Subject: Rite of the Ghouls
From: parker@moorhead.msus.edu (PARKER RYAN)
Date: 3 Jul 94 02:09:01 -0500



              -No unauthorized reproduction permitted-
WARNING magick involving the Great Old Ones is considered to be very
dangerous by many experienced magicians! This is particularly true of the
Rite of the Ghoul. Experimenting with this form of magick can result in
severe psychological damage!

	I recently read a book by Phil Hine titled Psuedonomicon. In it
Mr. Hine discusses transfiguration into a ghoul. He gives a short outline
of some magickal applications of this process in this book. I was struck
by the similarity between his ideas on the subject and my own. This has
inspired me to touch up my original ghoul rite and post it. This post is a
rite I developed about five years ago after reading K.Grant's ideas on the
"mortuary feast" of the lamas of Leng, Andahadna's "The Feast of the Hive"
and "Demon Feast", and Spare's "Feast of the Supersensualists".
	 "Pickman's Model" by HPL also was a big influence as was the
Tibetan Buddhist Tchod rite and "the demon's feast". The actual
nomenclature of this rite is derived from the infamous 18th century
printing of "Cultes des Goules" used by Abbe' Boullan in his Lyons
workings. I haven't changed my version of the rite at all in the last five
years but I have adopted the way Mr. Hine explains the purpose of the
rite. (I've never been very good at explaining such things.)

The purpose of this rite is in Mr. Hine's words, "In the magick of the Old
Ones, the theme of transfiguration is very much related to the initiation
of the outside spaces. In "Becoming the Beast", The magician is
deconstructing the boundaries of his ego, and stepping back from cultural
conditioning; at the same time, acknowledging the atavistic desires and
complexes which have become characterized as 'evil' or 'animal' by
society. ... there is the possibility of initiatory ritual. Rites such as
the Tibetan 'Feast of Demons' are ritual feints at psychic dismemberment,
where the celebrant offers himself up to be ripped apart by his own
demonic complexes, in order to be reborn. Such experiences are common
throughout magical and shamanic practice, and may often occur
spontaneously during an initiatory crisis. Rituals which involve a close
proximity to corpses are common in Tibetan and vama marg Tantra,
and elements of ritual cannibalism (so repugnant to the modern mind) can
be found in most ancient cultures, at one time or another."

This rite was designed to be used in a group setting. However, it can be
modified to be used on the "astral", by a solo magician or partially on the
"astral" by two celebrants. Also, this rite was written from my own Cthulhu
mythos perspective and should be modified to fit into whatever myth system
the magician uses. This rite (like all magick) should not be considered to
be carved in stone. Otherwise it becomes just another dogma to transcend!! 

Location: Outdoors in a rural setting. There should be no evidence of the
very existence of man at the ritual site except for those objects used for
the rite itself. The site should reflect the meaning of "wild" in the word
wilderness.

Time: At night well after dark. Because of the rite's association with
Nyarlathotep (Nyharluthotep) and therefore Azathoth (Asa-Thoth) the
ultimate time to preform this rite is "when the Sun is in the Sign of the
Ram, the Lion, or the Archer; the Moon decreasing and Mars and Saturn
conjoin" Short of this any time that the celebrants feel that "the spheres
do intersect and the influences flow from the Void". _1_

Materials: the Altar of the Old Ones, the Incense of Zkauba, animal offal
(obtained from a butcher), theatrical make-up, animal and human skulls
(replicas will do if they are realistic), A tape player and a recording of
drumming at 3-7 cycles per second _2_, a charcoal burner,; optional are
entheogens _3_. Also the magician should use whatever obsessive fetishes
she/he feels will add to the process. 
 
In this rite the imagined body as well as the ego-complex of the magician
is devoured dy the other celebrants (the ghouls). At this point the
magician transforms into one of the ghouls her/himself. The rite is now at
the climax and the Ghoul/magician joins the feast of offal and engages in
ritual copulation with the "corpse" on the Alter of the Old Ones.
Again quoting Mr. Hine "Undercurrent of such a ritual is the idea of
relinquishing control to others, and of facing one's own taboos and desires
in a way that means that they cannot be dodged or evaded."

Well no point in further meandering. Here it is.


                        The Rite of the Ghoul 
                           by Ryan Parker


Set the Altar of the Old Ones in a clearing of a dense woods. Above the
altar place a large wooden "banner" to act as the "Center of Focus" in
the opening. On this banner the Egyptian hieroglyphics for Asa-Thoth
(Azathoth) and Yak-SutThoth (Yog-Sothoth) should be painted on the top.
Below these but in larger Hieroglyphics the name Nyharluthotep
(Nyarlathotep) should be painted in a bold style. At the South end (the
head) of the Altar should be placed several animal skulls and at least one
human skull (or a realistic replica). Below the Altar (below it's foot end
ie north) about ten-twenty feet should be placed a large quantity of
animal offal (from a butcher). A single small charcoal burner for the
incense should be the only source of light. This burner should be placed
between the altar and the "banner".


Opening: 

This rite should not be preceded by any form of banishing. Nor should any
use of a type of magick circle be used. The attitude of this rite must be
one of total helplessness before the demonic forces that will devour the
magician. For this reason the magician will be placed in the center of
the other celebrants nude and without any weapons or other magickal objects. 
The other celebrants should also be nude (to increase the animalistic/taboo
atmosphere) but should be wearing theatrical make-up in order to give
their faces and bodies a monstrous/animal-like appearance. The acting
priest of the Old Ones (one of the other celebrants not the magician) begins
the rite thus:

The priest starts the drumming tape and throws a large amount of the
incense of Zkauba into the charcoal burner. The priest holds his left hand
in the Voorish sign and the celebrants do likewise. 

Priest: "Hail the limitless Void!  
Priest: Ia! Yog-Sothoth the infinite Chaos
Celebrants: Hail Yog-Sothoth 
Priest: Ia! Azathoth the primal center of the Void 
Celebrants: Hail Azathoth 
Priest: Ia! Nyarlathotep Mighty Messenger
Celebrants: Hail Nyarlathotep Mighty Messenger

Priest: Nyarlathotep, purveyor of Chaos, Lord of Ghouls, remove the
illusion of reality from the mind of (name of magician) by the
annihilation of that mind! Watch over this feast of Ghouls as (name) is
killed and devoured. Rejoice in your black gulf that Chaos is once again
unleashed on the earth. 

Celebrants: Hail Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos!

(Nyarlathotep is featured in the opening because of "his" close
association with the ghouls in myth. The mention of the Other Gods helps
to create a sense of continuity with previous mythos work and serves to
create a link with later work.)

(Priest and celebrants give the sign of Kish)
 
Priest: (name), you offer yourself up to the ghouls as a sacrifice. 

(name)you are now now completely helpless before the might of the Old Ones and
their minions the ghouls! 

(name), your mind and soul shall be ripped apart and you shall be reborn
in darkness. As this happens remember that "the wailings of the mad are
but the birth-cries of the new man-the old man gone like dust in the
desert wind. Cleansed of the lies of mankind, the new man-the man of
darkness-is free to absorb the beauty of nothingness, to glory in the
stark night of the utter void. As your useless reason dissolves,
Rejoice!"_4_

(During this opening the magician is laying on the ground near or on the
offal. The celebrants form a rough U around the magician with the altar at
the opening of the U. The magician should maintain a mind-set of
helplessness during this opening. It is also important that the magician
allows Her/himself to slip into a state of fear and then paranoia.)

(The main body of this rite does not involve the usual sort of ritualistic
elements common to western magick. The majority of this rite involves the
chaotic acting out of Sub/Superhuman drives. Therefore, to make the
transition, from the relatively ordered opening to the bulk of the rite,
smoother a specific technique is needed. The technique used is gradually
going from R'lyehian and Enochian phases and words to pure "glossolalia"
or speaking in tongues as the Xians call it.)

Priest and celebrants together:
Z'rdo K'af' Caosago Mosp'l'h T'loch, Z'rdo K'af' Caosago Mosp'l'h T'loch,
N'gha Z'rdo Hoath Adphaht Affa p'lz'n, N'kai Z'rdo Hoath Nyarlathotep,
Z'rdo ''-all ollog. Z'rdo ''-all ollog. Ia! Nyarlathotep Fhtagn N'gha
n'gah ia thos N'kai!!! 

(The celebrants begin to use glossolalia [the rapid delivery of vowel and
consonant sets at random]. In the beginning the Celebrant may wish to use
random combinations of any of the Enochian or R'lyehian words above. N'gha
and N'kai are particularly useful for entering a animalistic state. These
words have a incredibly long history {pre-human?} and posses strong
magickal "morphogenic" fields. The use of glossolalia when combined with
drumming and the use of entheogens {as it is in this rite} can rapidly
create a strong state of Gnosis in which possession is likely to occur. In
this rite the celebrants should combine chaotic and frenzied dancing with
the use of Glossolalia. The celebrants begin to chant random syllables and
dance animalisticly. When they, as a group, feel themselves to be
possessed by ghouls they begin to walk/crawl towards the magician to begin
their feast. The magician her/himself should remain silent during this
period. She/he should allows her/himself to be taken into the state of
fear that should naturally be aroused by this stage. She/he should allow
thoughts like "am I going to loose my mind?", "Am I slowly going crazy,
what the hell am I doing out here!" "what if they really kill me" "are
they loosing it, maybe they lured me out here because they wanted to do a
REAL human sacrifice" etc. etc. The magician should allow Her/himself to
fall into a state of fear and paranoia. She/he should be intensely aware
of her/his utter helplessness. The use of entheogens will greatly increase
this state of mind. The feast should be wild and uncivilized. The ghouls
should nuzzle, bite, lick, claw, and use offal to rub the body of the
magician.  When the ghouls start feasting on the offal {which they smear
on the magician then eat or wipe across their mouths} and the imagined
body and soul of the magician they should mock and taunt the magician.
Remember the ego-complex as well as the imagined body is to be consumed.
Tactics such as mockery "dismember" the magicians sense of self
importance. 
	The magician should begin to sense a feeling much like being lost.
This rite should create a profound type of sensory-overload. When the
magician feels completely lost in this state, a temporary type of
ego-death occurs. This state is to be embraced when it comes. When the
magician feels the state to have reached a peak she/he begins her/his
transformation into a Ghoul. The celebrants may reinforce the
transformation by rolling the magician around in the offal. The magician
should begin to make whatever animalistic sounds or motions she/he  feels
appropriate. When the transformation is complete the magician walks/crawls
to the Altar of the Old Ones. On this Altar a is the "corpse" (one of the
celebrants wearing make-up to look dead). The Ghoul-magician now copulates
with the "corpse". This should involve the same type of nuzzling, light
clawing, and light biting that is common in animal sex. The celebrants
should nuzzle and rub against one another (or also engage in sex if they
choose). The body of the "corpse" can have a particular symbol or sigil
painted on it to create a link between the mind of the Ghoul-magician and
the thing symbolized. The application of this technique is Highly
individual and needs to be explored on your own. 
	
	When the celebrants feel that the are coming out of the possession
the should use the Laughter of Azathoth. This is a completely mindless and
chaotic sort of laughter that can serve as a transition between states.
("banishing by laughter") This laughter must be the same in feel as
the laughter of the insane. There should be no "reason" for it or behind
it. After the Laughter of Azathoth the celebrants should lay or sit on the
ground with their eyes closed and allow whatever experiences that come
to happen. 

When the magician orgasms (or feels the act complete) she/he also uses the
Laughter of Azathoth and lays on the ground too be swept away by whatever
visions come.)

When the group feels the rite complete they should close thus:


All: Ia! Nyarlathotep lord of the Ghouls. We rejoice in the success of
this Rite of Chaos given to us by you. We thank you for watching over this
rite. 

(no special closing other than a short and simple one like that above
should be used as it would tend to create a separation between the Rite
and "normal" life.)


Obviously the most important element of this rite is timing. The formal
rite should should begin about 20 minutes after the entheogens (if such
are used) have been ritually taken. The period of Glossolalia and dancing
should last at least 15-20 minutes but can last much longer. It is
especially important to allow enough time for this stage. Even if a
celebrant feels her/himself possessed by a ghoul she/he should keep
dancing allowing the state to intensify and the ghoulish hunger to grow.
It is also important to take enough time for the magician to enter a
strong state of fear/paranoia. During the feast the Ghouls should make
allot of body contact with one-another and the magician (thus breaking a
cultural taboo). The feast should be long enough to create a lost or
egoless feeling in the magician. However, it should not be so long that it
numbs the participants. The final stage in which the participants lay on
the ground in an ecstatic state again should not be so long as to create a
separation from the rest of the rite. Judging the correct amount of time
is something that can only come with practice. 

A review of intent: (Mr. Hine paraphrased)
This rite is intended to allow the magician to deconstruct the boundaries
of her/his ego-limits and step back from her/his cultural programming. At
the same time the magician acknowledges the atavistic desires and complexes
which are characterized by society as "evil" or "animal". It is a "ritual
feint at psychic dismemberment, where the magician offers her/himself to be
ripped apart by her/his own demonic complexes in order to be reborn. The
undercurrent of this rite is the idea of relinquishing control to others
and facing one's own taboos and desires in a way that cannot be dodged or
evaded.


Ethics, Legality and the Rite of the Ghoul

This rite should only be (and indeed CAN only be) carried out by people
who profoundly trust and like one-another. Because this rite involves only
consenting and informed adults and does not involve the harming of either
people or animals I feel that its use is ethical. However, because of the
nature of this rite I feel that it is very dangerous. All participants
should be made aware of the high risk of psychological damage. The author
strongly suggests that readers refrain from using illegal entheogens. The
use of legal entheogens must be an individual choice. The author strongly
recommends that you do not do this rite on a physical level. Fairly good
results can often be obtained by preforming this rite on an "astral" trip
on in a lucid dreaming type format. In conclusion the author feels that
this rite can (and always should) be done on the physical plane in a
ethical and legal fashion. However, because of the danger inherent in this
rite the author does not recommend that it be physically enacted.

Notes

1) This "ultimate time" is derived from Turner and Langford's
controversial decoding of Dr. John Dee's Liber Logaeth. This is said, in
Liber Logaeth, to be the time in which man can most easily gain access to
the realm of Azathoth and therefore Nyarlathotep. The Altar of the Great
Old Ones and the Incense of Zkauba are also derived from this decoding of
Liber Logaeth

2) Drumming at 3-7 cycles per second causes a phenomenon known as
sonic-driving or Neuro-entrainment. This produces a "shamanic state of
consciousness" in which the magician can work.

3) entheogen can be used by all participants to increase the intensity of
this rite. There is a long history of use of entheogens in magick and
shamanism. The use of legal entheogens is not without risk and should be
considered carefully.

4) The portion of the opening in quotes has been adapted from the
"excerpts from the ritual books of the order" in "The Hermetic Order of the
Silver Twilight" by Marc Hutchison


Best wishes
Ryan Parker