Subject: Necronomicon - shedding some light on Lovecraft's sources

Joseph H. Peterson
© February 23, 1995.

Synopsis:

If we examine H. P. Lovecraft's use of the name "Azathoth", I believe we can shed some light on his probable source of information on the Necronomicon, namely John Dee's partial English translation.

While HPL consistently uses "Azathoth" to refer to a demon of chaos, a comparison of the fuller Latin text of the Necronomicon^[1] with Dee's manuscript shows that there are actually two separate beings with similar-sounding names ("Az" and "Aza-Thoth"). This is not at all apparent from the Dee manuscript alone.

The Necronomicon, in a short section cataloging various demons, clearly names Az as the "blind demon":

"The blind demon Az sits on the throne of Chaos. It is he who swallows everything, and when in the end he finds the world is nought, he eats himself.

Asto-vidad is the evil flyer who seizes the life; as it says that, when his hand strokes a man it is lethargy, when he casts it on the sick one it is fever, when he looks in his eyes he drives away the life, and they call it death. The demon of the malignant eye is he who will spoil anything which men see, when they do not say 'in the name of Yog-Sothoth.'

....

With every one of them are many demons and fiends cooperating, to specify whom a second time would be tedious; demons, too, who are furies (rabei), are in great multitude it is said. The demons of ruin, pain, and decrepitude, producers of vexation and bile, revivers of grief, the progeny of gloom, and bringers of stench, decay, and vileness, who are many, very numerous, and very notorious; and a portion of all of them is mingled in the bodies of men, and their characteristics are glaring in mankind." - (Book 1, ch 28; pg 110 ff of Dee's Ms.)

Later, this demon is mentioned as a sole companion of the 'Evil One' after other evil spirits have been conquered:

"Then two fiends (diaboli) remain at large, the Evil One and Az." - (Book 1, ch 30; Dee Ms. pg 128.)

This being is wholly distinct from Aza-Thoth, who seems to be some kind of legendary king and sorcerer who has both human and demonic ancestry:

"Aza-Thoth was the son of Khrutasp, son of Zainigau, son of Virafsang, ... son of Druiaskan, son of the Evil One." - (Book 1, ch 31; not found in Dee Ms.)

He currently lies bound but will eventually break free and lay waste to the earth, as seen elsewhere in the Necronomicon:

"After the apostate shouts like this, and because of it, Aza-Thoth stands up before him, but through fear of the likeness of Fraidaun in the body of Fraidaun, he does not first remove those fetters and stake from his trunk until the Evil One removes them. And the vigor of Aza-Thoth increases, the fetters being removed from his trunk, and his impetuosity remains; he swallows down the apostate on the spot, [here Dee's manuscript, pg. 233, breaks off] and rushing into the world to perpetrate evil, he commits innumerable grievous sins; he swallows down one-third of mankind, cattle, sheep, vegetation, and commits grievous devastation." - (Book 4, ch 3.)

This person seems to be the same as 'Aza-Citra', because on the next page of the Latin codex we read:

"And, afterwards, when the twelfth millennium comes, through Hucedar-mah the creatures become more progressive, and he utterly destroys Aza-Citra."

This also may provide a clue as to the meaning of his name, since *Aza-Chithra can be translated 'Spawn of Az', if we assume Middle Persian loan words in Alhazred's (lost) Arabic original.

Finally, there's another interesting allusion to Aza-Thoth in a passage which Alhazred uncharacteristically wrote in the first person (the Medieval Latin seems to be a little faulty here too):

"When I issued from the sweat, and raised my eyes, I saw the world when it was dark as night; on the whole earth were snakes, scorpions, lizards (stelliones), and noxious creatures of many kinds; and so the other kinds of quadrupeds stood among the reptiles; every approach of the whole earth was as though not as much as a needle's point remained, in which there was no rush of noxious creatures. There was the coming of a planetary star (?) into planetary conjunction, and the moon and planets in fours and fives; many dark forms with the face and curls of Aza-Thoth suffered punishment in company with certain aliens; and I was amazed at calling the wicked out. Lastly, he (the Evil One) came up to the fire, and mingled darkness and smoke with it." - (Book 2, ch 2; pg 162 of Dee's Ms.)

John Dee's manuscript, written in 1583 ^[2], was never completed because of his fateful trip to Bohemia. It is also damaged in many places due to careless handling by successive owners, including a maid who used pages under pies and tore out strips to light fires and such. We know this because of the account of how Ashmole came to possess Dee's stash of private occult writings, which is bound with Sloane Mss 3188 in the British Library.

I believe this is strong evidence that HPL did not have access to the fuller text as preserved in the Latin edition, and most likely had only seen Dee's manuscript.

Seal of Cthulhu

Notes:

1. Dee apparently regarded the Necronomicon, or Ars Necronomica ('The art of controlling [spirits of] the dead') as an extension of Ars Pyronomica ('the art of controlling the fire'). The latter is an obscure alchemical process; in the terminology of spiritual alchemy it refers to controlling one's astral body. See Dee's preface to his Monas Hieroglyphica, ed. Josten, pg. 101, 165..

2. I should add that this is only an assumption of mine, based on the fact that it contains some notes in Edward Kelley's handwriting (folio 74r) which refer to Singilla, a spirit who is only mentioned once in Dee's Mystical Experiments, i.e. in an "action" dated Apr 18, 1583. It is also possible Dee wrote the text much earlier, and Kelley only picked a convenient blank spot between chapters to write.