Non-Fiction
The Book of Nox
By Hesperos S. Trumaine ©2001
The Message
The History of the world can be noted by the times of Change and Stasis. When the world has become stagnant in its stillness, the times of Change occur. Two-thousand years ago, a man named Yeshuah, who was possessed of a great spirit, came with a message of Love and Peace. He was the Harbinger of the times of change that would come, when Constantine took his message, and his name, and his image, and made of them a Great Church, that brought great changes throughout most of the known world. Though great travesties occurred, one must understand that these things are inevitable in the times of great change, and that this time of Change was in itself inevitable, as all of the Times are. It was just needed. The world had grown complacent with its myriad old gods. Most cultures had so devolved in their beliefs, that the true forces that were represented by the deities were forgotten, and the true faces of the gods themselves were lost in the various interpretations of them. So it was time for Change. The Armies of the Holy Roman Empire spread their message throughout, and its missionaries and priests spread the message throughout, and the old gods either died, or stepped into the shadows to be served in Mystery and secret. In some places this did not happen, but then again these places have always been immune from the times of Change, for they have never forgotten. Strange isn't it that those closest to the pure and Divine truth, are those that most of Mankind calls primitive and savage.
Now has come again a time when mankind has fallen into complacency, this time in its one God (no matter what the name: Allah, Buddha, JHVH, Yahweh…all the same). And once again we see the One god being changed so much, depending on the interpretation, that He himself has forgotten his first and true purpose. He really thinks he is the Almighty, because of the mindless and unenlightened devotion of multitudes, who in their heart do not begin to fathom, nor many even truly believe in him. The time of Change is at hand.
I do not mean to compare myself to Yeshuah. I can only hope that one day I can reach his level of understanding. But I have come to believe that I have a destiny. And this destiny is to bring about this time of change. My message is not one of Love and Peace, nor is it one of Hate and Violence. My message is one of enlightenment and knowledge. To not be bound by what you can sense with the physical, to experience that which lies beyond the mundane. The Way of Nox is the way of Changing the world by taking from its eyes the scales it has allowed to grow there. Our message is Wake Up!! The world you see around you is much more than you ever knew. Grow, change, make of yourself more than you believed you could be. For to know the Way of Nox is to know that ALL things are possible.
The Beginning
To know the way of Nox, we must start with Creation. Scientists have theorized that at one time the universe was void, nothingness. Then in an explosion of cosmic energy (Big Bang), the many planets, stars, etc. were formed. For what they say, they are right. The universe was void. And then came the explosion. But the crux is what caused the "big bang." In the void, something came into existence. We call it the One, or the Allfather. A consciousness was formed out of the nothingness of the void, and when consciousness came into being, energy became matter, and the universe spun into being. A divine accident if you will. The one did not willfully "create" the universe; it just came into being. The One has no Will, per se. Its Will is the will of all. Well, when the One looked upon all that had come into existence, he realized that he had no Will, no drive. He simply was aware, and decided that for this wondrous creation to excel to its potential, he needed a Will. As his Will formed, it came to exist outside of Him. It was called the Wanderer, and it had come into existence for the betterment of the universe. It knew this from the start, and knew also that for these planets to excel in such a way they would have to be inhabited by beings shaped "in their image." In other words, beings with consciousness and Will. Again we get to the point where theology and Science merge. The Wanderer took from the Energies of the One, and separated them into their two forms: Order (Stasis and Uniformity) and Chaos (Change and Transformation). When he did this, these energies spilled out upon the planets, and spontaneously life was formed. First, in its most primal form. Then the energies began creating more complex beings, and beast and man were formed. Again understand this was not conscious, willful creation. It was just a side effect of the separation. And when the Energy found matter, it began working on it to create more complex matter. The first of the race that would eventually be Homo Sapiens, were, as scientists have found, primate like. This had to do with the necessity for survival in their environment. The planets were brutal in their infancy, atmosphere forming, creatures that do not exist now, making their place in the world. So the body type of this early man was conducive to survival. What scientists have incorrect is that the evolution from primate to Sapiens did not take place over so great a time, nor did it happen gradually. As the environment changed, becoming less hostile, the next generation born was less primate-like. And it continued like this, until the generation born that scientists refer to as Homo Erectus. With this generation came great changes. For one, they truly began to form a society, and began to question themselves and the world around them. They formed religions of the beliefs of their ancestors, the beliefs in the Earth beneath and the Sky overhead. And thus Order and Chaos were acknowledged and given a face for the first time. For they believed that the Earth was the source of stillness, life, and nurturing. And that the Sky was the source of changes (seasons), drive, and inspiration.
With this generation came the building of cities, the realization of time, and the endless speculations on the reasons of living and dying -- all the things that make us what we are today, they were the Genesis of. They were the realization of the One's need, and the Wanderer's goal. It is also important to note that the generations of Homo Erectus were the first given souls. But the necessity and even the reality of what souls are will be discussed later. What is important above all else to see here is where our service of the one we call Nox came from. We of the path of Night hearken back to this time. When the shadows were not synonymous with devils, and when reaching for the Sky was divine not blasphemy. Even in this time, before the people even spoke in language as we understand it, they understood the Truth. It was in future generations that this Truth was perverted and corrupted. When the many faces of these powers and the many aspects of them were pinpointed and worshipped, but in the first cultures, the spark of Truth was still there. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, the Celtlands, the Norselands -- look in these and you will find them beginning first with their interpretation of the Truth, the way things began. Then following this Creation mythos, the Powers that made everything created the gods of that system. Never in the old cultures will you find any of these gods taking the place of the One unless it is a name the people have given to this force. Most start with a great Cosmogic theogeny, that is followed by the appointments of the gods, in whatever way. That is why these cultures thrived in their prime. It was later that they forgot the core truth, and instead set their gods up as they would, instead of how they should be. And that is why the Time of Change brought the Church of the One God, and why it was so successful. The people had forgotten the Truth of the beginning. In this way, (though the One God was just another god, and not the true One) humanity was reacquainted with their beginnings. Though again not the Truth, as those ancestors knew it, it was enough of it for their spirits to be satisfied.
Now the spirit of humankind is not satisfied. Science, the new religion, has theorized and discovered things that place them right on the edge of the truth. Ironic that mankind had to get to a point of societal evolution that they consider advanced, to reach the threshold of the Truth that since the time of the "primitives" we have forgotten. The way of Nox is to bring a rebirth to the minds and spirits of the world -- a reawakening to the old truths, the old ideas. Throughout mankind's evolution, we have gone downwards. Deluding ourselves with half-truths and false beliefs, we have come to be bound and constrained by limitations set by ourselves. No longer are we unsatisfied with what we see around us, and if we are, we have been conditioned by a close-minded society to just accept it. The servants of Nox will accept it no more. We do not recognize the limitations set on us by others who do not have the reach or drive to go beyond them. We are limited by ourselves, and only ourselves -- our beliefs, our thoughts, our ideals, our dreams. We are not afraid to reach farther than the average person thinks is "safe," and we do not accept that this prison of flesh is all that we are. This is the message of our ancestors, the beliefs of those that served the Mighty Sky, the Mother Night. The Sky is there to inspire us to reach for it, to leap for it, to do what we must to touch it. Who are we to deny this ancestral need?
I see though, that I am being one-sided, and must explain the other Primal force, though it is not the one we serve. This other force was the earth beneath them. The Earth is representative of the uniformity of Nature, of the stillness of stasis, of security and life. In other words, Order. These are the forces that in our hearts call to us -- Chaos and Order, working together within us to maintain our existence. And since these forces are within us, this is what leads us to need to understand ourselves, our world, and our Higher Powers.
I come with the message of Nox, for that is my path. She brings enlightenment to those who will accept it. Gaea, the force of the Earth, does as she always has, and maintains what is. It is the path of we who follow the Dark Empress to bring change, so that the Earth Mother can maintain it. That was the way long ago, and that is the way I wish to bring back. For the betterment of the world, the Old Ways must return.
What is Nox?
Now that you have read the Message, and about the beginning, let me explain more thoroughly who and what Nox is. To serve her to the best of your ability, you must understand her. I have explained where our beliefs come from. Now let me explain what they are.
Nox is the Mother Night, the Empress Sky. I call her by that name because it is the one I am most familiar with. Throughout varied cultures she has been represented through many interpretations, both masculine and feminine. I would be just as correct in calling her Nuit, or Nyx, or Shiva. All are the same. The force of change, the font of inspiration. This is what she is -- but she is more as well.
Nox is the Primal Darkness that in many theologies covered the face of the world before Creation was complete. This is symbolic. Nox is the Primal Darkness, within us. She is that which has no form yet, but which can be given any form we wish. We must simply reach for it. She is Chaos, the Primal matter, which, with the Order inherent in our being, will yield unto us all that we dream. She is the Sky, the Eternal Lure. She is there for us to reach up to, to try to grasp. For the Sky is symbolic as well of endless possibility, of fathomless resources. She is the idea that all things are possible, given form. She is the shadow within us, made divine. She is the divinity within us, if we only had the courage to understand and embrace it. For there in the shadows, inside your heart, you know all things are possible, and nothing is out of reach. It is only by the too revealing light of day, do we accept and give in to the limitations we see amongst the physical. In the Divine Darkness within, in the core of us, where Nox is and always has been waiting, there are no limits. No arts forbidden, no path closed off, no acts condemned (as long as they are justified). That is Her way, Her message, Her reason for being. All of mankind has more potential than it realizes if only it would open itself up, and explore the place where limits do not exist, it would find this, and the mankind we know would be forever changed. This is Nox, what she is and what she represents. Hear her, and answer her call.
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The author was born as James Burkett in 1976, in Alabama. At age 7, he was touched by Witchcraft and that began his journey. He has been a Practitioner of Magick, in myriad forms, since the age of 14. He cast his first spell two years prior to that. At 19, James began the last phase of his training under the tutelage of Theristan Trumaine, High Priest Emeritus of Hecate. This training led to his induction into the Priesthood of Nox.
When the editor of Nox zine inquired of the author if there is a Church of Nox, she was informed that he knows of none right now, but it is his goal to begin the Church of Nox, and spread her message. Hesperos currently has two students and hopes to see the Church grow from there.
You can contact the author at Hesperos39@aol.com or Kaosson@yahoo.com for more information about the goddess Nox and about her Church.