Phil Hine

This slender volume is probably the best overview of Yog-Sothothery for working occultists. It is full of considered reflection and useful ideas about technique. Although author Phil Hine made his bones as a published magician under the Chaoist banner (obvious in the cover design for this book!), the essays here aren't particularly sectarian, and they offer some constructive comparisons with various schools of contemporary occult practice. Hine does (on the acknowledgments page) claim membership in the Esoteric Order of Dagon, however.

The various Great Old Ones are treated here less as a bestiary, and more as a map of states (perhaps "vectors" would be more accurate) of consciousness. On the whole, the book eschews cookbook prescription in favor of discussing processes and perspectives. A couple of appendices, though, present a "Cthulhu Pathworking" (i.e. guided meditation) and a report of a healing ceremony invoking Tsathoggua.

One might say that the Pseudonomicon is "falsely so-called," since it surveys the possibilities (for good and ill) of Lovecraftian-inflected magick in a far more honest manner than any of the dozen or so books actually claiming to be the Necronomicon.… (mere)