Book of the Black Dragon Series
Peter Hamilton-Giles with artwork by Carolyn Hamilton-Giles
Explanation of the Black Dragon series
As many of you will be aware the Black Dragon series has grown in stature and design since its inception four years ago. In that time the seed from which it was borne has so far culminated on the sinistral horn of the Black Dragon. But how did this all begin? And how has the writing process grown to the point where the entire work has been extended beyond the initial projection of only being 3 volumes?
History
The Black Dragon along with its telluric emphasis came about in the early 1990s. Having been a long-term friend of Andrew Chumbley, with a mutual interest in matters of the occult, we had been following our own path. However, we had some common ground for what some might consider as the usual suspects, Crowley, Spare, Grant et.al. while at the same time we both had an interest in African diasporic spiritual beliefs, and with that there came a particular fascination with what would become known as the Ophidian Current.
It came about that one fine summer’s day when sitting by a stream close to Andrew’s grandmother’s house that I proposed the formation of the Dragon’s Column. This would be a small working group exploring in greater detail aspects encapsulated by Ophidian mysteries. And so it was that the Dragon’s Column was formed, and the rest, as they say is history, because most of you will own or know of the Dragon Book of Essex that Andrew wrote, which is a redacted and amended version of those raw more powerful early days in which we worked.
Over the years this intentional redaction continued to bother me. Further pressure was placed upon me to respond when others began to rewrite the history of the Dragon’s Column and Andrew’s involvement in it. Some may conclude the Black Dragon series is consequently borne from wanting to fulfil a vendetta, yet in reply I would say I am reanimating the sorcerous enterprise Andrew and I first conceived by that stream on that lazy summer’s day some 30 years ago.
As time passed, this idea to commence work on a reinvigorated Dragon’s Column, as originally conceived, came to fruition. And it did so by showing time presents a gestative period into which fascinations can be poured. Indeed, it is from this knowing that the Black Dragon books have conspired to build from the roots up a vision of sorcerous practice.
BD 1 - Volume 1: Book of the Black Dragon: Et Nigrum Draconicon
Setting the stage for the Black Dragon began by discussing the context in which the Black Dragon is encountered. Using the same schema as the one used in the Dragon Book of Essex, the written word moves across ‘power’ points or crossroads, these being body parts of the Black Dragon. Directly referring to Draconis the book creates an inverted rendition, one where the onus is set by earth dragon mysteries rather than stellar. This in turn refers directly to the ancestral connection the books has with those who are forgotten. Consequently, a new retinue of daemons, conduits, and djinn introduce themselves to the reader as points of contact, by which we can evoke and invoke non-being: something which is completely Other to ourselves. Such is the strength of this emphasis that the first volume details points leading up to the head of the Black Dragon. Providing this level of clarity means the location of the work, the Proklosis Ring also requires further attention, and thus Codex Althaeban Malik came to be the second volume.
BD 2 - Codex Althaeban Malik: Book of Aberrations
Codex Althaeban Malik is perhaps considered the most complicated book in the Black Dragon series so far. It addresses three primary issues, the idea of the Proklosis Ring as the open ground, the distribution of the first sorcerer’s name upon the ground as an emblem of intent, and the extending of points by using each letter to traverse lines of intersection as a way of communicating with the shadow of ourselves Althaeban Malik.
In contrast to the Volume lineage of Black Dragon books, the Codex series tackles subjects and nuances that may not be so easily examined to their required depth. As such, the open ritual space of the Proklosis Ring becomes something more significant than that found in Volume 1. Moreover, in a further act of reversal the sorcerer addresses his/her shadow spirit and that spirit’s retinue. Consequently, the topic and role of Althaeban Malik is introduced, alongside the Tenebrae Walker and Umbra Noctivagus. Each add a further layer of intricacy and thereby ensure the groundwork is laid for the telluric sorcerer to proceed to the next stage.
BD 3 - Volume 2: Book of the Black Dragon: The Headless One
Taking the idea of absence as discussed in previous volumes, the point for this volume focusses on the sinistral horn, this being the left horn of the Black Dragon. Returning then to similar themes mentioned in Volume 1, having already addressed the notion of the ritual ground as defined by Codex Althaeban Malik, allows the Headless One to pursue the idea of becoming detached.
The notion of Otherness and Absence is consequently discussed in such a way that the sorcerer is encouraged to realise the usefulness of becoming detached from the flesh. This eviction of the Self, in that we have a present sense of ourselves, encourages the encroachment of expulsion and therefore displacement. And it does this by envisaging the beheading of the Black Dragon, for this is an iconoclastic act which bases its reason on dismantling form to entice Otherness to emerge. As part of this exercise, a threshold is constructed and from this the sorcerer retreats into the moment by stepping away from the initiatory path. However, this act is not be seen as act of cowardice, but rather a way of commencing contact with the first of three totems that fall under the mantle and responsibility of the Daemon Emissary of the Sinistral Horn.
BD 4 - Codex Ad Limina: Hallowing the Broken Ground
Codex Ad Limina concentrates on the first of the totem that falls under the auspices of the sinistral horn. Primarily the book discusses the return to the threshold, which if you recall the sorcerer retreated from in the previous Volume 2. And while there is a brief mention of a return in Volume 2 it does flesh out the sorcerer’s relationship to the totem.
The Black Bull is seen as emerging from the telluric domain, and embodies the strength required to undergo the initiation of the sorcerer. The book describes the interrelationship between the two and does so in such a way that the sorcerer begins to understand the role of becoming detached has when undergoing an initiation.
BD 5 - Vestigia Ater Draconis
Is a further emanation of the path which is about to be trodden. It is presented as a transmission, one which can be imbibed by repeating the verse across time. Accompanying this invocatory practice is a reflective aspect which considers the transmission as a verse upon which to ponder the purpose of interaction. In this way the book binds aspects of Codex Ad Limina and transmutes it in being part of the preparatory course for initiation.
BD 6 - Liber Eximo CarnEm: A Rite of initiation and Unmaking
The format for the next volume changes as the practitioner gets into the initiation aspect of the work. Here, the emphasis is placed on ingress, congress, and egress, with each totem playing its part in bringing, burying, and transcending the liberated form from the initiatory chamber. The work primarily considers two of the three totems, or at least this is how it is being envisaged now. The primary focus is on crossing the threshold and the candidate being led blindfolded and bound to the chamber of his/her unmaking. Much of what is being written here relies on the vignette of becoming undone and therefore unmade.
It is also important to note this edition coalesces the retinue of entities previously cited across the series so far. It thereby refreshes the sorcerer’s relationship to them and makes them tangibly referential for the work ahead. As an aside, by incorporating these the sorcerer reheats points across a spectrum of actualities and brings to bear a vast wealth of knowledge which has already been shared across the pages of the entire work.
I should add, it remains unclear at this moment in time whether the rite of initiation text extends beyond one volume as there is so much to cover before proceeding.
BD 7 - Sectis Per Ferrum Draconis: The Prayer Book of the Initiate
Accompanying Liber Eximo Carnem, a small prayer book is presented to those who wish to walk into the grave of their own unmaking. The small book provides meditative proses and supplication and is to be used during the time in which the initiatory phase is taking place.
A brief explanation of the series in terms of its titles and designations
There appears to be much confusion over how the Black Dragon series has been put together, though it is simply explained. At the outset, the work was going to be just three volumes, however it quickly became clear that this was not going to be enough to address all the subtle nuances that needed to be conveyed. As a result of this, the work has increasingly grown into being a unique transmission, one which concerns itself with the complexity of the Black Dragon. Far exceeding any other grimoire out there, the Black Dragon work has justifiably become the largest focussed ritual text of this aeon.
In order to accommodate the inevitable variability that comes with wanting to be comprehensive, the volumes have been split up into primary volumes and supplementary volumes. And though this may sound like there is a hierarchical system, there is not, such that the Volumes i.e. Volume 1 and 2 address major ideas though they have little space to really delve into the details of the subject, this is where the Codex editions come into their own. They are forensically situated as interstitial purveyors of knowledge.
Where Volumes seek to establish the subject, the Codex editions dive into the detail and extrapolate out into the ritual setting. As a result, the Volumes and the Codex volume should be seen as having a symbiotic relationship, though latterly there are further renditions that have sought to outstep this convention. For example, the transmission work of Vestigia Ater Draconis has come to us as an incidental rendering of applied practice. Likewise, the initiatory subject of unmaking has also undergone further alteration by being transformed into a Liber Eximo Carnem title. This or these, (since I don’t yet know), will only hold their title during our discussion of the initiatory course, after which the next title will either resume the Codex label if we are still in the sinistral horn phase, or it will go onto being a Volume title if we move onto the next point which in this case will be the dextral horn of the Black Dragon.