Ancient Egypt has always held a strong fascination
for many people, not least those of a mystical inclination: the sheer age of
that culture and the seeming impossibility of its accomplishments have led many
to believe that the Ancient Egyptians had access to supernatural powers, and
that the keys to those powers might somehow be hiding out there in the world,
awaiting discovery. In Christian circles, the miracles that were performed by
Moses have often been thought (heretically) to be part of this ancient wisdom,
since he was raised as an Egyptian before discovering his roots and leading his
people from captivity. Hieroglyphs too, have always been regarded with
supernatural fear, seeming to be some incomprehensible language of the dark
arts, and many 17th Century charlatans were not shy about co-opting them for
their own mystical purposes.
The following material covers much Egyptian content
pertinent to “Call of Cthulhu” and
the embroiling of Investigators in dark pharaonic secrets that might be better
left unexplored...
Egyptian
(Pharaonic):
“I have
come armed with magical spells.
Thus can I
quench my thirst,
Since I am
master of the Words of Creation.”
-Texts of the Sarcophagi, Chapter 644
Egyptian hieroglyphic text is a formal script which
is logographic (that is, each ‘letter’ stands for a word) and also alphabetic
(combinations of images making words phonetically); this is similar to the way
in which the Chinese written text works. To the ancient Egyptians, images
carried the nature and power of the things they described, so to depict an
object was to capture its essence. For this reason, hieroglyphs were used
mainly for sacred and ceremonial occasions. Throughout Egyptian archaeology,
there are instances where the hieroglyphic names of rulers or other famous
individuals have been effaced from texts, an act which was thought to cause
them harm, or even destroy them, in the Afterlife.
It is usually thought that the hieroglyphs were the
original form of the written language; however this is not the case. The form
of Pharaonic known as ‘Hieratic’ is older than the hieroglyphs and it is more
likely that hieroglyphs were developed from this earlier script. Hieratic (from
the Greek, meaning “priestly”) is a form of the language which is easier to
write on papyrus as well as a myriad other substances including leather and
wood; in some regions which were notably lacking in vegetation, hieratic has
also been found carved in stone and incised into clay. Hieratic has many
abbreviated and alternate forms to the hieroglyphs and contains ligatures, or
joining lines, much like our cursive writing. Unlike every other form of
Egyptian written script, Hieratic is always written from right to left.
Research has shown that scribes were taught Hieratic and that only those
destined for higher levels of work – such as court duties or funerary work –
were taught the hieroglyphs.
Hieroglyphs, themselves, have a cursive form
reserved for writing on papyrus. Examples of this writing style are normally
encountered on scrolls or books meant to accompany the dead in their tombs; the
style is notable for its abbreviated symbols and ligatures. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, as
exemplified by the Scroll of Ani, is
written in this style.
Of course, hieroglyphic images are time-consuming
to write and scribes were often required to note down the utterances of
individuals at meetings and other gatherings and convey those records to other
parties. For this kind of writing, another style of non-hieroglyphic script
appeared – Demotic – abbreviated hieroglyphs that could be quickly painted onto
wood or papyrus with a brush and ink. Demotic came into use during the
Graeco-Roman occupation of Egypt and exemplifies a shift towards Hellenistic
styles and thought; it survived until being replaced altogether by Greek.
Demotic eventually evolved into the style of writing used by the Coptic
peoples, those Egyptians who moved elsewhere in the Greek empire, and its
survival into the modern era was what allowed us to translate the original
Egyptian hieroglyphs.
In the following table, the difficulty of
identifying and translating a work that is in Egyptian Hieroglyphs (where no
previous familiarity is present) is based on an Idea Roll at -10%; familiarity with Coptic, Demotic or Hieratic
script lends bonuses to this roll. Translating Hieroglyphics receives bonuses
where the translator has access to certain works in the language which allow
reference to be made; having access to the Rosetta
Stone, gives a base 50% chance of translating successfully.
|
Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Pharaonic):
|
|
Difficulty: Very Hard (Idea Roll to
recognise at -10%)
|
|
Modifiers:
Working
knowledge of Coptic (+30%); of Demotic Script (+25%); of Hieratic Script
(+15%)
|
|
Works in this Language:
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Pert Em
Hru) (+20%)
The Palette of King Narmer (+20%)
|
|
Linguistic Key:
The Rosetta Stone (+50%)
|
About
Papyrus:
The Ancient Egyptians preferred to use papyrus upon
which to write. This was made by stripping the stalks of the papyrus plant and
laying the lengths of pith alongside each other. Another layer of these stalks
was then placed atop them but at right angles to the first layer. The mat thus
formed was then beaten flat to mash the stalks together into a flat surface which
was then left to dry and later polished by a smooth stone. The limits of this
product were that it could be uneven to write upon – some examples have been
found where the writing follows the stalk layers on either side of the sheet,
at right angles to the words on the opposite side – and that it did not stand
up well to the rigors of damp and humidity.
The
Rosetta Stone
The
Rosetta Stone was discovered by
the French in Egypt in 1799, was captured by English forces and taken to London
in 1802, where it has been on display in the British Museum ever since. It is a
stele, or proclamation etched on
stone for public viewing, which is written in three distinct languages –
Egyptian hieroglyphs, a form of the hieroglyphic style called Demotic and
Ancient Greek (at the time that the ‘Stone
was created, Egypt was ruled by a Greek line of kings, known as the Ptolemaic
rulers). The stone discusses the repealing of certain taxes by Ptolemy V and
is, of itself, not completely edifying reading; but it is the fact that all
three writing styles were used that makes the ‘Stone so incredibly important.
Research was conducted by the French linguist
Jean-François Champollion and British Scientist Thomas Young. Champollion’s
input was of the greatest value since he was able to read Coptic – a later
derivation of the Demotic style of Hieroglyphs – and could ‘reverse engineer’
Coptic back into the Hieroglyphs and compare these to the Greek. In time, the
riddle of Hieroglyphic writing was solved.
*****
The Black Rites of Luveh-Keraphf
The Black
Rites are a chapter within the Scroll of Bast which is usually omitted
from most copies, being considered too sacred for general perusal. Written
during the Thirteenth Dynasty by the High Priest Luveh-Keraphf, the Black Rites have been handed down
secretly over the ages by a hidden sect devoted to the worship of the cat
goddess. The initial version of the ‘Rites
contain spells concerned with such Egyptian entities as Bast and Sebek, along
with Nyarlathotep in his avatar as the Black Pharaoh, among others; a later
Greek translation drops all spells pertinent to the Outer God but retains the
litany of warnings about interacting with Nyarlathotep in any of his
incarnations. This Greek translation is very hard to find – even moreso than
the Black Rites generally are – and
it is widely considered that the translation was illicit and made without
priestly sanction.
(Source: Robert Bloch, “The Suicide in the Study”)
Khemite
dialect, Pharaonic text; Luveh-Keraphf; Thirteenth Egyptian Dynasty (1786-1633
BC); 1d6/2d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos
+9 percentiles; 41 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Call the Goddess of Cats” (Contact Bast); “Command the Goddess’ Servants” (Summon/Bind Cat); “Bring Forth the
Faceless Master of the Sands” (Contact
Nyarlathotep’s faceless sphinx form); “Call the Black Pharaoh” (Contact Nyarlathotep); “Summon the
Carrion Feasters of the Desert” (Contact
Ghoul); “Call Forth the Terrible Lord of the Riverbanks” (Contact Sebek); “Summon & Abjure
the Children of the Riverbanks” (Summon/Bind
Crocodile)
Greek;
unknown translator; Ptolemaic Empire (305-30 BC); 1d6/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6 percentiles; 40 weeks
to study and comprehend
Spells: “Call the Goddess of Cats” (Contact Bast); “Command the Goddess’ Servants” (Summon/Bind Cat); “Summon the Carrion
Feasters of the Desert” (Contact Ghoul);
“Call Forth the Terrible Lord of the Riverbanks” (Contact Sebek); “Summon & Abjure the Children of the
Riverbanks” (Summon/Bind Crocodile)
The Dutch version of the Black Rites was compiled by archaeologist Janwillen Vanheuvelen
during his time with the Clive Expedition to Cairo in 1925. As it was the text
he used to teach himself Egyptian Hieroglyphs, his rendering of the text is error-ridden
and makes several intuitive leaps that do not serve its translator well: he
insists, for instance, that references to the “crocodile god” concern the
afterlife monster Apep, rather than Sebek. Readers of this version are warned
to tread carefully.
(Source: Larry DiTillio & Lyn Willis, Masks of Nyarlathotep - “Cairo”)
Dutch;
Janwillen Vanheuvelen, trans.; 1924; 1/1d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +1d4 percentiles; 1 week to study and comprehend
Spells: “Bel de Godin van Katten” (Contact Bast); “Bevel van de Personeelsleden van de Godin” (Summon/Bind Cat); “Bevel van de
Kinderen van de Rivieren” (Summon/Bind
Crocodile)
*****
The Black Rituals of Koth-Serapis
“The text is rendered in Egyptian hieroglyphs. It
is called The Black Rituals of Koth-Serapis. I doubt you have heard of it. It is little
known in the West. Even the learned Professor Wallis-Budge makes no mention of
it.”
The Black
Rituals of Koth-Serapis is a
collection of rites which pre-date the Egyptian civilisation by several
thousand years, originating in the Stygian empire. It is apparent that the
source of this work came from a variety of sources and may well have been
originally passed on as an oral tradition before Egyptian scribes tortured
enslaved adepts and collated the material in this form. The work concerns
itself primarily with the cultivation and distillation of that pernicious
vegetable, the Black Lotus.
“Ia! Ia! Lloigor! Zhar fhtagn! Cfyak vulgtlm
vultlagn!”
The scroll begins with several prayers to Set (an
avatar of Nyarlathotep, also known as Typhon) then continues with discussions
of Gol-goroth and its obscene worship. Following this is an extended section
devoted to the summoning and worship of the Twin Blasphemies, Loigornos and
Zhar. Thereafter, the text extols the production and cultivation of the Black
Lotus and the preparation of many dangerous concoctions from this plant in the
form of recipes. It is theorised that the Tcho-tcho peoples stole this work and
fled with it to the Plateau of Sung in Burma where they subverted its religious
practises to their own despicable ends.
(Source: Robert M. Price, “Dope War of the Black Tong”)
Egyptian
Hieroglyphs; Koth Serapis(?); Middle Pre-Dynastic Period (4,000-3,500 BC);
1d10/2d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos
+15 percentiles; 65 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Speak with the Lotus God” (Contact Lloigornos); “Speak with Set’s Dark Companion” (Contact Gol-goroth); “Speak with Set” (Contact Nyarlathotep, in his guise as Set);
“Speak with the Bringer of Ecstasy” (Contact
Zhar); Create Black Lotus Sleep Drug;
Create Black Lotus Poison; Create Black Lotus Dream Drug; Create Black Lotus Incense; Create Plutonian Drug; “Call forth the
Jackals of Set” (Summon/Bind Typhonian
Beast); “Bring forth the Ecstatic One!” (Summon/Bind
Zhar)
*****
Book of Apophis
These are papyrus scrolls which provide
instructions for fighting Apep, including a complete list of Apep’s secret
names. Its chapters include “Spitting
Upon Apep”, “Defiling Apep with the
Left Foot”, “Taking a Lance to Smite
Apep”, “Fettering Apep”, “Taking a Knife to Smite Apep”, and “Putting Fire Upon Apep”. Priests at the
temple of Amen-Ra in Thebes perform these rites daily on wax models and
drawings of Apep as a form of sympathetic magic.
Pharaonic,
in hieroglyphics; author(s) unknown; c.2,000BCE; Sanity Loss: 1D6/1D10; Cthulhu Mythos +4 percentiles; Occult +8 percentiles; average 30 weeks
to study and comprehend.
Spells: “Banish
Apep”
*****
The Book of Eibon – the Kishite Recension
“...For Ubbo-sathla is the source and the end.
Before the coming of Zhothaquah or Yok-Zothoth or Kthulhut from the stars,
Ubbo-sathla dwelt in the steaming fens of the new-made Earth: a mass without
head or members, spawning the grey, formless efts of the prime and the grisly
prototypes of terrene life...And all earthly life, it is told, shall go back at
last through the great cycle of time to Ubbo-sathla...”
-Clark Ashton Smith, “Ubbo
Sathla”
Kish began life as a high priest in the city-state
of Sarnath in Earth’s Dreamlands. He is noted in that city’s history for having
tried to foment an attack upon the nearby city of Ib and its residents;
however, he was unsuccessful in this regard. Nevertheless, he was taken away by
the Elder Gods and lived with them as their disciple for a thousand years.
Returning to Sarnath as the ‘Prophet Kish’, he arrived just in time to witness
the Doom that came to Sarnath: his appeals to the rulers to flee the city went
unheeded and he managed to escape along with his own disciples at the last minute,
using the “Sign of Kish” which allowed him to break through the veil to the
Waking World and materialise in Ancient Egypt.
Using his magical powers, Kish created a series of
catacombs with which to protect himself and his followers from the harsh elements.
From this stronghold, they established a city and settled in to life in an
unfamiliar reality. As part of this process, Kish sought far and wide for
scrolls and other documents and, in this way, encountered a copy of the fabled Book of Eibon. This he completely
re-wrote, deconstructing it and recompiling it with his own knowledge and
wisdom. The result differs only slightly from the original, mainly in terms of
the spells presented and the fact that it is written in Hieroglyphs.
Regardless, this work was considered legendary by the end of the Third Dynasty
and has not been seen in modern times.
Pharaonic;
Kish, high priest of Sarnath; Third Dynasty, circa. 2650 BC; 1d6/2d6 Sanity
loss; Cthulhu Mythos +17 percentiles;
48 week to study and comprehend
Spells: “To Summon The Sun’s Power!” (Call/Dismiss Azathoth); “Call Forth The Great Worm Of The Northern
Waste!” (Call/Dismiss Rlim Shaikorth);
“To Speak With Kthulhut In Dreams” (Contact
Cthulhu); “Summon Forth The Children Of Zhothaquah!” (Contact Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua); “To Speak With The Eaters
Of The Dead” (Contact Ghoul); “To
Touch The Emanation Of Yoth” (Contact
Nyogtha); “Beseech Zhothaquah!” (Contact Tsathoggua); “To Speak With Yok-Zothoth, The Gate Who Is
Also The Key” (Contact Yog-Sothoth); (Create Barrier of Naach-Tith); “A
Magical Door To Travel Great Distances” (Create
Gate); “To Summon The Mists of Ancient Releh” (Create Mist of Releh); “To Turn The Blades Of Your Enemies” (Deflect Harm); “A Way Of Discovering
The Hidden” (Dust of Suleiman); “A
Spell To Confuse The Minions of Set” (Eibon’s
Wheel of Mist); “The Sign Of Kish” (Elder
Sign); “To Create A Mystical Furnace” (Enchant
Brazier); “To Forge A Magical Dagger” (Enchant
Knife); “A Means To Enter One’s Dreams” (Gate
of Oneiromancy); “A Sigil To Bring Horrible Death” (Green Decay); “To Rise Unaided Into The Air” (Levitate); “To Transmute Flesh Into Stone” (Petrify); “The Sigil Of The Wizard Eibon” (Sign of Eibon); “To Bring Forth A Living Flame!” (Summon/Bind Star Vampire); “A Gesture
Of Great Power” (Voorish Sign); “A
Curse Against One’s Enemies” (Wither
Limb)
The Book of Eibon – Punic Edition
The amended version of the Book of Eibon was not the only version in circulation in ancient
times, however: around 1600 BC, a Phoenician scribe by the name of Imilcar
Narba translated a copy into the version of Phoenician that was current in
Carthage, a North African dialect of that language known as ‘Punic’; The name
of this scribe is known only from the later Graeco-Bactrian editions which
arose from this version. The contents of this copy can only be speculated upon,
as the Romans put paid to the Phoenician language and all works written in that
tongue with an enviable efficiency – no copies of this work are known to have
survived.
Punic
Phoenician; Imilcar Narba; 1600 BC; 1d6+1/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentiles; 42 weeks
to study and comprehend
Spells: “Summon the Power of Ra!” (Call/Dismiss Azathoth); “Call Forth the Great Worm of the Northern
Waste!” (Call/Dismiss Rlim Shaikorth);
“To Speak with the Demon Kthulhut in Dreams” (Contact Cthulhu); “Summon Forth the Children of Zothaqquah!” (Contact Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua);
“To Touch the Emanation of Yoth” (Contact
Nyogtha); “Beseech Zothaqquah!” (Contact
Tsathoggua); “To Speak with Yok Zothoth, the Gate Who is also the Key” (Contact Yog-Sothoth); (Create Barrier of Naach-Tith); “A
Magical Door to Travel Great Distances” (Create
Gate); “To Summon The Mists of Ancient Releh” (Create Mist of Releh); “To Turn the Blades of Your Enemies” (Deflect Harm); “A Way of Discovering
the Hidden” (Dust of Suleiman); “A
Spell To Confuse The Minions of Set”
(Eibon’s Wheel of Mist); “To Create a Mystical Furnace” (Enchant Brazier); “To Forge a Magical
Dagger” (Enchant Knife); “A Sigil to
bring Horrible Death” (Green Decay);
“To Rise Unaided into the Air” (Levitate);
“To Transmute Flesh into Stone” (Petrify);
“The Sigil of the Wizard Eibon” (Sign of
Eibon); “To Bring Forth a Living Flame!” (Summon/Bind Star Vampire); “A Gesture of Great Power” (Voorish Sign); “A Curse Against One’s
Enemies” (Wither Limb)
*****
The Book of Karnak
“...I suddenly came upon Isis and Osiris; I had
done a deed, they said, which the ibis and the crocodile trembled at ... [I
was] kissed, with cancerous kisses, by crocodiles, and was laid, confounded
with all unutterable abortions, amongst reeds and Nilotic mud...”
-Thomas de Quincey
This work is the ritual text of the Temple complex
of Karnak and was compiled and amended over the entire course of the Egyptian
civilization. It contains many ritual observances in great detail including
times and places in which they should be undertaken in order to please the
deities. There is also a large amount of genealogical information concerning
the progression of the rulership of Egypt which – interestingly – includes
those pharaohs whose names were otherwise effaced from monuments and texts
throughout the country when they fell into disfavour.
While largely a ceremonial text, albeit one with a
superabundance of historical information, the Book of Karnak has many mystical aspects and occult knowledge.
There are spells to control various creatures connected to the gods and various
incantations used to contact the gods themselves or their powerful minions.
There is an extended section concerning a being referred to as an avatar of
Horus’ avenging aspect called “Iod, the Shining One”, along with spells used to
summon this being.
(Source: Henry Kuttner, “Hydra”)
Pharaonic,
in Hieroglyphs; divers hands; since the beginning of the First Dynasty;
1d8/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos
+12 percentiles; 63 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Invoke Horus the Just!” (Call/Dismiss Iod, the Shining Hunter); “Speak with the Ruler of
Bubastis!” (Contact Bast); “Summon
the Eater of the Dead!” (Contact Ghoul);
“Confer with the God of the Nile!” (Contact
Sobek); “Call the Servants of Bast!” (Summon/Bind
Cat); “Call the Children of the River God!” (Summon/Bind Crocodile)
“Veni
diabole, discalcea me...recede, miser...
Bagabi
laca bachabe,
Lamac cahi
achababe,
Karrelyos...”
-Chant to summon Iod
During the rise of the Ptolemaic Dynasties in
Egypt, the Book of Karnak was
translated into several languages. Some of these translations focused entirely
upon the historical data and excised the mystical content; these, mainly Greek,
translations were lost during the torching of the Library of Alexandria,
although some information passed into the works of Homer who had the
opportunity to peruse them during his research. Conversely, there were
translations which took the mystical aspects and left the history behind: only
one, Latin, version of this edition has survived although it is rarely
encountered in its complete form, fragments being generally discovered as
excerpts in other grimoires. Necessarily, these incomplete versions are quite
dangerous.
(Source: Henry Kuttner, “The Hunt”)
Latin;
unknown translators; since the time of the Ptolemies; 1d4/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6 percentiles; 10 weeks
to study and comprehend
Spells: “Invoke Horus the Just!” (Call or Dismiss Iod, the
Shining Hunter, not both);
“Summon the Eater of the Dead!” (Contact
Ghoul); One of the following:
“Call the Servants of Bast!” (Summon/Bind
Cat); or “Call the Children of
the River God!” (Summon/Bind Crocodile)
*****
The Book of Thoth (aka “Scroll of Thoth-Amon”)
This powerful work was once said to have belonged
to the God of Knowledge, Thoth. According to legend, its contents could give
the reader power of the Moon, Sun and stars, the Earth and the Abyss. It was
said that by means of its various invocations, a learned sage could see and
address the gods themselves.
The scroll was said to have been stolen from Thoth
by a prince named Nefrekeptah, son of Amenhotep. In so doing, he fell victim to
Thoth’s enmity and a curse fell upon him, killing him and, simultaneously in
Koptos, his wife and child. Nefrekeptah was buried in Memphis and the Book of Thoth was interred with him,
laid upon his breast.
In later years Prince Setna, son of Rameses the
Great, broke into Nefrekeptah’s tomb and stole the Book in order to use its power. While celebrating this achievement,
he fell into a deep sleep and dreamt of a powerful priestess of Bast named
Tabubua, who came to him and convinced him to cast out his wife and order the
murder of his children; this accomplished, he went to Tabubua on their wedding
night, only to witness her wither into a hideous corpse before his eyes.
Awakening from this nightmare, Setna ordered the removal of the mummies of the
wife and child of Nefrekeptah from their tomb in Koptos and their reinterment
alongside Nefrekeptah in Memphis, along with the cursed scroll.
The Roman emperor Caligula took the Book from its resting place and
transported it to Rome where he experimented with its contents. His copy is
known to have been destroyed shortly before his death, but obviously other
transcriptions and copies were made, including the copy which came into the
possession of the Samaritan, Simon of Gitta. Abdul Alhazred seems to have had a
version and makes mention of the Book of
Thoth in the Necronomicon,
quoting passages from it which warn of the dangers of accepting the entity
known as ‘Umr at-Tawil as a guide when traversing “beyond the Veil”; however,
in his memoirs, the Dreamer Randolph Carter describes his experiences in doing
just this and found the Ancient One to be completely benign: he ponders whether
the Arab had ulterior motives for transcribing such baseless warnings.
For unknown reasons – certainly unusual ones, given
what’s known of his character - Simon of Gitta is believed to have destroyed
the last known copy of this profane work in 41 CE. Rumour has it however, that
scribes at the Temple of Ptah produced a copy (or perhaps several copies) of it
and relocated them to Thebes where they were hidden. Most scholars of any
credibility think that these rumours are simply that and are grounded more in
wishful thinking than in fact; however, we all know that ‘credible thinkers’
tend to gravitate towards the middle ground of reasonableness and ignore
distinct – and deadly - possibility.
As to the contents of this work, it holds many
details concerning ‘Umr at-Tawil (an avatar of Yog-Sothoth), and its third
section is highly instructive in the creation and maintenance of gates to other
realities. There is an infamous spell which confers limited life upon the dead,
along with many disturbing narratives concerning the origin of human life upon
this planet; it includes spells for contacting Nyarlathotep in his guise as
Set, and for bringing forth demons to serve the bidding of the caster. The bulk
of the work however, is of an astronomical nature and, as such, is likely to be
of little value today.
This work should not be confused with the Tarot
deck which is also known amongst practitioners as the “Book of Thoth”; neither should it be mistaken for Aleister
Crowley’s treatise on the Tarot deck, which goes by the same name.
(Source: E. Hoffman Price, “The Lord of Illusion”)
Pharaonic,
in hieroglyphs; Thoth-Amon; c. 10,000BCE; Sanity Loss 1D6/1D12; Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentiles; Occult +6 percentiles; average 85 weeks
to study and comprehend.
Spells: “To See as far as the Aten” (Augury); “Summon the Key and the Gate” (Call Yog-Sothoth); “To Invoke the Wisdom of Thoth” (Chant of Thoth); “To Send Confusion to
Your Enemies” (Cloud Memory); ‘To
Create a Mystic Portal Between Worlds” (Create
Gate); “To See Afar” (Create Scrying
Window); “A Curse to Smite Your Enemies” (Curse of the Stone); “Request an Audience with Set” (Contact Nyarlathotep); “To Enter One’s
Dreams” (Gate of Oneirology); “To
Revive The Dead” (Reanimation); “Call
Upon an Emissary of the Gods” (Summon/Bind
Child of the Sphinx); “The Touch of Anubis” (Wither Limb); “The Scourge of Horus” (Wrack); and any others the keeper desires.
(NB:
This is a far more insidious tome than the version outlined in the game “Cthulhu Invictus”.)
*****
The Chuma Scrolls
This sheaf of five scrolls contains information
about the cult of Yibb-Tstll (known as “Chuma” to the sub-Saharan tribes). It
contains information about contacting and summoning the god, his blood, and
nightgaunts.
Pharaonic,
in Hieratic; translated by unknown scribes from a sub-Saharan original;
c.1800BCE. Sanity Loss 1D6/2D6; Cthulhu
Mythos +8 percentiles; average 8 weeks to study and comprehend.
Spells: “Awaken Chuma” (Summon
Yibb Tstll); “Call the Black Blood” (Black
Blood); “Summon Child of Chuma” (Summon/Bind
Nightgaunt); and any others the Keeper desires.
*****
De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, Chaldaeorum, Assyriorum.
Proclus In Platonicum Alcibiadem De Anima, Atque Daemone: Idem De Sacrificio
& Magia. Porphyrius De Divinis Atque; Daemonibus Psellus De Daemonibus.
Mercurii Trismegisti Pimander: Ejusdem Asclepius.
More simply known as the Theurgia, or De Mysteriis
Aepyptiorum (“On the Mysteries of Egypt”), this work was ascribed by the
philosopher Proclus to the Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus Chalcidensis, who
studied under Porphyry. However, internal and stylistic inconsistencies between
this book and Iamblichus’s other known works have led others to disagree on the
question of authorship, although it must surely have derived from his school.
Iamblichus is known to have disagreed with Porphyry over how the practise of
theurgy should be undertaken and the book consists mainly of a series of
answers to the criticisms which Porphyry levelled at his student.
The work tries – in the context of Neoplatonic
theories of magic – to rationalise several systems of magical working under a
single philosophical engine, namely the practise of theurgy - magic involving
the intercession of spirits and deities – as Iamblichus conceived of it. To
this end it picks apart various polytheistic ritual systems, most notably that
of the Egyptian cults, along with those of the Chaldeans and the Assyrians. In
this fashion the work is seen to overlay Hellenistic thought upon extant
philosophies conquered by the Ptolemaic Greeks and no doubt had colonialist
motives behind its release.
Ancient
Greek; School of Iamblichus Chalcidensis; ; No Sanity loss; Occult +3 percentiles; 6 weeks to study
and comprehend
Spells: “Consulting the Auguries” (Augury)
English;
various translators; many editions; No Sanity loss; Occult +1 percentile; 1 week to study and comprehend
Spells: None
*****
Pert Em Hru (“The Book of Going Forth By Day”), aka
“The Egyptian Book of the Dead”
This ancient work concerns the beatification of the
dead, who were imagined as reciting the various chapters in order and thereby
gaining privileges in their new lives after death. The instructions and magical
procedures contained within its pages protect the dead against the dangers they
face in reaching the Afterlife. There are a wide variety of spells which cover
everything from the preservation of the mummy against mould, incantations to
assist in shape-shifting, to ritual procedures which assist the dead to become
as gods themselves. The work also contains many related spells and other more
mundane spells and charms from Dynastic Egypt.
The work began life as a series of spells and
written invocations written on the walls of the tombs of the Pharaohs and which
were reserved exclusively for royal use. Over time, a change in the perception
of the Afterlife and the role of Osiris within it as judge of the dead, meant
that the life after death became available to all Egyptians and the spells were
re-cast for use across the entire spectrum of the society. The coffins, tombs
and funerary masks of the dead from every strata of the civilisation were
inscribed with the new spells which were collected together by Egyptologists as
the Coffin Texts, or Sarcophagus Texts; the preceding
Pharaonic texts were collected as the Pyramid
Texts. By the time of the Middle Kingdom, all of the spells and the new
conceptual schematics of the Afterlife had been collated together as the Pert Em Hru, or the “Egyptian Book of the Dead”.
Pharaonic,
in Cursive Hieroglyphs; author unknown; since time immemorial; No Sanity loss; Occult +7 percentiles; 10 weeks to study
and comprehend
Spells: “To See as far as the Aten” (Augury); “A Spell to Banish Apep” (Banish Apep); “A Spell to Ensnare One’s Foes” (Bind Enemy); “A Spell to Blind One’s Enemy” (Curse of Darkness); “A Charm to Reveal the Magic of Evildoers” (Detect Enchantment); “A Spell to
Discover Hidden Ways” (Find Gate);
“Call the Servants of Bast!” (Summon/Bind
Cat); “Call the Children of Sobek!” (Summon/Bind
Crocodile); “A Spell to Tear Away the Cloak of One Hidden” (Unmask Demon); “An Enchantment to
Reveal a Hidden Way” (View Gate); “A
Spell of Warding” (Warding)
Of course, any transmission of the text to the West
had to wait until Champollion’s work in translating hieroglyphs reached
fruition. The Pert Em Hru was known
to Europeans as early as the Middle Ages, but it was thought to be some kind of
ancient grimoire, or holy book, and generally avoided. In 1805, J. Marc Cadet
published a bound collection of 18 colour plates reproduced from an original
papyrus, with accompanying descriptive notes; however, his observations must be
considered purely speculative. It was entitled “Copie figurée d’un Roleau de Papyrus trouvé à Thebes des un Thombeau
des Rois, accompagnèe d’une notice descriptive.” Investigators may use the
images as reference but, unless they can read Hieroglyphs, the material will be
largely useless to them.
French;
J. Marc Cadet; Paris, 1805; No Sanity loss; Occult
+3 percentiles; 2 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: None; however, if the reader has the skill Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs, the spells
are as the Pert Em Hru, above, but
with a 15% chance of failure for each spell.
After the Hieroglyphic code was cracked, the first
printed version of the “Egyptian Book of
the Dead”, coining and cementing that title in the West, was by Prussian
Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius. His “Das
Todtenbuch der Ägypter nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin mit einem
Vorworte zum ersten Male Herausgegeben” was published in Leipzig in 1842,
and codified 165 spells.
German;
Karl Richard Lepsius; Leipzig, 1842; No Sanity loss; Occult +3 percentiles; 4 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Um bis zum Aten sehen” (Augury); “Ein Zauberspruch um Apep Verbannen” (Banish Apep); “Um die Bediensteten oder Bast nennen!” (Summon/Bind Cat); “Zu den Kindern Sobek
nennen!” (Summon/Bind Crocodile)
Lepsius worked from a single version of the Pert Em Hru held in an archive in Turin,
and called upon his fellow Egyptologists to begin collating as many different
copies as they could find, in order to pin down all the variant forms. Henri
Édouard Naville, a student of Lepsius, bent to the task and, between 1875 and
1886, compiled many different versions – with a spell count of 186 – in a
three-volume, bound edition.
German;
Henri Edouard Naville; Leipzig, 1886; No Sanity loss; Occult +5 percentiles; 6 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Um bis zum Aten sehen” (Augury); “Ein Zauberspruch um Apep Verbannen” (Banish Apep); “Ein Zauberspruch seine Feinde zu ungarnen” (Bind Enemy); “Ein Zauberspruch seine
Feinde zu Blenden” (Curse of Darkness);
“Ein Talisman um die Magie der Übeltäter Sehen” (Detect Enchantment); “Ein Zauberspruch Geheime Wege zu Entdecken” (Find Gate); “Um die Bediensteten oder
Bast nennen!” (Summon/Bind Cat); “Zu
den Kindern Sobek nennen!” (Summon/Bind
Crocodile); “Ein Zauberspruch, Jemanden zu Zeigen,” (Unmask Demon); “Ein Zauberspruch eine Versteckte Eingang Sehen” (View Gate); “Ein Verteidigender Bann” (Warding)
The first English translation came from Samuel
Birch, the head of the Egyptian and Assyrian Department who immediately
preceded Wallis Budge in that role. His five-volume work was entitled “Egypt’s Place in Universal History”,
and volume five contains the “Papyrus of
Nebseny”, which is a copy of the Pert
Em Hru written for and buried with that mummy. When using the spells in
this volume – or any other similar, highly personalised version of the Pert Em Hru – there is a 20% chance that
the spell will fail due to errors which have crept in during the transcription
process.
English;
Samuel Birch; London, 1867; No Sanity loss; Occult
+4 percentiles; 6 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “A Spell to Allow Nebseny to See as Far as the
Aten” (Augury); “A Spell so that
Nebseny may Banish Apep” (Banish Apep);
“A Charm So That Nebseny May See the Magic of Evildoers” (Detect Enchantment); “A Charm so that Nebseny may Call the
Servants of Bast!” (Summon/Bind Cat)
The Scroll of Ani
To ensure that the passage to the Afterlife was
guaranteed, the Egyptians arranged to be buried with a copy of the Pert Em Hru beside them. Producing such
copies was an expensive process and so, only the wealthiest of Egyptians were
able to be interred with their own personal version. Mostly, the text was
simply painted upon tomb walls or sarcophagi. While cheaper versions were
available, many have not survived the passage of time.
The Scroll
of Ani is a highly personalised
version of the Pert Em Hru, in which
all the illustrations and the text refer specifically to the owner – the scribe
Ani – who paid for its creation. Along with all of the standard chapters and
spells, it has many charms and incantations particular to this individual,
along with a detailed (and probably hyperbolic) biography of his life and
accomplishments. When using the spells in this volume – or any other similar,
highly personalised version of the Pert
Em Hru – there is a 20% chance that the spell will fail due to errors which
have crept in during transcription.
Pharaonic,
in Cursive Hieroglyphs; unknown scribe; ; No Sanity loss; Occult +6 percentiles; 12 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “A Spell to Allow Ani to See as Far as the Aten” (Augury); “A Spell so that Ani may
Banish Apep” (Banish Apep); “A Spell
to Ensnare Ani’s Foes” (Bind Enemy);
“A Spell to Blind Ani’s Enemies” (Curse
of Darkness); “A Charm So That Ani May See the Magic of Evildoers” (Detect Enchantment); “A Spell to Allow
Ani to Discover Hidden Ways” (Find Gate);
“A Charm so that Ani may Call the Servants of Bast!” (Summon/Bind Cat); “A Spell so that Ani may Call the Children of
Sobek!” (Summon/Bind Crocodile); “A
Spell to Allow Ani to Tear Away the Cloak of One Hidden” (Unmask Demon); “An Enchantment to Reveal a Hidden Way before Ani” (View Gate); “Ani’s Spell of Warding” (Warding)
After obtaining the Scroll of Ani, Wallis Budge arranged to send it back to England for
study. In order to do this without it being damaged en route, he cut the long length of papyrus into five equal
lengths, so that it could be mailed flat. Although he made efforts to minimise
the damage to the work, many hieroglyphs and images were defaced in the
process. He defended his actions in this regard by saying that he hoped future
generations would be able to invent a way to piece the Scroll back together. In any event, his translation is nowadays
considered quite poor. As a consequence, along with the 20% base chance of
failure when casting spells from this source, Investigators must also make a Luck Roll when using the spells listed
within.
English;
E.A. Wallis Budge (trans.); London, 1895; No Sanity loss; Occult +3 percentiles; 1 week to study and comprehend
Spells: “A Spell to Allow Ani to See as Far as the Aten” (Augury); “A Spell so that Ani may
Banish Apep” (Banish Apep); “A Charm
So That Ani May See the Magic of Evildoers” (Detect
Enchantment); “A Charm so that Ani may Call the Servants of Bast!” (Summon/Bind Cat)
*****
The Yhe Rituals (Rituals of Yhe)
A book claimed to have been held within the
personal library of the Hyperborean wizard Eibon “the Unfathomable”. The
authorship of this work rests with the prehuman prophet Niggoum-Zhog and was
used in the worship of Ythogtha by the priesthood of Mu. After Zanthu doomed the
continent and fled to Leng, he was said to have destroyed the last copy of
this, his holiest of texts. Later, however, scribes in Poseidonis unearthed a
copy in the library of Malygris, after that wizard’s death, and Yakthoob, Abdul
Alhazred’s mentor, is said to have owned a copy. Recently in 1903, an Egyptian
tomb was opened and was found to contain a translation in Pharaonic.
The book outlines thirty-one secret rituals and
spells used in the worship of Ythogtha. The last spell – The Key That Openeth the Door To Yhe – will summon the Great Old
One from its imprisonment. Niggoum-Zhog warns however, that this spell should
be used by worshippers only in extremis.
(Source: Lin Carter, “The Thing in the Pit”)
Hieratic
Nacaal; Niggoum-Zhog; Prehuman timeline; Sanity Loss: 1d12/2d12; Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentiles; Dreaming +10 percentiles; Dream Lore +10 percentiles; average 45
weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Consign One’s Enemies to the Deeps” (Breath of the Deep); “Create a Potion
of Dreaming” (Brew Dream Drug); “The
Key That Openeth the Door To Yhe” (Call/Dismiss
Deity: Ythogtha); “Call forth the Servants of the Dreamlord” (Contact Deep One); “Speak with the
Talker in Dreams” (Contact Ythogtha);
“The Skill of Oneiromancy” (Dream Vision);
“Walk the Path of Dreaming” (Gate of
Oneirology); “Crush One’s Enemies with the Weight of the Deeps” (Grasp of Cthulhu); “Call Upon the Ocean
to Rise in Anger!” (Wave of Oblivion)
Hieratic
Nacaal; transcriber unknown; Prehuman timeline; Sanity Loss: 1d10/2d10; Cthulhu Mythos +13 percentiles; Dreaming +8 percentiles; Dream Lore +8 percentiles; average 40
weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “The Key That Openeth the Door To Yhe” (Call Deity: Ythogtha); “Call forth the
Servants of the Dreamlord” (Contact Deep
One); “Speak with the Talker in Dreams” (Contact
Ythogtha); One of the following:
“Create a Potion of Dreaming” (Brew Dream
Drug); “The Skill of Oneiromancy” (Dream
Vision); or “Walk the Path of
Dreaming” (Gate of Oneirology); One of the following: “Consign One’s
Enemies to the Deeps” (Breath of the
Deep); “Crush One’s Enemies with the Weight of the Deeps” (Grasp of Cthulhu); or “Call Upon the Ocean to Rise in Anger!” (Wave of Oblivion)
Pharaonic,
in Hieratic script; translator unknown; date unknown (discovered 1903); Sanity
Loss: 1d8/2d8; Cthulhu Mythos +10
percentiles; Dream Lore +5
percentiles; average 32 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “The Key That Openeth the Door To Yhe” (Call Deity: Ythogtha); One of the following: “Call forth the
Servants of the Dreamlord” (Contact Deep
One); or “Speak with the Talker
in Dreams” (Contact Ythogtha); One of the following: “Create a Potion
of Dreaming” (Brew Dream Drug); or “The Skill of Oneiromancy” (Dream Vision); One of the following: “Consign One’s Enemies to the Deeps” (Breath of the Deep); or “Crush One’s Enemies with the Weight
of the Deeps” (Grasp of Cthulhu)
Sometime in the 1960s an English translation of an
excerpted version of the Yhe Rituals
began circulating throughout Oxford. Most copies of this pamphlet were cheap
mimeographs which were distributed at local music festivals and other
night-time gatherings. The document was identified and banned after an incident
which resulted in severe property damage due to fire. Copies may still be
encountered infrequently.
English;
translator unknown; early 1960s; Sanity Loss: 1D3/1D6; Cthulhu Mythos +4 percentiles; average 6 weeks to study and
comprehend
Spells: Roll Luck - if successful, the copy contains the
following spell: “Speak with the Talker in Dreams” (Contact Ythogtha)
