Is reading the Necronomicon a sin?

Question

I just bought a copy of the Necronomicon from a second hand bookstore. Anyone ever read it before? It's some pretty heavy stuff. All about demons and Deep Old Ones and raising the dead... do you think reading a book like this is a sin?



;)

http://www.digital-brilliance.com/necron/necron.htm

Hey, Spiritual but not religious? Chill. I know it;s not real. I was just having a laugh.

Answer 1

It's a book. And a kind of silly one at that,

The Necronomicon if a fictional book developed by HP Lovecraft in the 1920s. Someone decided to write it up as if it were really real and make a dime or two in the process.

That being said...

Read everything you can and decide if it works for you. If it does great... If it doesn't there is always recycling it back to the used bookstore.

BB
Pabs

Answer 2

No! That book is a piece of FICTION! Here is the history behind the book. I know it well as I was working in bookstores when it was first published.

The title of the book and the idea of the book is derived from the writer, H. P. Lovecraft. The Nectronomicon was a book that he referred to in many of his stories and novels. It was supposed to contain "elder lore and spells". It was a device to add to his stories and explain how his characters were able to perform incantations or know "forgotten knowledge". However Lovecraft never actually wrote a book called Necronomicon. Many additional horror fiction writers (August Derleth, Robert Bloch, etc.) have written stories and novels in the "Lovecraftian" world and also refer to the Necronomicon. There was even a movie titled Necronomicon starring Jeffrey Combs of "Re-Animator" fame.

The book never existed outside of Lovecraft's stories until sometime between1984 and 1988. Supposedly two college students really got into Lovecraft's stories and decided that there really should be a necronomicon. So they wrote one. Initially the book was put into one of the fiction sections of the bookstore. Check out the spine of your book if it's a paperback. Depending on the age of the paperback it may say "fiction" on the spine.

After 3 or 4 years of publication, the book started being published as non-fiction. No one ever told us bookstore workers why. But there were basically two possibilities. One - the people at the publishing firm had forgotten the origin of the book and didn't know it was fiction. Two - at this time in the eighties, "new age" and spiritual books were selling like hotcakes. It could be that someone at the publishing firm felt that more money could be made selling the book as non-fiction rather than fiction. These paperback copies will say "non-fiction" on the spine.

Since that time, other "necronomicon" titled books have been published. There's Simon's and Donald Tyson's and others. They all claim to be translations of the original Necronomicon. (Lovecraft's stories always referred to the Necronomicon being written by the "mad Arab" so these books claim to be translated from arabic.)

It's all a bunch of BS. These are all fictional books based on Lovecraft's fiction.

That's the real history of the book. I was there!!! I hope that helps.

Addition - Thanks for saying so however you wouldn't believe how many teenagers and parents believed it was real. I was hoping you were teasing but you never know.

Answer 3

I personaly believe that anything going against the order of nature 1.) takes the kind of power that has probably passed on from this world, and therefore is not likely to ever be accomplished, and 2.) in any case, ought not be trusted, so I don't bother much with the Simon Necronomicon (translation: I think it's full of crap.) The Egyptian Book of the Dead really isn't bad; it's actually kind of a beautiful way to show you're concerned about your relatives' well-being after death, because you'd bury it with them. And "The Necronomicon" Necronomicon is just a book by Lovecraft written for fun. If anything, you'd probably just scare yourself reading it. Lastly: there is no such thing as "black magick" nor "white magick." It's the practicioner using a neutral force for good, evil, or neutral gain-the force itself is not evil. "There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so." -William Shakespeare.

Answer 4

It's just a book. Go to sacred-texts.com. They give a pretty thorough explanation about it being something H.P. Lovecraft came up with as a common thread thru his horror stories. The best part is, alot of those stories are in the public domain, so you can read them there as well...

The link you provided has some insight into Crowley, the book of the law, and the O.T.O. Having read about some of these things I will tell you, that it seems to have more in common with scientology's founding than anything else. C'mon...an author wrote a "holy book" as fiction, talked with a friend who was also an author, and got it to be taken, at least partially, seriously. Just because the copyright dates are different, doesn't mean one was originally written before the other.

Answer 5

The Necronomicon is a fictional book by H.P. Lovecraft. I don't see how reading anything could be a sin, but then again, I don't believe in sin either. Oh, and old H.P. has even acknowledged that it was a work of fiction. Don't read too much into it.

Answer 6

Nah. It's a work of fiction. Look up H. P. Lovecraft's 'History of the Necronomicon' on the web at: http://www.locksley.com/cthulhu/necro.htm.

Answer 7

Just reading it? No you are expanding your knowledge base of different types of thinking. Whither it is real or just a work of fiction it isn't any worse than reading Tokens (the Shmilliron)the real first book in the lord of the rings series or other non christian books or tales from different religions.Wotan,Zeus, and the female goodess

Answer 8

Don't see how just reading something could be a sin.

Just make sure you summon your Watcher and smoke lots of Oliberos (the wild grass that grows in the mountains).

Have fun summoning Marduk and watch out for the Anunaki!! =P

Answer 9

Reading the book isn't a sin but if you start to believe anything it says and put that before God, it can lead to a sin.

Answer 10

If reading it does no harm to anyone then it is no sin. It is a book of fiction and as long as you realize that you may not be doing yourself any harm. However, we probably should be careful what we read and digest since we are what we eat.