DE DEABUS MINORIBUS EXTERIORIS THEOMAGICAE

Jilly Dreadful

De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae: Textual Criticism and Notes on the Book as Object, A Bibliographic Study by Donna Morgan, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of English, Miskatonic University

Reproduction of Title Page:

de deabus minoribus exterioris theomagicae:

A Diʃcourʃe on the Invocations of

the Lesser Outer Goddesses;

Grounded in her Creator’s Proto-

Chimiʃtry, and verifi’d by a practicall

Examination of Principles in the Greater Dimension.

By Septimia Prinn

The Voice of Idh-yaa:

She was a woman

with a tome.

Zoroaʃter in Oracul. (Zoroaster in Oracle.)

Audi Ignis Vocem. (Listen to the Fire)

(handwritten Elizabeth Breedlove)

LONDON,

Printed by E.B For H. Vondrak at the

Castle in Thorn-hill. 1650.

Binding:

1. 3”x5” in size.
2. Octavo binding (eight leaves per quire).
   1. Never seen an octavo so small; generally duodecimos are this size because of the folding of paper.
3. No evidence of rebinding; most likely not forgery; provenance unknown.
   1. Binding is intact but well-worn from frequent use.
   2. Cover in serviceable condition; leather is visibly weathered from repeated handling; dirty (oils from hands depositing in leather).
      1. Threads on back cover, where binding meets book structure, are raised; thick thread looks like “skeletal fingers” binding quires to cover.
      2. Upon closer inspection, “skeletal fingers” are not just abnormally thick twine bindings; appear to be bound with articulated bones, with thread carefully sewn through the bone connecting binding to cover.
      3. Judging from shape and lightness of bones, I suspect they are wings from a single bat; search on library databases suggest that this technique has not been seen before; email sent to Professor Dane to confirm.
         1. A headache is forming with intense pressure behind eyes; artificial light in Special Collections is becoming painful.
4. Considering occult subject matter of text, small size, slim width: Binding suggests it was designed with secrecy in mind; could easily be concealed on body.
   1. I postulate this was a practicing occultist’s grimoire.

Paper:

1. This octavo is printed exclusively on vellum, still pungent.
   1. Vellum most likely made of pigskin, although this does not have the same color or scent as the vellum commonly sourced in London during this era; perhaps chemically treated to achieve a whiter transparency, hence the remnant smell; possibly sheepskin.
2. On page 50, quire E, on the 7th leaf, on the face of one of the only decorative plates in the book, an illustration, beneath which these handwritten words appear (Translations are my own):
   

   Idh-yaa Lythalia Vhuzompha

   Shub-Niggurath Yaghni Yidhra (names of lesser outer goddesses)

   Dare licentiam ad ut eam in servitium vestrum arma capere milites, (Give her permission to arm soldiers in your service.)

   Septimia Prinn (proper name of author)

   Deas à Conciliis, & Oracul Indiciarius, (Goddess’ Council & Indicarius (?) of the Oracle)

   DoƸtor Utriusque Naturam & Diⱴinam. (Doctor of Both Natural Laws & Divine)

3. At this site, a discoloration on the page. A watermark, perhaps; appears to be lettering.
   1. Not aware of watermarks in this period using words instead of symbols.
   2. Asked for a cold (fiber optic) light, but Carlo, the Special Collections librarian, claims they do not have one.
      1. Certain I used one in Special Collections earlier this week.
   1. Carlo provides me with table lamp.
      1. Why is Carlo keeping the cold light from me?
4. Place watermarked leaf over table light, but nothing lights up beneath, meaning it is embossed.
   

   a. Hold book at eye level, single leaf against overhead lights, read aloud: “Eram quod es; eris quod sum.” (I was what you are; you will be what I am.)

5. The book features deckled edges and is adorned with heavy speckling, most likely quill ink; the speckles are a brown, sepia tone.
   1. Quill ink generally made with iron in this era, which oxidizes over time; same color of oxidization is on edges, as well as the handwritten portions of the text.
   2. As Special Collections closed for the day, I placed tome on dissertation cart.
      1. Somehow tome ended up in my bag.
      2. Will continue textual analysis at home; will return text to cart tomorrow.
6. The vellum is desiccated, making the edges of each page razor sharp.
   1. Slit tip of thumb as I turned a page.
      1. Kind of cut that’s so deep it doesn’t bleed right away and looks as though the skin never separated.
   2. Turned page, left bloody thumbprint.
      1. Went to get cotton swab and peroxide to lift stain out.
         1. Blood is gone.

Illustration/Decoration:

1. Title page: encased in border depicting moon phases.
   1. Phases of moon include black circles that transition from black crescents into black, outlined crescents, representing shifting of new moon to full moon.
   2. Out of the corner of my eye, while I typed those observations on my laptop, the moons appeared to be actively shifting, as if animated.
      1. Possible that arrangement of the moon gradations are an optical illusion.
2. Page 51: single full-page woodcut featuring sextet of lesser outer goddesses.
   1. Above woodcut reads: Supplication of the Unfathomable Ones, beneath which the woodcut is printed.
      1. When I looked at this page to double-check the heading, the printed text was no longer in English, but what I can only presume is a cuneiform of Latin and Sumerian.
   2. Woodcut features worm-like Idh-yaa; sylvan Lythalia; Vhuzompha covered in multiple sets of eyes, mouths, as well as male and female genitalia; horned goat goddess Shub-Niggurath suckling infant devil at breast; many-tentacled Yaghni; and beautiful dream-witch Yidhra.
   3. Under woodcut, the following is handwritten: Ungerent hoc in meo sanguine. (Anoint this text in my blood.)
      1. Whenever I look at the book, the pages flicker and flash, like the popping lights of a camera.
         1. I do not remember falling asleep, but I must have passed out from the headache because the next thing I know, I was lifting my head from my desk and it was after midnight. I’m so close to being done analyzing this book, I’m just going to power through.
3. Portrait of Septimia Prinn: aristocratic woman with square neckline, intricate Elder Sign necklace, long sleeves with embroidered cuffs. In one hand, she holds a “winged eye” symbol; in the other, a human heart, with her eyes fixed upon it. Vines are coiling around the edges of her illustration as she sits at a writing desk cluttered with miniature cauldrons and apothecary bottles.
   1. Both woodcuts are extraordinary for their level of detail and uniqueness.
      1. These woodcuts are contrary to McKerrow’s supposition that Early Modern printers preferred woodcuts out of which they could “get their money’s worth” from repeated use.
      2. These decorations are too specific to be commonly used in other printmaking projects.
      3. Septimia Prinn’s eyes are no longer fixed upon the human heart but are staring straight ahead, engaging with the gaze of the reader.
         1. I specifically recorded that her eyes were fixed on the human heart in her hand and I have verified that there are no other reproductions of her portrait in this edition. Despite my headache, I maintain that her eyes have shifted position.
         1. Must research Early Modern optical illusion printing techniques.
   2. While there are no records of an Early Modern printer by the name of Elizabeth Breedlove, there are records of Septimia Prinn.
      1. Septimia Prinn was the alleged daughter of Ludwig Prinn, a notorious medieval sorcerer and “doctor” of nature, although he did not practice medicine in the traditional sense. He sought to apply his chemical skills to preparing concoctions in “the manner recommended by Paracelsus.” Ludwig Prinn is reported to have lived among the wizards and alchemists of England, Germany and Syria, studying everything from divination and rituals of necromancy to blood rites for “the worm that sought to devour the world.” He allegedly recorded this forbidden knowledge in a single blasphemous text, establishing his magico-mystical reputation with De Vermis Mysteriis (Mysteries of the Worm).
         1. There are rumors that Prinn was a shapeshifter, that Ludwig and Septimia are, in fact, the same person. It is postulated that, after De Vermis Mysteriis gained popularity, Ludwig’s life was endangered by rival cultist factions, so he shifted sexes and identities, and became Septimia, who claimed to be Ludwig’s daughter so she could continue to draw upon the influence her previous incarnation had acquired.
         1. I feel like I’m being watched.
      2. As Ludwig before her, Septimia Prinn is said to have lived for hundreds of years, moving around Europe, eventually emigrating to the New World, where she is reputed to have given birth to Abigail Prinn, later executed in Salem for witchcraft.
      3. Septimia is responsible for hundreds of occult texts found in arcane libraries across the world, although scholars postulate that cultists assumed the name of Septimia Prinn as part of an initiation rite and published under her name; no such postulations are ascribed to Ludwig’s writings.
         1. Someone just whispered in my ear.
         1. I have been silent for fifteen minutes, my hands off the keyboard, straining my ears to hear anything that could be construed as whispering, but there have been no more whispers.
      4. Could E.B. (Elizabeth Breedlove) and Septimia Prinn be the same person?
         1. Who is H. Vondrak?
      5. This text was an economic printing; using octavo format, only a few full pages of vellum are needed to produce a single copy. But the woodcuts would’ve been extravagantly priced for the period. This was printed during the English Civil War, during the trial and execution of Charles I and exile of Charles II. It stands to reason that it would have been sacrilegious to investigate occultism at this time. The small size of this book also indicates a secretive printing. Did Breedlove adopt the pseudonym of Septimia Prinn to absolve herself of responsibility should her press come under investigation for printing pagan texts?
         1. Further study into provenance necessary.

Conclusions Regarding De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae:

1. I had what I can only call a lucid dream of a tree woman caressing my hair with vines, while a quivering octopoid mass communicated with me by means I do not understand. We spoke, though neither of us used verbal language. I understood that I was being asked to give my consent — for what I do not rightly know. Having suffered from sleep paralysis in dreams past, I know I did not feel frozen, but rather, felt an active symbiosis of worship and supplication as I suckled at the teat of a goat mother and allowed a dream witch to kiss the essence of my soul out through my open lips. I understood I was being coronated and, in so doing, willfully shed my human skin. Underneath, I was a giant worm — although a worm is much too generous a phrase. A maggot is more appropriate, or perhaps a grub, although I was so much more majestic. I was craven with a hunger so sharp and bright that I knew if I were to devour the universe, not even then would I be sated.
   1. When I opened my eyes, my limbs felt foreign to me and echoes of chants in unknown languages reverberated in my brain.
   2. Took the bus downtown to campus. I lost a couple of fingers along the way. At first, the hum of the bus matched the vibration I felt reverberating from inside my body. I felt so centered spiritually that, when my pinky finger on my left hand fell off and rolled away under a seat, losing it didn’t bother me. Even the pungent musk of rot that emanated from its place did not bother me, although it was clear that it bothered the other passengers as they covered their faces and moved closer to the doors.
   3. My ring finger fell off sometime between getting off the bus and the library. I only noticed it wasn’t there when I lifted my hand to buzz the Special Collections room.
      1. I had this vague notion that this was troublesome, but invocations to the Lesser Outer Goddesses are the only things that truly matter to me now.
   4. When Carlo buzzed me into Special Collections, I was suddenly overcome with the sharpest, brightest hunger — so close to the kind of hunger I knew in my dream. Remembering as much, I asked Carlo if he would be so kind as to give me permission to devour him. He said yes. While he offered up his body in humble obsecration, his voice joined the incantations that churned in my mind.
      1. I said I was hungry, but not hungry enough for khakis, so Carlo undressed, revealing an Elder Sign on his chest. It was the sweetest part of him of all.
      2. I am still so hungry. The deadened husk of my once-arm has fallen off as I type with what remains of my right as a record of my glorious and dreadful evolution.
      3. In between the breaks in my skin, I can see a bulbous, purple luminescence pulsing inside.
2. I am ready to loose myself from this form, but am I ready to devour the world?
   1. My appetite will serve us well: The suffering for you and yours shall end once and for all, and the festering, protoplasmic ache wracking my grub organs will be satisfied. Conflicts the world over will be quieted as we become one. You will experience the exquisite, sepulchral stillness of oblivion; Humanity united together for the first, and final, time deep within my bowels as the omnipotent waste of the world.
   2. And my hunger will be alleviated.
   3. I will only proceed with your consent. And know that, as punishment for my appetite, the Lesser Outer Goddesses shall suck the soul marrow from what remains of my diabolical folly — and the world shall be made yet again.
   4. If you deny me this indulgence, I will move on to the next world, for there are many. But know that, given a choice, this is the world I would remake; for I am not divorced entirely from my humanity. Although I no longer have need for it in my soon-form, I want to be one with the most fabulous and most profane embodiment of the beautiful chaos of the cosmos.
   5. What say you?
      1. May I have your permission to devour the world?