#aeonic current

[skepticaloccultist]

The Faceless God

"The Faceless God" Tomas Vincente

I am a lifelong fan of H.P Lovecraft. His work resonates at every age of my life with the abject horror of living. His words continue to inspire after dozens of rereads, coming onto a century after they were first written down.

Yet as an occultist I have always been skeptical of those who would tie Lovecraft's creations into some historic narrative of occult knowledge. Were Lovecraft's words inspired? Of course, but were they the profound understanding of an occultist? Not in any way. Attempts by Kenneth Grant and his lessers to make something more of Lovecraft's dream visions have always brought little more than a raised eyebrow of my notice. To each their own, I guess, but not much for me.

Tomas Vincente has done something to be commended for in his volume "The Faceless God." He has taken the myth of Lovecraft's creations as the lingua franca for a framework of understanding that spans ancient Egyptian ritual, European witchcraft traditions and the Aeonic current of Kosmic Gnosis to tell a tale of shamanism, taboo, ecstasy and dark otherness.

At the center of this cultus resides a messianic figure from Lovecraft's mythos - Nyarlathotep, both a messenger for and a manifestation of that great Crawling Chaos at the center of the universe, the 'blind idiot god' Azathoth. Woven into streams from that Abyss are the Black Man sabbath figure, the dark Pharaoh God Anubis, and the Devil Atu. Vincente provides the reader with a fascinating concept for the manifestation of a personal magical praxis.

"We oscillate between these contradictory extremes of escapist transdendence and bestial immanence because the rational development of our species has alienated us from the primal and instinctual ground of our being." - Dr Tomas Vincente, The Faceless God

Each of the five chapters lays out a well documented case for the manifestation of the Nyarlathotep complete with a set of rituals to perform in the path of this dark cultus. Vinente describes an underlying form of archetypal shamanistic veneration at the heart of the Middle Kingdom Egyptian practices that is a parallel to the tantric Bon practices of the pre Buddhist Tibetan people and the accusations pointed toward Inquisitorial victims.

In particular "The Faceless God" addresses the importance of taboo and the forbidden practices of necrophagia, incest, and coprophilia in the initiatory context. Flipping the perspective on academically accepted allegations of "blood libel" by the church toward minority victims of the Inquisition to see the possible function that these taboo practices would have held to the initiate of an ecstatic cult.

Witches’ Sabbath (Detail image from The Faceless God by Mitchell Nolte, (c)2016, Theion)

Vincente uses gematria, both Greek and Hebrew, to derive some of the basis for his integration of Lovecraftian concepts into his Sabbatic Cultus. He accepts that Grant, et al, are often flawed both in their kabbalah and their gematria. Yet he makes a solid case for the use of this now well know literary icon, Nyarlathotep as a manifestation of those archetypes which have so long held influence over the mysteries.

The volume itself is beautifully bound in black cloth with a large gold stamp to the front and text to the spine. Wide margins, high quality paper, and extensive footnotes make this edition especially nice. Published by David Beth's Theion Publishing the influence of Beth's work is felt throughout. A stunning read for those who've an interest in the dark side of kabbalah, Lovecraftian magic, and the Kosmic Gnostic Aeonic current.

Find yourself a copy here:

Theion Publishing The Faceless God - Tomas Vincente

[skepticaloccultist]

Days of Chalk & Bone

I have never been much of a recreational user of drugs, a couple of fingers of neat bourbon or a pipeful of cannabis is about as far as I tend to take things that are just passive use. Although I am by far absolutely addicted to caffeine more than any other substance, including oxygen.

Yet over the course of my adult life I have consumed a rather large variety of what are now commonly referred to as entheogens. Hallucinogenic drugs used in the course of ritual spiritual practice. These chemicals and their use go back millennia to the very birth of human history.

Humanity has, over the course of its existence, used a wide range of plant and animal based materials to connect with the vast other that surrounds us. To bridge the gap between "us" and the everything else. We are not alone as a species that does this, though our reasons and the socio spiritual paradigm that manifests from their use may be singular. It is hard to tell as the birds hardly talk about gods and spirits, all they ever want to talk about is food and sex.

The use of drugs in magic was frowned upon when I was a young man. The wild 60s indulgences were seen as superfluous to the more staid practitioners that were around in my youth. Finger wagging ex hippies that thought mushrooms were for rock concerts not unlit cellars full of chalk and bone. Coke using secret handshakers whose day jobs in investment and law made their use seem social, yet who looked askance when the idea of peyote rituals, yage ceremonies or datura comas were brought up over coffee.

The family of organic chemicals commonly called "psychedelic", long seen as "party" drugs, used at social engagements like concerts, festivals, and protests, were never intended to be consumed in such a manner. This framework of public hedonistic consumption was created by the 'baby boomer' generation of 1960s hippies. By turning powerful spiritual plants and their products into public spectacles they lost their sacredness to those who used them. The soul of the plant fleeing and leaving behind only its effects as they mirror the world in which they are used.

The sacred mushroom whispers in the quietest voice, to hear her or her little brother speak clearly is like capturing a willow-the-wisp, one must be incredibly patient. To move beyond the veil and listen to the wisdom of the jaguar and the serpent one must have embraced yage and prepared oneself for a journey. To fly through the night to the witches sabbat risking ones life on the edge of that reality one must be prepared for madness and possible death. To go into the wild, to be led by some mad psychopomp down into the earth, into ourselves, in the search for that abode of the soul that is beyond death. Like Odysseus and Dante, Gilgamesh and Odin. We must prepare ourselves for inevitable death, seeking out that which is beyond our understanding when we have not yet achieved this state.

Yet of these plants and animals there are those that are safe, in that at large doses no physical harm will come from overdose (such as psylocibin mushrooms, lsd, dmt, cannabis). Others, particularly the solanaceae family, are powerful and very dangerous. Capable of killing you straight dead. A paralyzing coma that stifles breath before it kills you, a mad rage filled violent seizure that runs through you, teeth clenched gnashing at your own tongue. A mouth full of blood to choke on in a drug induced coma. This is henbane and datura, belladonna and mandrake - if used without knowledge and respect.

The path of the hedge rider is one that takes us into realms of danger and discomfort, physically and spiritually. It is an unlit path, one in which we must make our own way, stumbling in the darkness for a handhold, seeking out a guide through disparate measures. If we are skilled we know the words, we need not the light to show us the way through the darkness for it is already our home.

But caution must be forever in the lead for those who have no experience on this path. It is best to always have someone along who is not involved directly either in the partaking of the drug or the practice of the ritual at hand. A lookout, so to speak, for when you need the antidote administered or the occasional ambulance called. Just remember to instruct them to always stay inside the circle you have made for them, and to turn off their mobile phone.

"On a cold stone floor covered in chalk I waited for a thousand lifetimes. I was in total darkness and could hear her breathing. She began to sing and her voice filled the space like light. As she sang the darkness opened up, unfolded into itself and revealed a gate of bone and horn. A light like a thousand suns shone around the edges of the gate's bone door. I stood and felt a wind hot upon my flesh of light. Her voice quavered and shook and the heavens shifted under the tones of her breath. I was standing at the precipice of eternity yet still there, half naked on the stone floor among the chalk and the bones of that Mazatecan cellar." - from "Chalk and Bone", Eldred Wormwood