On the Shelf: H. P. Lovecraft – Against the World, Against Life

After much effort, the translation of Houellebecq’s critically acclaimed work on HPL is finally mine.  What more appropriate for this Halloween?

Against can be read as a response to Colin Wilson’s  The Strength to Dream from 1962.  Wilson devoted a chapter in that work dedicated to blasting Lovecraft’s work as sick and demented, meaning that it fell outside of Wilson’s schema of human progress and evolution.  Houellebecq takes that label and declares that, yes, Lovecraft may be sick, but given what being well is like, you can hardly blame him.

The title of this work is slightly misleading.  After all, if Lovecraft had truly been “against the world” and “against life,” he’d have leaped off a bridge when he was a teenager and been done with both.  Instead, he chose deliberately to step outside the modern ideas of progress, thought, and notions of what was critical and important.  He never sought commercial success or a family, instead eking out a cheap existence from a few investments and what little money his stories brought in.  In that sense, Lovecraft could be compared to Renton in Trainspotting, at least in terms of the basic sentiment that motivates them.

The book explores a wide variety of themes, each one worthy of deeper thought and consideration with regard to Lovecraft’s philosophy, his style, his marriage, his architecture, and all manner of other topics.  There are certainly passages I’ll have to go back and examine at leisure.  I’m not the only one – Kenneth Hite, for example, became caught up in just one paragraph.   It’s not always the most accurate work – Stephen King  describes this book as a “cerebral mash note” in his introduction, and as with any mash note, there are some items that are inaccurate (largely due to his use of de Camp’s biography over Joshi’s more recent and comprehensive work) and questionable.  Nonetheless, one is carried away by the author’s passion for the subject and the feeling that he has captured the essence of the man.

And yet, I cannot agree with what might be called Houellebecq’s central thesis – that what makes HPL so effective as an author is the racial hatred and fear that he uncovered in New York.  I do not disagree that this was a major factor, but it neglects the other element that makes Lovecraft a great writer – his sense of the transcendent, his seeking of awe and wonder, whether at the sheer immensity of the universe or a fanlight and wrought-iron balustrade unexpectedly encountered around a corner.  You get this sense in some of the passages in “The Whisperer in Darkness,” “The Silver Key,” and “The Shadow out of Time,” as well as the last sonnet in his “Fungi from Yuggoth.”  In another setting, I think Lovecraft would have ended up as a mystic, shaman, or prophet.  As a 20th century materialist, however, he instead channeled that energy into some of the most powerful fiction that the world has known.  It is true that Lovecraft needed to go to New York to realize his vision, but he also needed to return to Providence and see the glory of his sunset city once more.  It is the crystallization of the impulses toward the depths and the heights that truly sets Lovecraft’s fiction apart.

The Gates are Opened – or, Not Quite

Our late night librarian called off, so I’ve jettisoned my rudimentary All Hallow’s Eve plans to remain at work.  I did take some time out to grab Gates of the Necronomicon.  Strangely enough, not one of the Barnes and Nobles or Waldenbooks within fifty miles stocked a copy.  (I’m guessing they stocked Dead Names based on the sales of the Necronomicon, and Gates on the sales of Dead Names.)

A Border’s near Ithaca had it – exactly one copy, as I discovered – so I put it on hold and drove over to get it.  It ended up being a pleasant American Gothic trip, with brilliant colored leaves, quaint houses and storefronts, ramshackle barns, and crumbling graveyards beneath an angry sky.  All in all, it was quite a pleasant and atmospheric Halloween.  Thanks, “Simon!”

So, now that the dread tome lies on my desk, its insanity contained by a translucent plastic bag, what will I do?

I’m going to talk about another book entirely.

Happy Early Halloween

Those numbers on my hit counter mean one of two things:  I’ve either got someone refreshing the page dozens of times, or Halloween is close.  If you’re looking for Necronomicon info, check the tags on the right, use the search box, or go straight for the Dead Names critique here.

Happy Halloween!

We Get Comments

Our first comment is from FTL, who wants to know how the book conundrum has been resolved.   I finished up Gaspard de la Nuit, a fun work yet best comparable to French Chinese food.  I put aside the big Eliphas Levi book and dipped into a couple of the smaller books further down on Levi and Bulwer-Lytton, neither of which fulfilled my expectations regarding rigour.  Houllebecq, Zanoni, the joy book, and Gates will be coming with me on a short trip this week, so I’ll be done with those before the rest of the orders come in.  I hope.
In case we’ve got any Necronomicon fans out there, I’ll reward your reading with the reminder to call your local bookstore before heading over.  The Borders website  lists the date as October 31, but the Borders I called is holding it for a November 1st release.  Plus, some chains with poor quality control might have it on the shelves already.  You’re welcome.

Among such fans might be Venger, who is apparently a big fan of the Dungeons and Dragon cartoon.   He says:

let’s see your version of the Necronomicon, dan! at least “Simon” puts his ideas out there; some people appreciate them and others don’t. being a professional critic / asshole skeptic must be your particular vocation, dan. good work.
haha. we’re all laughing at you…

Venger, you’ll be glad to hear that all of my skepticism about assholes has just evaporated.  Thanks!

On the Shelf: From Darkness to Light – Western Esoteric Rituals of Initiation

One of the central elements in Western esotericism is the concept of initiation as a important signpost in the area of self-transformation.  Nonetheless, these rituals have received little scholarly attention until now. Henrik Bogdan attempts to fill this gap in the record with his dissertation covering initiations in Western occultism.  I saw this one mentioned on Al’s blog and thought I should check it out myself.

The early sections of the book lay the groundwork – an introduction to the Western esoteric tradition, notes on its history, and some comments on the theory of initiation.  If you’ve read on these topics before, much of this will be familiar, but Bogdan carries out a clear and concise description of each area.

One important point that Bogdan makes is that the signs of Western esotericism may not always be explicitly present in a document. I’d certainly agree based on my experience with the grimoires.  He then tries to set up a typology of works in which the traits of esotericism are explicit, those with the same principles implicit, those with reference to esoteric symbols but no underlying system (mere references to Rosicrucians), and those that use esoteric symbols for other purposes.  The more we move out here, the less comfortable I grow with this scheme.  Does a mostly pragmatic manual of magic like The Long-Lost Friend qualify under the second or third categories?  And where do such works as the mind-bending graphic novels of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison fit into the mix?  This is only a small quibble, as an examination of traditions of initiation themselves take up most of the book.

The remainder of the book discusses at length the history of initiation in Western esotericism, taking us from the early days of Masonry through the Golden Dawn and ending at Wicca.  Particular representative examples of each are examined at greater length.  This section is somewhat abbreviated, which, based on my experience, means the committee expressed its appreciation of his enthusiasm but, really, Mr. Bogdan, you need to finish this up.  The whole would have benefitted from a discussion of the OTO, as he refers to it repeatedly in his discussion of Wicca but never touches on their initiations in and of themselves.  In addition, Rene Guenon is not quoted anywhere, a striking omission given his opinionated writings on this very topic.

The book concludes with the insight that most initiations within the Western tradition are still very similar in terms of their basic structure and intent, despite the passage of centuries.  It is a valuable insight, and one certainly worth it to readers interested in these topics.  I just wish I knew where I could send you to buy it!

In the News

My friend Mike posted a link to the following story on his blog:

On Oct. 27, 2004, James Flemons walked into work with a homemade samurai sword and slashed his co-worker to death.

Prosecutors say Flemons, then 30, was angry because of constant bullying by the victim, Anthony Williams, and other co-workers at Peerless Metal Powders & Abrasive.

But Flemons’ lawyer says he is schizophrenic with a psychotic obsession with fantasy role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons.

Later on in the story:

Roby said Flemons was obsessed with magic, fantasy, the occult, voodoo, Santeria, telekinesis and spirits.

Mike asks why this wasn’t brought up as a factor at the trial. It’s likely because none of those things actually involves anyone chopping up other people with a sword.

Immediately after I said that to myself, I remembered the Sword of Hubur in the Necronomicon, which does call for chopping up other people with a sword. “Simon” will tell you that the passage is fine once read in context, given that sword-wielding psychotics are renowned for their grasp of literary criticism.

No, I’m not trying to foist this tragedy off on the Necronomicon. Some people are simply too unstable to get involved in gaming or the occult or, likely, much of anything else, and that’s likely what happened here. In a world with such people, however, providing validation for carrying out their fantasies and thereby obtaining power is probably a bad idea.

Dead Names, Dead Dog: Summing Up, Part 2

Last time I promised you a look into the mind of “Simon” himself. Such a look can be erroneous, of course, but there’s some fun in making predictions and seeing if they come true. As with previous entries, I will not be revealing who “Simon” is, but I will be addressing some details from his other identity.

The key to understanding “Simon” is his love for a combination of both immersion within, and ironic distancing from, any situation.  He has a love of secret identities and passwords the labyrinthine and mysterious corridors of power, and, on a more base level, jokes. He enjoys entering them, and yet, being able to stand back emotionally and comment upon it.  It’s not a bad set of traits – one might use them as an investigative reporter or as an anthropologist taking a participant-observer stance.  Indeed, it comes as little surprise that “Simon” has published articles as the former and admitted to training as the latter.

Upon his arrival in NYC, he seeks to leave behind the trappings of his past and embrace a new, glamorous, and mysterious identity.  Thus “Simon” is born.  He later claims that he adopts the name for safety or to avoid becoming a guru, but the timeline of his articles makes clear that he took on this role well before then.  Writing as “Simon” gives him freedom to express his views openly, and even attack others, and it is more that freedom than any fear that motivates him.

“Simon’s” participation in the Big Apple’s variegated occult scene must have exposed him to a great deal of animosity among the Crowleyites, Judeo-Christian ceremonial magicians, Satanists, and various sorts of witches and neo-Pagans who jostle elbows on the scene.  He moves around the edges, viewing all but never committing himself to one faction or the other, witnessing ceremonies of all ilks but keeping himself apart from them.  He seeks a system of thought aimed at reconciling, maybe because this genuinely concerns him or perhaps because it provides him with needed intellectual exercise.  He publishes a few articles on the topic, but the means of perpetuating such a scheme eludes him.

Then the answer comes in a new arrival from a small press in Philadelphia – de Camp’s Al Azif.  What if a “translation” of such a hoax were published?  Could not the program he desires – the binding of authentic pagan tradition, ceremonial self-transformation, Satanism’s dark allure, Crowley’s will to magical power, and an emphasis on the world as community – be conveyed much more effectively under the guise of an antique magical manuscript?   And what better joke than to place it under the title of the most dreaded fictional work of magic of all time?  And could not such a joke be in itself a move such as that made by Gurdjieff, Blavatsky, and others who purportedly led their disciples to spiritual wisdom through deception? Thus the Necronomicon is born.

What no one likely anticipated is that this combination would prove as compelling as it did.  A major publishing book contract appears.  Sequels and follow-ups are in the works.  Someone is even looking at the movie rights.  The joke gets bigger.  Then everything goes south, and “Simon” is forced into his own personal fall from grace as the Magickal Childe itself fractures.

We return to him almost twenty years later.  By this time, “Simon” has lost many of his contacts in the magical community and gained a certain measure of success in another area.  His success there is overshadowed by his success as “Simon.”  He no longer has the rights to the book itself, but the Spellbook is also highly successful.  At the same time, he is receiving criticism and ridicule from Lovecraft scholars and occultists alike, with one from each camp being especially obnoxious.  The lure of additional money and a chance to fire back against those who have mocked him proves to be irresistible.

This brings us to Dead Names, and to a conundrum for “Simon”.   On one hand, a prank is never fulfilled until it is revealed to the victims.  If he does see it as a spiritual revelation dedicated to teaching personal freedom, the revelation becomes an obligation.  But that means giving up the mystery, not to mention the money.  He also realizes that throwing back the veil will leave him in an uncomfortable position.  Why did he dissociate himself from the Necronomicon for so long elsewhere?  Why has he expressed views therein that he claims are repugnant elsewhere?  Why does he attempt to impugn the honor of occultists by using anti-occultist smears?  Why didn’t he bring all of this up a generation ago?  Not only might he be giving up “Simon’s” life, but also the other one as well.

Thus the man who was always comfortable as the ironic observer is compelled to commit himself to his own prank, spiralling himself deeper into the role.

Thus, “Simon’s” joke continues to unfold.  The Necronomicon and its companion books are distributed and read across the world.   And one of the greatest victims?  The man who told it.

On the Shelf: A Mess, That’s What

So I might as well admit that I’ve backed myself into a corner on this reading bit, and I need to make some tough choices about what to prioritize. Yes, I’ve started far too many books at once, and I need to decide what to do.

Books started:

• Gaspard de la Nuit, Aloysius Bertrand
• Transcendental Magic, Eliphas Levi
• The Nature of Magic, Susan Greenwood (update – finished!)
• The King James Bible
• Zanoni, Edward Bulwer-Lytton
• Lord of the Rings, Tolkien (reread)
• Contemporary Magic and Witchcraft, Susan Greenwood
• Il cappello del mago, Massimo Introvigne (selections via Babelfish)
• The Iliad, Homer

Books waiting:

• Eliphas Levi, Master of Occultism, Thomas A. Williams
• Bulwer-Lytton’s Novels and Isis Unveiled, Sten Liljegren
• H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life, Michael Houellebecq
• Cult, Counter-Cult, Gini Scott (may skip due to innate dislike of lepidoptera with taste for Seventies sociology)
• La Bas, J-K Huysmans (reread)
• The Coming Race, Edward Bulwer-Lytton

En route, or soon to be obtained:

• The Tsathoggua Cycle
• L’Illuminisme en France, 1767-1774
  
• Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science in the Modern World
• A Treatise on Angel Magic
• The Inner Group Teachings of H. P. Blavatsky
  
• Book for review on the topic of joy (perhaps not the best one to send to a cynic)
• Gates of the Necronomicon (which requires a reread of the Black Book itself)

Yes, this is painful – but as I’ve told others, if your pain is inevitable, others might as well enjoy it. Feel free to make suggestions as to priorities, or just snicker.

Dead Names, Dead Dog: Summing Up, Part 1

After all this time, how best can we sum up Dead Names?

I won’t say it’s a bad book, or that no one should buy it. It’s got some useful information on the NYC occult scene, though given the source, most of that is of dubious veracity. The anecdotes are entertaining, and if that’s all someone’s looking for in this book, I think they’ll get what they paid for.

As for the rest…

Dead Names is a potboiler. It’s clearly not a book that had a great deal of time or effort put into writing it. When reading it, I imagined “Simon” sitting in a room filled with dusty, outdated books on various topics, occasionally taking one down, reading it just to get the bare minimum necessary to sound like a plausible argument, and replacing it on the shelf. He doesn’t even bother to see if the source contradicts him later on. He also surfed the Web a little – or, if his comments are accurate, had others point him to possibly relevant resources that were picked up uncritically and integrated into the book. Despite a great deal of posturing about how many peer-reviewed, scholarly articles he’s read, his book tells a different story.

I am surprised that “Simon” took this particular tack when writing.  It seems to me that an off-hand attack of The Necronomicon Files that nonetheless mentioned that some unspecified concerns had been raised by it would have been the best way to go.  Playing up the supposed spiritual efficacy of the path, instead of muddling in historical facts, would have taken the heat off, at least from his fans.  Instead, he tried to argue from specific points based on poor research and clear bias, thereby undercutting what little credibility he might have obtained.

As for his insults, I can understand “Simon’s” rhetorical stance. Clearly, he can’t provide any more evidence of his book that never existed – no manuscript, no photocopies, no translators’ notes, no eyewitnesses. Now that he’s established himself under a pseudonym, he can’t exactly provide his credentials without looking like a fool. The proper response under the circumstances is to bluster and bluff and pound the table and complain about how unfair and biased everyone else is.

I’ve heard people criticize John’s sections of The Necronomicon Files for their mocking tone.  In retrospect, though, this was an excellent decision, because it made
“Simon” angry.  When an author is furious and writes in a hurry, it can make for powerful work.  If that fury is not checked during the revision process, however, that same anger can often cause the author to reveal more than he should.  In this case, it caused “Simon”  to openly display disdain and hypocrisy toward the very sort of people for whom he’s supposedly writing the book.  Instead of showing himself to be an authority in the occult community, he has shown himself to be a man outside it.

Next post – an evaluation of the man himself!

Libraries and the Occult

Via Witchvox we have this story from Canton, Ohio about book thefts in libraries.  It seems that some of the most stolen books are those on Wicca.  No big surprise there, and neither is the lack of knowledge of who’s taking them:

“People take them because they don’t want other people to read about witchcraft, and people use them without returning them,” he said. “I think we have a little bit of both going on.”

One line from the story did catch my interest:

All the books have been checked out, but they never were returned, she said.

This leaves me intensely disappointed.  If you’re actually going to be a heel and steal from a public institution, you should at least display a certain level of competence about it.  Even Chapo and Huback put some effort into selection, acquisition, and remarketing. I feel that the present administration with its well-oiled propaganda machine has left us with a generation of youth with an impulse to crime but unable to tell a decent lie, destroy a paper trail, or pull off even a small caper without a multimillion dolllar consultant at hand.  Next thing you know, we’ll be outsourcing our crime to India, leaving American workers formerly employed in this lucrative field on the streets and forced to turn to… well, something other than crime.

Seriously, if people are actually just checking out books and not returning them, it raises the possibility that some sort of data collection could occur.  After all, it’s not as if the library is too concerned about your inviolate privacy if you’ve got $50 of fines.  That’s going in a file, and it leaves open the possibility of collecting some demographic data which might make it clear why these books keep walking off.

Or maybe I’m just dreaming.