by Daniel Harms
(Originally posted to alt.magick and alt.necronomicon Usenet groups; slightly revised)
The Necronomicon Spellbook
A few days ago, I learned that Avon Books was re-printing the Necronomicon Spellbook, the companion to the Simon Necronomicon. I've had access to the Magickal Childe edition, but have never owned a copy myself. I went down to the local Barnes and Noble, and picked one up.
Let me say that I am not a practitioner myself, and that I therefore will not be dealing with the contentious notion of whether the Spellbook "works". Rather, I'll be describing its contents and giving my own comments as to how useful it may or may not be for practitioners, given my own knowledge of modern magic.
First, those lucky bastards who already own a copy needn't rush out to get the new edition. My search of the text, including several comparisons with the Magickal Childe edition, shows no discernable changes at all. This is nice in that there's no need for readers to track down both editions to find something they missed. It's not so great, though, because there wasn't that much to the Spellbook to begin with. The first edition dealt with this by putting everything in large, double-spaced type. This one does a better job with formatting, but it cuts down on the page count until it's the size of the small booklets into which Stephen King has broken at least one of his novels.
Inside, we are given another version of the Simon book's history, which varies somewhat from that in the Necronomicon itself. Then the book goes on to describe how to use the spells in the dreaded Necronomicon! Actually, it only deals with one part of the Necronomicon - the seals of the god Marduk. The book carefully outlines the proper way to use the various seals by drawing them on a piece of paper, lighting candles over them, chanting over them, then turning one's attention away from them. In short, it's a simple visualization technique. I suppose that someone who had read nothing magical but the Necronomicon might find it useful, but it should be old hat even to those with minimal knowledge or training in the field.
The next hundred pages are taken up by the names of Marduk from the Necronomicon. Each name is given two pages; one bears the sigil, while the other re-prints the entry from the Necronomicon plus a few sentences of commentary. Most of this seems rather unhelpful, and there's a great deal of blank space on both pages.
The book ends with a brief piece encouraging experimentation with the book as fitting in with a scientific view of the world. We are told that we don't have to believe in Sumerian religion to use the book, as "it was the magick of the NECRONOMICON that gave spawn to the religion of Sumer". (The book fails to mention that Marduk himself was a post-Sumerian deity.) The Spellbook ends with the same passage from the Chaldean Oracles of Zoroaster as did the Simon book.
I can't recommend this book, but at $5.99 U. S., most people should be able to pick it up without breaking their budget. If you do buy it, however, buy it for your library. Even those who regularly use Simon's book will find little of use here.
1998 © Daniel Harms. All rights reserved.