(^260) A Wiccan Bible

Liber ab Mortuus

(Book of the Dead)

260

here have been many cultural ‘Books of the Dead,’ none of which are titled

the ‘Necronomicon.’ Instead, that title is what a fantasy novelist named

Lovecraft invented for use in his stories of fiction. Although he reported

being asked numerous times about a copy of the Necronomicon, he said

over and over again that it did not exist. Then, seemingly out of the blue, a

book by that title appeared on the pulp paperback market with that very

title which alluded to a connection with Aleister Crowley. The book was

not written by Crowley and probably not even by Lovecraft. You see, you cannot copy-

right a title, so it was probably written by someone hoping to capitalize on Lovecraft’s

fiction. That book has probably made the author more money than the Satanic Bible

made for Anton LeVey. You see, books are judged by not only their cover, but also

their title. Frankly, spooky titles sell books.

I have not titled this chapter to be dark and spooky. I have titled it because it fits.

Although religion is a matter of how we live, it is also a matter of how we die. The word

means to re legion, to have union again. In this word, we see the nature of things. It is

the path by which we find reunion, the Path we started at our birth, our separation,

which leads us to our death, the reunion. But what then?

T

y WB Chap 16.p65 260 7/11/2003, 6:04 PM