“It is when we have made the leap across the Abyss – and only then–that we know that we are Not… At that moment we realize that we are Void. This is the ‘negative way’… To know that we are Not in order to understand in what manner we can be.”
– Kenneth Grant from Nightside of Eden

–In all traditions the matters of ‘light’ and ‘life’ are dealt with at length, but the darkness, the shadows and the Abyss are generally feared and pursuit of the true knowledge of their natures is more often than not discouraged by the ‘realm’ or society, its social and religious leaders and even our own ‘family’ who feel that such things are “better left untouched”. Such ‘separation’ keeps the darkness growing stronger in its ability to enshroud humans in fear and keep them feeling ‘separate’ in themselves.

[This Mardukite NecroGate blogpost officially excerpts Liber C of the Mardukite Catalogue. These materials are available in the standalone title: Beyond the Ishtar Gate; or the anthology: Necronomicon Grimoire by Joshua Free.]

Modern esoteric kabbalists and initiates of sacred orders, such as Kenneth Grant (who for a time led the OTO — Ordo Templi Orientis – in the wake of Aleister Crowley), commonly refer to this advanced facet of mystical pursuit as the ‘other side of the tree’ or ‘nightside’, returning our attention again to the time in our realm where such ‘separations’ or veils seem thinner or altogether nonexistent; at night or when the stars are visible.

Practitioners and modern magicians generally agree that the kabbalistic sphere of the “Tree of Life” that links to the “Tree of Darkness” (or Kingdom of Shadows) is the ‘eleventh’ and unseen Sephiroth of the Kabbalah known as Daath. This secondary or ‘nightside’ of the tree is the Underworld or ‘Other’ that leads to the Abyss. It is believed by Kenneth Grant and others that the Anunnaki region and the Egyptian DU.AT or TU.AT are essentially identical for all purposes.

In the Babili Texts (Tablet-B Series) from the NECRONOMICON ANUNNAKI BIBLE, the seeker can clearly see that the gate-systems of both ‘above’ and ‘below’, from both Babylonian and Egyptian perspective, are centered on seven. This means seven gates of ‘light’ for ascension into the ‘Other’ that composes the heavens (e.g. the Tower of Babel) and there are Seven Gates of ‘darkness’ for descent into the ‘Underworld’.

Traditional lore surrounding the ‘Descent of Inanna-Ishtar’ (as given in the Tablet-C series of the NECRONOMICON ANUNNAKI BIBLE) also gives a description of ‘seven gates’ below and the guardians or keepers of those ‘portals’.

Names and passwords for these veils are given in both Mesopotamian and Egyptian forms (languages), but are essentially the same in context. The names and passwords for the Gates of Light:

1. Nanna-Sin (password: Az-Im-Babbar)
2. Nabu (password: Ba-ba-lon)
3. Inanna-Ishtar (password: Nin-Mes-Arra)
4. Shammash-Samas (password: Gir-ra)
5. Nergal-Arra (password: Mes-Lam-Te-Ah)
6. Marduk (password: Lugal-Dim-Mer-An-Ki)
7. Ninib-Ninurta (password: Isk-Ur-Anu)