by Donald Tyson
Nyarlathotep will ask you to swear fealty to him, but if you are wise and if you remember yourself—for all this is like a dream and bewilders the mind when it is attained—you will instead swear your service to Azathoth, the blind lord of chaos. Nyarlathotep will gnash his teeth, but this is lawful and he cannot punish you for this devotion to Azathoth, since he himself is bound in service to the idiot god. If instead, you choose to bind yourself to Nyarlathotep, he will reward you in this life, but may exact payment for his gifts in tasks that are not part of the great work, but serve his selfish purposes. If you swear loyalty to Nyarlathotep, the mark he gave you is his mark; but if you swear loyalty to Azathoth, the mark is the mark of the blind god, impressed in your flesh by his messenger.
By this act of dedication and this oath, you become a Lord of the Order of the Old Ones upon this earth, sworn to serve the Old Ones in all things that tend to the fulfillment of the Work of the Trapezohedron, which is the purification of this globe and her elevation through the highest gate of Yog-Sothoth to the chaos mount, where, cleansed of her heavy clay, Barbelzoa shall resume her rightful place on the left-hand seat of the triple throne. By this oath you make yourself a foe to all men who have not devoted themselves to the Old Ones, and to all races abiding on this sphere, both alien and native, who have not acquired in their nature by devotion and works a part of the likeness of the Old Ones.
So have many Christians sworn in their ignorance, for they embrace the prophecies of John as written in his Revelations, which predict the coming end time of great destruction, and the exaltation among the stars of the Queen of Heaven from her lowly whoredom among the beasts. They celebrate the great work, but know not what they anticipate with such eagerness. They are chaff for the flames. Only the Lords of the Order, in direct communication with the lords of the Old Ones themselves, may understand the true meaning of the end times predicted by John, when the four gates at the watchtowers of this world swing wide, and the hosts that serve the Old Ones rush in to burn and destroy and lay waste to the lands and seas.
Then shall the lord Nyarlathotep wield his fiery sword, separating the few who are chosen from the many who are damned. The favored few who bear the marks shall receive new bodies of the same alien flesh as the bodies of the Old Ones themselves, having prepared their minds to receive them, but the many who are damned shall become as bits of ash rising in the blast of a furnace. He will strip away the sea and rock of this world with his sword and seize the naked goddess, carrying her upward on his dragon wings through the spheres that have no names, and his servants shall follow in his wake.
Should his will to power remain unopposed by watchful Yog-Sothoth, a new aeon will commence, and Nyarlathotep will rule the cosmos, emboldened by his matings with Barbelzoa even at the very feet of her blind father, who in his idiocy will know nothing of the outrage. He will impose order on the many worlds, but it will be an order of his own design, a dark order of repression and constraint. All this is prophesied to come to pass, yet it may come tomorrow, or it may not come in the lifetimes of many men. In the meanwhile, those who serve the Old Ones reap advantages in this world and during this term of existence. It is better to serve in this world than to burn in the next.
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The Order
of the Old Ones
The Order of the Old Ones shall be established for the study of the Old Ones, their history, nature, and works, and for interaction with them by means of regular rites, special rituals, offerings, sacrifices, prayers, observances, and psychic communion. It is open to both men and women of eighteen years or older. Candidates seeking admission to the Order must acknowledge the Old Ones as the secret rulers of this world, and agree to advance their purposes and aid in the consummation of the Work of the Trapezohedron, which is the purification of this fallen earth, and her eventual restoration to her original spiritual estate on the left-hand seat of the triple throne of chaos.
Petitioners admitted to the Order must take an oath of obedience, in which they swear to remain faithful to the teachings of the Old Ones, as they are transmitted to leaders of the Order, to serve them without hesitation, and to hold the teachings and works of the order secret. Violation of the oath shall result in expulsion from the Order and the curse of Nyarlathotep upon the head of the violator.
New members serve not less than one year in the rank of Servant, learning the outward working of the daily rites of the seven lords and studying the teachings of the Order. Servants perform the physical labors required to maintain the temples of the Order, and must obey the instructions of members of higher rank, except those instructions that are a danger to their well-being, or an insult to their honor.
After examination upon the equinox following the completion of the year-long term, and elevation to the rank of Master, members supervise and manage the running of the affairs of the Order, and preside over the daily and semi-annual rites, as well as any special ritual workings that arise by petition of members, or out of necessity. The rank of Master has no set term. The primary responsibility of Masters is to walk one of the seven ways of attainment to the throne of chaos, there to enter their names into the Necronomicon and receive the mark of Nyarlathotep, or the mark of Azathoth, upon their bodies.
Those bearing either of these marks, which are given by Nyarlathotep before the black throne, achieve the rank of Lords of the Order. It is part of their function to make decisions regarding changes of routine, write teaching texts, receive direct communications and instructions from the Old Ones and their agents, and sit in judgment over disputes that arise among members. Theirs is the power to establish and dissolve temples of the Order, as changing circumstances require. Lords cannot be judged, except by those of their own rank, or by the Old Ones themselves. A Lord guilty of dishonorable acts, or acts that injure the well-being of the Order, may be expelled from the order by a judgment of three other Lords, rendered in writing.
Temples of the Old Ones shall be established in septemvirs and their multiples. A minimum of seven members who have among them a Master shall be sufficient to establish a new temple. A temple may affiliate itself with an existing school of the Order, provided approval in writing can be gained from a Lord of that school. A school consists of an association of temples of like-minded members who perform the same works, and follow the directives of a single elected leader. The leader of a school of the Order shall be a Lord duly elected by secret ballot at a gathering of Lords and Masters of the associated temples. Lords may establish new temples. A Lord who authorizes a new temple becomes karmically responsible for its works, so such authorization should not be given lightly.
Temples are established under the benevolent authority of one of the seven lords of the Old Ones, who becomes the patron lord of that temple. A temple under the benevolence of Dagon becomes the Dagon Temple of the Old Ones; a temple under the benevolence of Yig becomes the Yig Temple. Individual temples are distinguished by their locations. A temple under the benevolence of Cthulhu that is located in Chicago would be called the Cthulhu Chicago Temple.
Any existing temple in a community that bears the title of a lord of the Old Ones has prior claim on the patronage of that lord, and no newly established temple in the same community shall adopt the same lord, unless all seven of the lords have been adopted by seven temples. A temple may then take the name of a lord a second time in the same city, but must distinguish itself by its local place name—its political riding, borough, local community, or even by its street name. In this way, all temples shall be uniquely named, and confusion avoided.
As many as seven members may serve inside the stone circle to conduct the rites. Large temples must rotate their members so that all have the opportunity to conduct the rites, and learn their correct manner of observance. The other members shall gather around the circle and observe the rites, although attendance on all daily rites is not a requirement for those outside the circle. Those most senior may sit betw
een the stones, becoming part of the circle itself. Additional members of the temple shall sit outside the circle, beyond the thresholds of the four gates, where there is sufficient space to accommodate them.
The members of a temple may move to a new building with the approval of all its Masters, when circumstances dictate. Such a move does not constitute the establishment of a new temple. If the membership of a temple grows too large for its effective working of the rites, the Masters of the temple may petition a Lord to establish a new temple in addition to the old temple, in this way multiplying the places of worship for the Order.
The teachings of the Order are passed down from mentor to student. Each Master shall have Servants as students, and shall instruct them personally in a private setting, and periodically question them to test their knowledge. Masters shall instruct Servants, and Lords shall instruct Masters. In circumstances where there are gaps in the ranks of the Order, any member of higher rank may instruct any member of lower rank in the knowledge required for the lower rank. Those of the same rank may gather for study and debate on questions of practical magic.
In recognition that there will always exist isolated individuals or small groups who wish to become members of the Order of the Old Ones but lack access to an established temple, self-initiation shall be acknowledged as legitimate. The self-initiated Servant of the order must take the oath of initiation before the lords of the Old Ones in the stone circle, and must study and practice the daily rites for a full year before, on the following equinox, presuming to elevate himself to the rank of Master.
Self-initiated Servants and Masters who seek to join an established temple shall suffer examination by the Masters or Lord of the temple, who may deny admission if they believe the candidate unfit, or if they judge that the assumption of the rank of Master has been premature. At their discretion, they may demote a self-initiated Master to the rank of Servant for further training, and admit him to the temple in that lower rank.
Groups of self-initiated Servants may form their own temple, if they have among them at least one Master, and if their number is at least seven. No temple shall be established with fewer than seven members. Should such a self-formed temple seek to join an established school, it must suffer to have itself examined before the Lords of that school, who will judge its fitness to join the school.
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Work of the
Trapezohedron
The Work of the Trapezohedron is the great labor of the Old Ones to return the fallen and sleeping goddess Barbelzoa to her original place at the left hand of Azathoth on the throne of chaos. All of their lesser labors on this world tend to this single higher purpose. It was for this reason that they came through the gates of Yog-Sothoth and assumed the semblances of material forms. Nyarlathotep directs the work in his own way and for his own reasons, but he is not Lord of Chaos. That title belongs to the god whose true name is never spoken, he who squats upon the blackened throne and unreels the ages with his music.
It is called the Work of the Trapezohedron because the higher dimensional geometry of the final gate of Yog-Sothoth, through which the goddess must be raised, has a shape that resembles in our reality that of a trapezohedron with eleven sides. When the gate is opened, Yog-Sothoth unfolds the sides from their hidden dimensions like the petals of a flower from its bud. Past the gate exists the ultimate reality, which is perceived in forms that are limited by the mind of the perceiver—for know you that all the forms of the Old Ones are no more than masks.
There are two parts to this great work. The first necessitates the cleansing of the surface of this globe, which is the solidified body of the sleeping goddess, from all forms of lower life that have been carried here across space, or that evolved here in its primal beginnings. This is usually understood in a mundane sense, as a slaughter of life, but will be effected not by killing, by through transformation. The lower will become higher, the material will be made spiritual. When the stars are right and the Old Ones return, they will begin this cleansing, and their chosen instruments will take part in the labor with great joy and exultation. The Old Ones will empower their servants so that even the least of their Order strides the earth like a god, casting lightning and fire.
The second part of the labor is the opening of the successive gates of Yog-Sothoth, which are in truth merely levels of a single gate. Each level must be passed before the next may be opened. As this globe makes transition through each level, she shall become less substantial, more ethereal, until all the dross matter has faded away and only the brightly shining soul of the goddess remains naked at the center. The lower substance will not vanish into nothingness but will be transformed by its translation through the gates. When the shining trapezohedron is opened, the earth will vanish from her orbit about the sun.
The second part of the labor, the elevation through the gates, cannot commence until the first part has been completed, the purification of all life. The first part has been hindered for aeons by the poisonous alignment of the stars and planets, which conspire in their winding courses across the heavens to cast down a combination of rays noxious to the substance of the Old Ones. Cthulhu, the great war-priest of the Old Ones who dreams beneath the waves of the Pacific Ocean, has prophesied that in the fullness of time, the stars will come right once again, but not even he with his alien science can predict when that time will be, for the complexity of the calculation defeats him. It is said that the Yithians, who are wisest of all beings in the cosmos, knew the date, but if so they did not choose to reveal it to the lesser races before they vanished into the distant future.
In the meanwhile, the Old Ones work their preparations through their mortal and immortal agents dwelling both on this sphere and in higher spheres, who are not troubled by the poison of the stars and can travel through the gates with impunity. The Old Ones seek to breed with human women and engender hybrid offspring in their wombs, to advance the great work. They are ever watchful for receptive wombs for their seed, and agents that will nurture its growth in secret until the growths are strong enough to care for themselves. Yet they are cautious, and do not seek to breed more than a few at a time, having learned from their error. In times past they bred too many, and their children rebelled from their authority and sought to conquer the world for their own use. For their hubris the Old Ones were forced to destroy them, by the instrument of a great flood.
The ritual work of preparing a womb for impregnation by an Old One may be referred to as the Work of the Trapezohedron within the ranks of the Order, since it is the lower reflection on the level of humanity of the great work of restoration, just as a Lord of the Order is a lower reflection of a lord of the Old Ones. By mingling our blood with the seed of the Old Ones, the flesh of our race is made ethereal, and fit to pass upward through the gates of Yog-Sothoth. At the same time our transmuted flesh shields the essence of the Old Ones from the malign rays of the stars, as the shell of a lobster protects the tenderness within, so that the minds of the Old Ones can function in this world, using the hybrids for their hands.
In the past, some of these hybrids have been monsters. It is true that they may range the full spectrum between the nature and appearance of the Old Ones themselves, and the nature and appearance of a normal human being. The lords have learned wisdom, for in the past the monsters who differed greatly from the human form were invariably destroyed, either by their own chaotic actions, or by human beings who reviled them for their differences. In more recent times the Old Ones only breed hybrids who will be born with the semblance of true humanity, so that they may pass in our world unnoticed and unhindered by others of this lower race.
A scattering of agents with mixed blood roam the world and fulfill their appointed tasks, obedient to the inner whisperings of the Old Ones, who talk to them in their dreams. They have a natural affinity for the lore of the Old Ones, and for the practice of ceremonial magic. They do not know their own true natures, but believe t
hemselves afflicted by a kind of madness that they carefully conceal from others. The purposes of the Old Ones are veiled and complex, and are not apparent in their individual works. These agents of mixed blood commit acts that to the uninitiated may appear to be meaningless, yet their higher meaning works its effect unseen beneath the surface of reality, as slowly the web of the Old Ones is woven across the face of the world.
Those who serve the Old Ones are never asked to perform acts that will result in their own destruction, for the lords of the Old Ones value their human agents. At times the purpose of their commands may not be apparent, and the acts may seem to accomplish nothing of use. Their purpose is hidden from our level of consciousness but open on higher levels. Acts of obedience rightly fulfilled are rewarded. The Old Ones will care for the members of the Order who commit their lives to the great work.
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Oath of Obedience
This oath shall be administered to all who seek entrance to the Order of the Old Ones at the lowest rank of Servant. It must be freely voiced by the candidate for admission, and witnessed by a Master or a Lord, unless it is voiced during a self-initiation, in which circumstance the lords of the Old Ones will bear witness. The oath is presented to the candidate in printed form, and the candidate reads it aloud, and then inscribes his signature at the bottom in acknowledgement of understanding and acceptance. The inscribed document is to be retained by the Masters of the temple. Should at some future time the admitted candidate violate his oath, his signature may be occultly employed as an instrument of punishment, if this is deemed necessary by the presiding Lord of the temple.