The Western Gate

The Book of Unbecoming

Liber Tiamat
XI/XIII
Fall Of Man Books

Ahem….The plethora of books dedicated somewhat to the umbrella of The Left Hand Path, many with a nod to Satanic or Luciferian rhetoric or simply the broad shadows of the “crooked path”. Some a mish mash of ‘this’ and ‘that’ and covered by the ‘file it under -chaos’…. And I’ve just picked this up….

Liber Tiamat by the mysterious author/s XI / XIII was a purchase from the wonderful bookshop, Courtyard Books -Glastonbury, after I found my budget still offered the chance to buy more books than I had planned.
It promised to offer how existence itself is ‘blasphemy’~ according to the blurb when I checked the synopsis online before purchasing.
That Tiamat, the ancient Goddess who-from which the manifestation of all Gods began- was chosen to be the title of this book is somewhat confusing, being as it seeks at the outset to damn creation, damn the Gods and damn everything inbetween and roundabout.
Initial doubts departed I, with open mind, delved into the ‘grimoire’
It was akin to reading Buddhist manuals that deliver the self from its pain of existence, the cause of suffering, to annihilate the ego. At times, reading the various chapters you would hope there was a warning on the cover, not to be read by those for whom suicide offers hope, the only hope, the only point and purpose.
Sometimes the dialogue is blustering vehemence, worthy of any evangelical ‘better-than-thou’ on a soapbox in Hyde Park. At other times the material is delivered with reason, philosophy and psychology.
It would be a good book for anyone working with shadow self and the hidden corridors of our inner nemesis- Certainly the first part of the book- Abzu. (Abzu was the consort of Tiamat, from who’s copulations arose all Gods though this book isn’t really about Tiamat, or Abzu etc)
What follows however after those introduction chapters on the nature of self are the bog standard sigils, rituals, runes, and anything else that can be cobbled together for a dabbling wayfarer.

It would have been a much better book had the chapters concerning self continued, had the philosophy and symbology of Tiamat and Abzu been fully analysed. As it stands after the introductory ‘lectures’ on the dismantling of the ego and self and the illusion of creation, we are left with what could be any grimoire for any deviant or role player. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but still at a loss to understand the reasoning behind the use of Tiamat to be a patron to this tome. In retrospect the use of “Anzu” who stole the Tablets of Destiny may well have been a better proposition, though as with all these terms so favoured by the modern scribes, this could be pretentious and hubris. Perhaps just call it ~Reckoning.
Now, to credit and or recommend? It has some great foundations for any wanderer who at the outset wonders what the point of it all is. There is enough material to warrant study and further develop ones path. Its a bit of a paradox being as it is lumped in with all the other Left Hand Path/Pseudo-Satanic’/Crooked Witchcraft Paths when in fact it could be a much broader and illuminating (!) proposition.
I didn’t think I’d like this book, I bought it merely from curiosity as the synopsis reeled me in and even so, deep down, knew/thought it would be a boisterous folly which offered nothing more than escapism and gothic sensibilities to mourn and brood over, and there’s nothing wrong with that now and again. It was a game of two halves, and the half that I thought ill considered, the practical methods and sigil work etc, well, to some it would be new material, and we all still find, even in such writings, prompts and affirmations and more importantly new angles to consider.

I understand the Publisher ~ Fall Of Man~ has now ceased to offer any new material, indeed the website is now defunct and the whole kit and kiboodal upped and left? The books they did print can be bought at Miskatonik Books in the U.S. and Courtyard Books U.K.

Book Of Tiamat ~ Limited Edition of 333 On Sale Here