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Prelude of The Serpent Siddur by M. Wightman

Prelude to the book by Matthew Wightman "The Serpent Siddur of the Nachash El Acher".

A statement and introduction by Matthew Wightman about the ideas and philosophy of his forth coming book:


"Lyrics of Lilith, Songs of Samael: The Serpent Siddur of the Nachash El Acher".

M. Wightman:


"It has come to my attention that some of my recent comments regarding the Sitra Achra and the Klifot may lead one to believe that I have abandoned the Klifotic Path and the Stira Achra entirely. Rest assured: this is not the case. I did, for a very short time, cease my ritual practices with the Sitra Achra (always under the guidance of Master Qayin and the Nachash), as I came to realize that in so far as the Sitra Achra is traditionally understood as part of the Ain Sof, it is part of the divine tyranny. How I came to realize this is a rather long story involving both intense study and practice with the aforementioned grimoire of the Sitra Achra, and is largely explained in my most recent article pending publication in the second issue of Aeon Sophia's The 13th Path, and which will also be present in the second volume of my forthcoming book.

I have since reestablished my connection with the Sitra Achra, only I have come to redefine the Sitra Achra as the Shadowside of Creation rather than the Shadowside of God (whom I reject utterly). Those who are familiar with my previous work and/or have followed the Klifotic Path and have worked with the Stira Achra know how significant such a shift in perception is and why it was so jarring.

I have always seen the Klifot as part of Creation, and I have never abandoned the Klifotic Elohim; only I did, for a short time, alter how I relate to them. The hendecagram is still around my neck and I still work three Klifotic altars; only my point of reference has shifted.

The real difference between where I was a year ago and where I am now is that my only god is the Other God, and I am now even more fully committed to the anti-cosmic agenda of Ain as Impossibility.

Potential readers of my book should know that the work, dedicated to the Nachash, does contain prayers and invocations to the traditional Klifotic Elohim and acknowledges the Nachash as Master of the Sitra Achra.

I hope that this helps to clear up some of the confusion."

***
***

This work began on the Summer Solstice 2012, Commissioned by and with the Blessings of Beelzebub before the Tower Nihilifer. As I was working on writing and compiling the devotional text, I was approached by Johan of Aeon Sophia Press about contributing to his newly founded grimoire series and I mentioned the work that I was doing on this book. He expressed his interest in publishing the work, though at the time I had considered presses directly connected to anti-cosmic philosophy. As the manuscript was nearing completion it was suggested to me that I wait to publish my work until after the release of a major volume on the Sitra Achra. I chose to heed this advice.

When this new text was released, I initially did not see the impact that it would have on my work save for a few minor changes. However, as time went on and I began to work seriously with this new grimoire, I came to a startling theological conclusion: The Sitra Achra is a Lie (As it is traditionally conceived of as part of the Ain Sof. As you will see in the preface of my book, I have come to redefine the Sitra Achra not as the Shadowside of the Ain Sof but as the Shadowside of Creation).

To say that I was unprepared for this conclusion is an understatement. I had devoted myself for many years to the Path of the Klifot, even considering myself a Klifotic theologian. I wore a hendecagram around my neck and worked three Klifotic altars. I had translated important Klifotic texts and had written several articles (not to mention a full length manuscript) dedicated to Klifotic theology. I had sacrificed time, energy and blood to the Sitra Achra. How could it be that I had come to find that that to which I had dedicated myself so thoroughly and whose anti-cosmic agenda seemed so clear was in fact part of the same system of cosmic tyranny that I struggled so vehemently against?

Earlier this year I submitted an article for publication titled “The Red Path: The Theomachy of the Children of Adam(mu),” which can be found in its entirety in the second volume of my devotional work. In that paper I wrote of my discovery that the real cosmic monstrosity is less YHWH than YHWH’s Source – the same Source of the Sitra Achra. The Ain Sof, and more specifically the Atzmutic essence of the Ain Sof, is the true cosmic nightmare, an indifferent yet fearful actuality, existing simply for the sake of trauma inducing existence. It utilizes both the Sitra D’Kedusha and the Sitra Achra to control clayborn and fireborn creatures alike, maintaining a constant balance through the war that erupts between the two sides. The bloody sacrifices made on both sides merely perpetuate a cosmos that denies the integrity of the individual (the microcosm) and recapitulate the suffering of the whole (the macrocosm). The end result is a banal cosmos founded upon fear, violence and death. All attempts to escape the nightmare through transcendence to a state of Emptiness merely enslave one to the Source of that nightmare.

Given these newfound revelations, not only did I find my manuscript irrelevant but my daily devotional practices as well. I could no longer relate to the Spirits that I had forged such intimate relationships with in the same way. I could no longer reference everything through the single point of the Sitra Achra (as part of the Ain Sof).

The only constant, the only remainder, was my devotion to the Serpent, its Offspring (e.g. Qayin), and its anti-cosmic agenda in Ain. This anti-cosmic agenda, however, could no longer include the Sitra Achra as part of the Ain Sof. I had to reorient all of my practices to focus on the Nachash El Acher. That meant abandoning some entirely and reformulating others. That is what this work represents. This is the practical result of setting foot upon the Red Path of Theomachy whose telos is nothing less than the destruction of the Demiurgic Ain Sof and the ushering in of the Oblivion of Oblivions to envelop ALL and NOTHING: Ain.

Having nearly every bit of theological Gnosis I had been granted over the past decade and a half be set ablaze to be re-forged into something stronger, something wiser, and something truer, my work underwent a radical transformation. During this time, Johan again approached me about publishing my work, and now it made a great deal of sense to go with Aeon Sophia Press, whose reputation for publishing extraordinary works of the occult and independence from any particular Current made it a very attractive outlet for my work.

So here we are, two years later, and the work is finally ready for the public.

I sincerely hope that it will be well received.

Matthew Wightman, May 2014.