing about the Old Ones and their purposes. It simply works. This has always been its ultimate justification, and is the reason it has survived unchanged in its essential methods from the beginning of human history down to the present day. Even Nyarlathotep is not immune to its influence, since it calls upon the very laws that underlie reality itself. These are not the physical laws described by Newton, but are much older laws that have never been articulated, but are intuitively understood by the human mind.
A measure of the reality of Lovecraft’s creations, the Necronomicon and the Old Ones, is their continuing celebrity. With each year that passes, they receive ever greater attention from the general public. Their acceptance into the body of Western esoteric practice was inevitable, and has been going on for decades. The magic of the Old Ones is still evolving, and is consequently in a state of flux. Eventually it will become more stable, and will attain the status of a recognized branch of Western magic. However, at present it is still viewed with skepticism and disapproval by many serious practitioners. In some small way I hope this grimoire will help to legitimize the chaos magic of the Old Ones, which in my view represents a natural,
and indeed an inevitable, evolution in the course of Western occultism.
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The Old Ones
The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Great is their favor toward those who serve them, but greater still their malice against their foes. They walk the earth when the walls between worlds weaken and the gates of Yog-Sothoth swing wide. At twilight they walk, and in the mists of morning before the ascent of the sun. When moon and sun cross paths on the dragon’s head and again on the dragon’s tail, they walk. Upon the equinoxes they walk while the seasons of the year hang in balance. Corn is pressed down in the fields where they pass, and trees torn up by their roots. The ground shakes with the rumble of distant thunder, and the air is sharp with the stench of burning brimstone.
By this odor may you know them when they pass near, for no eye can see their unnatural flesh without the aid of sorcery. They are not of this world but of higher worlds, and extend themselves downward into our space the way a man reaches into the depths of a pool. No fish swimming beneath the surface can know when or where the hand will enter the water, or the place it goes when it is withdrawn, nor does the shape of the hand reveal the greater form of the creature to which it is joined. By their tracks on the sands also shall you know them. Legs thick as the trunks of mighty oaks bear up bodies vaster than the largest beast, yet end in five small pads that press into the ground the pattern of a pentalpha.
The Old Ones possess the power of flight, not by means of wings, for wings they have none, but by lifting their great bodies upward into the air with the force of their thoughts alone. They are blind in normal vision, and aeons before the rise of the race of man they dwelt in great cities behind stone walls that lacked windows. Yet they possess senses unnatural to this world that inform them of their surroundings. Few sages have glimpsed them by alchemy or art magic, but those few who dare to write on this forbidden matter declare their bodies to be an ovoid mass of writhing tendrils.