The 13 Gates of the Necronomicon

by Donald Tyson

  A piping cry produced by the vocal organs of shoggoths, in imitation of the speech of the Elder Race who were their creators. It is mentioned by Edgar Allan Poe at the end of his novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, when Pym hears this strangely evocative cry from sea birds off the coast of Antarctica.

  (At the Mountains of Madness)

  The name of a year in the dreamland of Sona-Nyl, called the "immemorial year of Tharp." It is probably one in a repeating cycle of years used in this place, where there is said to be "neither time nor space," but the other years in the cycle are not named.

  (The White Ship)

  Lovecraft had a fascination for Theosophy, a kind of love-hate relationship with it. On the one hand, his scientific, rational mind dismissed its teachings as so much piffle, but on the other hand, he was drawn to the descriptions of alien races and vast periods of spiritual evolution. He made use of several bits and pieces of Theosophical lore. Lovecraft's reference to the Children of the Fire Mist is based on the Sons of the FireMist, who are mention in the Stanzas of Dzyan at the beginning of H. P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, and on further comments about them made by W Scott-Elliot in his 1904 work Lost Lemuria. Lovecraft referred to the Book of Dzyan several times. This is an apocryphal work upon which Blavatsky claimed to have based her Theosophical teachings. A portion of it is printed at the start of her Secret Doctrine.

  Lovecraft also made direct mention of Theosophy on a number of occasions. In The Shadow Out of Time he referred to "Hindoo tales involving stupefying gulfs of time and forming part of the lore of modern theosopists." In The Call of Cthulhu, Old Castro "remembered bits of hideous legend that paled the speculations of theosophists and made man and the world seem recent and transient indeed." The reporter for the Boston newspaper the Pillar, Stuart Reynolds, is said in Out of the Aeons to have a "smattering of theosophical lore."

  (The Shadow Out of Time; The Call of Cthulhu; Through the Gates of the Silver Key; The Haunter of the Dark: The Diary of Alonzo Typer; Out of the Aeons)

  The twin harbor beacons that guard the entry to the port city Baharna on the isle of Oriab, in the Southern Sea of the dreamlands. They are not described, but may be presumed to be tall lighthouses.

  (The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath)

  The ornate jewelry of the Deep Ones is not designed to fit the human body, but various pieces were given to the people of Innsmouth as gifts. A few of them were sold and found their way into museums such as the museum at Miskatonic University in Arkham. Among these fugitive pieces is a tiara that is the prize exhibit of the Newburyport Historical Society. Cast in an unidentifiable gold alloy, it is unnaturally large, with a high front, and shaped for an irregular, elliptical head unlike any human head. The surface is deeply engraved with geometric designs and images of marine creatures, among them monsters half-fish and half-frog.

  A drunken Innsmouth man had pawned the tiara at a pawnshop in State Street, Newburyport, in 1873. Shortly thereafter he was killed in a brawl. The tiara was labeled "of probable East-Indian or Indochinese provenance." The Marsh family of Innsmouth offered to buy back the piece as soon as they learned of its acquisition by the Historical Society, but in spite of the high price they offered for it, the Society refused to part with it. The offer to purchase the tiara is made by the Marshes on a regular basis, but the Historical Society is firm in not wishing to part with its prize catch. It is worth noting that the pastor of the Esoteric Order of Dagon in the former Masonic Hall at innsmouth wears an almost identical tiara as part of his religious regalia.

  (The Shadow Over Innsmouth)

  A language spoken once in Hyperborea that was millions of years older than the coming of the spawn of Cthulhu to R'lyeh. It was the original language in which a spell had been written that enabled Randolph Carter to travel through space and time in his own body. This spell was on a parchment that Carter received as a legacy along with a large silver key, but the hieroglyphics of the spell on the parchment were not in the original language of Tsath-yo, but a translation in the later R'lyehian tongue Carter made use of the translated text.

  (Through the Gates of the Silver Key)

  The Tuaregs (or Touaregs) are a race of nomadic herders of the central Sahara desert, in Africa. They are referred to as the "blue men of the desert" because their robes are dyed indigo blue. Lovecraft wrote that they were rumored among archaeologists to be descended from the primal race of lost Atlantis. The enigmatic Surama, resurrected by Doctor Alfred Clarendon through the use of a necromantic ritual, pretended to be of this race, but was probably a priest of Atlantis.

  (The Last Test)

  A lustrous metal magnetic to itself but not to other metals, that was brought to Earth from beyond the stars by Cthulhu along with an alien race resembling American Indians that still inhabits blue-litten K'n-yan, a vast cavern deep in the interior of this planet. Lovecraft described the metal as "heavy, darkish, lustrous, and richly mottled." All the Tulu-metal that exists was contained in the statues and figurines carried across space with this race. For a period in the race's history, the Tulu-metal was alloyed with common Earth metals and made into coins that served this race as currency.

  (The Mound)

  Birds fabled by the people of Dunwich to wait around the houses of those who are dying in an attempt to capture their released souls. If the singing of the birds become clamorous, it is a sign that the dead person's soul has been taken, but if it dies away, it is a sign that the soul has escaped. This bit of folklore was not invented by Lovecraft but was current in New England during his lifetime.

  (The Dunwich Horror)

  A mysterious galley that appeared from the south to carried Basil Elton, keeper of the North Point lighthouse at Kingsport, on a voyage across the seas of the dreamlands.

  (The White Ship)

  In the Chronicle of Nath by Rudolf Yergler it is written that in the Year of the Black Goat a shadow comes from the starless gulf that spawned it to feed on the souls of men. It is a shadow that should not exist on the Earth, and has no form known to the eyes of Earth. A man who can gaze upon the true shape of the shadow and live can send it back from whence it came, until the cycle of years brings the Year of the Black Goat around once again. Its true shape is revealed by gazing at its semblance through an amber crystal known only as "the Gem," which is cut with strange angles.

  The Year of the Black Goat occurred in the spring of 1938. The shadow was seen on June 23 of this year, which is the day after the summer solstice, so it seems probable that the Year of the Goat begins on the summer solstice. However, Lovecraft gave no exact indication of how long the cycle of years may be that will bring the Year of the Black Goat around once again, but only referred in a vague way to "thousands of eons."

  (The Tree on the Hill)

  These words are not explained, but they occur together in The Dunwich Horror, where Wilbur Whateley writes in his diary, "I shall have to learn all the angles of the planes and all the formulas between the Yr and the Nhhngr." It is possible that they refer to occult names for months of the year. Lovecraft's story borrows some of its inspiration from Arthur Machen's story The White People, in which a precocious young girl who is keeping a diary writes, "I must not write down the real names of the days and months which I found out a year ago, nor the way to make the Aklo letters." Reference is made in The Dumvich Horror to the Aklo language, indicating a link between Lovecraft's tale and the story by Machen.

  (The Dunwich Horror)

  The Key to the Eleventh Gate

  Sun passes through Libra: October 31-November 22

  Constellation is represented by a scale or balance with two weighing pansat one time this constellation was regarded as the claws of Scorpio.

  Right Pillar: Zubenelgenubi (Arabic: al-zuban al janubiyyah-The Southern Claw). Astronomical designation: Alpha Libri. Astrological nature: Saturn-Mars. Influence: revenge, retribution, violence. Magnitude: 2.8. Color: pale-yellow-binary star. Sun crosses: November 7. Location: the southern pan of
the balance. Comments: Sometimes referred to as the Price to be Paid.

  Left Pillar: Zubenelschemali (Arabic: al-zuban al-samaliyyah-The Northern Claw). Astronomical designation: Beta Libri. Astrological nature: Jupiter-Mercury. Influence: good fortune, honor, wealth. Magnitude: 2.6. Color: pale-emerald. Sun crosses: November 13. Location: the northern pan of the balance. Comments: Sometimes called the Price to be Received.

  The astral gate of Libra lies between the star of its right pillar, located on the southern pan of the balance, and the star of its left pillar, on the northern pan of the balance. The Sun enters the gate by crossing the longitude of Zubenelgenubi, the star of the right pillar, around November 7. The solar transition of this narrow gate takes six days. The sun exits the gate around November 13, when it crosses the longitude of the star of the left pillar, Zubenelschemali.

  The key to the Eleventh Gate opens the constellation Libra, allowing entry into that part of the walled city of the Necronomicon that concerns curiosities, oddities, and enigmas dreamed by Lovecraft. Use it for divining information or receiving dreams about the strange or unique things in the mythos that seem to stand apart.

  Seal of the Eleventh Key on the Eleventh Gate

  Face the direction of the compass ruled by the Eleventh Gate, which is west by norththat is, slightly to the right of due west. Visualize before you the closed gate in the western wall of the city of the book so that it is more than large enough for you to walk through without awkwardness.

  With the visualized image of the gate clear in your mind and projected upon the astral plane in the direction west by north, speak this invocation to Yog-Sothoth, which apart from a few details has the same general form for all the gates:

  Guardian of the Gate! Defender of the Door! Watcher of the Way! Who art the stout Lock, the slender Key, and the turning Hinge! Lord of All Transition, without whom there is no coming in or going out, I call thee! Keeper of the Threshold, whose dwelling place is between worlds, I summon thee! Yog-Sothoth, wise and mighty lord of the Old Ones, I invoke thee!

  By the authority of the dreaded name, Azathoth, that few dare speak, I charge thee, open to me the gateway of Libra, the Balance, that lies between the blazing pillar Zubenelgenubi on the right hand and the blazing pillar Zubenelschemali on the left hand. As the solar chariot [or, lunar chariot] crosses between these pillars, I enter the city of the Necronomicon through its Eleventh Gate. Selah!

  Visualize the key of the Eleventh Gate in your right hand some six inches long and made of cast bronze. Feel its weight, texture, and shape as you hold it. Extend your right arm and use the key to draw upon the surface of the gate the seal of the key, which should be visualized to burn on the gate in a line of white spiritual fire. Point with the astral key at the center of the gate and speak the words:

  In the name of Azathoth, Ruler of Chaos, by the power of Yog-Sothoth, Lord of Portals, the Eleventh Gate is opened!

  Visualize the gate unlocking and opening inward of its own accord upon a shadowed space. On the astral level, walk through the gateway and stand in the darkness beyond. Hold in your thoughts whatever curiosity described by Lovecraft that you seek to understand more fully. Open your mind to receive impressions, and if directions for scrying or obtaining a dream vision are given, follow them. In a more general sense, this ritual and this gate may be used to scry and understand any singular or unique formation, object or instrument on the physical, the astral, and even the mental planes.

  After fulfilling the purpose for which this gate was opened, conclude the ritual by astrally passing out through the gate and visualizing it to close. Draw the seal of the Eleventh Key on the surface of the gate with the astral key you hold in your hand, and mentally cause it to lock itself shut, as it was at the beginning of the ritual. Speak the words of closing:

  By the power of Yog-Sothoth, and authority of the supreme name Azathoth, I close and seal the Eleventh Gate. This ritual is well and truly ended.

  Allow the image of the gate to grow pale in your imagination and fade to nothingness before you turn away from the ritual direction.

  The Twelfth Gate

  n attempt to examine in detail the abominable things in the Necronomicon mythos is met with a tangible difficulty. Lovecraft preferred to suggest his horrors rather than to define them, believing that the horror conjured up in the depths of the imagination is greater than any a writer could explicitly set down on the page. His use of adjectives to suggest rather than to describe is so much of a hallmark of his writing style that it has become a cliche imitated by other writers more for humor than as a homage. Words such as "eldritch," "cosmic," "cyclopean," "tenebrous," "gibbous," "blasphemous," "unholy," "rugose," "squamish," "noisome," and "loathsome" occur with great frequency in his stories. He usually reserved such adjectives for his greater abominations, the horror of which defies human description, but the lesser evils are couched in more prosaic terms that allow them to be considered by mere mortals.

  Much that is abominable in the mythos is connected with graveyards, tombs, and corpses. Lovecraft dreamed of descending into graves, beneath which were flights of stone steps leading to endless catacombs of the dead and the undead. His story The Statement of Randolph Carter is directly based on such a dream. Graveyards in his imaginary New England are sometimes riddled beneath with tunnels by which inhuman things gain access to dead flesh and bones. Necromancy, the magic dealing with body parts and substances of corpses, and with the animation of the dead, is a favorite topic.

  Another source of the abominable lies in the descriptions of alien creatures that shock the human mind with their sheer uncouth otherness. Sometimes Lovecraft used the device of comparing the parts of these horrific alien beings with familiar and detested objects, such as insect eyes, bat wings, snake skin, and tentacles. This was a common technique of the demonologists of past centuries, and of artists who attempted to depict demons in woodcuts and paintings. If a thing is completely beyond description, wherein lies the horror? True horror comes from the imagination, but the imagination must have something to work upon.

  A third kind of abomination that touched Lovecraft very deeply was the abomination of human sexual perversion, degeneration, and madness. The 1924 story The Loved Dead, which Lovecraft wrote in concert with Clifford Martin Eddy, concerns the subject of necrophilia. When it was published in Weird Tales, it caused an uproar of condemnation that threatened to end the magazine, yet paradoxically this publicity helped circulation numbers and gave the magazine a much-needed boost. It was a daring topic, even for Lovecraft, yet the mythos stories are filled with things almost as bold.

  Lavinia Whateley's sexual union with Yog-Sothoth or another of the Old ones in the story The Dunwich Horror, arranged by her abusive, domineering father old Wizard Whateley, gives rise to the birth of unholy hybrid twins, one of whom appears partially human in early childhood, and the other of which has no human or Earthly traits of any kind.

  In Facts Concerning the Late ArthurJermyn and His Family, a man commits suicide after he has slowly realized that one of his maternal ancestors was a hybrid white ape, and thus that he himself is not wholly a human being, but is part animal. This revelation is so shaming and repulsive that he falls into a self-loathing that has the grandeur of Greek tragedy, in which he is unable to tolerate his own existence for even an instant longer than the span necessary to take his own life.

  The Martense clan of the story The Lurking Fear is noteworthy for having achieved the greatest degree of human degeneration ever described in fiction. At one time a proud merchant family from New Amsterdam living in a lonely mansion in the Catskill Mountains, through centuries of vicious inbreeding they became wretched subhuman creatures; naked, hairy, more numerous than rats, dwelling in a warren of tunnels beneath the ruins of the mansion, and sustaining themselves on the flesh of human corpses.

  Cannibalism was a favorite theme to which Lovecraft returned repeatedly. The feeding on human flesh was for him one of the sure signs of a descent into abomination
that had passed beyond the point of any possible redemption or salvation. Another theme of unredeemable abomination was ritual human sacrifice, particularly the sacrifice of infants, which occurs among the degenerate cults and witch covens that worship creatures of darkness such as Lilith in her true form and Nyarlathotep in his various avatars.

  One aspect of Lovecraft's multifaceted genius was his ability to draw upon his deepest phobias and obsessions, his worst nightmares, and set them forth in his stories in all their horror with an unflinching clarity that has almost no match among the writers of his time. The effect is sometimes nauseatingly potent, as the vomit of the subconscious that should always remain hidden is exposed to the light of awareness. Yet without it, his mythos would lack much of its compelling seduction. Lovecraft's horrors are some how more real than the horrors of his fellow pulp writers of the 1920s and 30s, for the very reason that he did not contrive them, but pulled them forth from his soul leaving bloody and torn roots.

  A place that lies beyond the final dimensional gateway and all the multitude of possible worlds, a negation of being that is inhabited by nameless devourers. Only the 'Umr atTawil, described by Alhazred as "the Most Ancient One or the Prolonged of Life," can lead the foolish seeker to this ultimate oblivion.

  (Through the Gates of the Silver Key)

  A slow-acting but excruciatingly painful and fatal disease not of this Earth that was drawn down from beyond the stars by Surama, a former priest of lost Atlantis. Surama was restored to life from his mummified state by a necromantic ritual performed in North Africa by the medical researcher Doctor Alfred Clarendon. Before the sinking of their continent, the Atlanteans established a colony in what is now North Africa, which is why the mummy of the priest was entombed there. Surama promised Clarendon wisdom and power if he would spread the disease, but Clarendon found himself intoxicated by the sheer evil of infecting healthy living beings and watching them slowly die. In the end, Surama grew disgusted with the pettiness of Clarendon's imagination and abandoned him.