Life as a God

Description

White leather over wood, crown quarto, 7 1/2" x 5", unnumbered but abut 160 pages; a holographic (i.e., handwritten by the author) account by one Montgomery Crompton bearing the title "Life as a God" within a poorly rendered frontispiece of faux-Egyptian styling. The text is sloppy and erratic in brown, and sometimes fading, black ink. The book was amateurishly bound and the spine is separating in places.

Text is written in English.

Text

The man standing before me was of swarthy complexion, but with a haughty bearing befitting an Emperor. He reached out a hand to touch my cheek, my wound shrieking in agony until he brushed it, washing away my pains. He spoke to me, in low tones, with a voice like a mother to an infant babe. He spoke to me of his grand design which would unseat the rule of Man for the rule of the true Gods, and how I might serve him. I knew in my truest heart that this was the purpose I had so long sought, that in His service, I would be made whole and pure and that those who had wronged me so greatly would be brought low. I wept in joy and promised I would serve him gladly.

–––– –

The beggar was held fast by my brothers and I, eyes tearing with joy, struck him mightily with the sacred club again and again, until he was rendered insensate by the pain and his limbs were useless. Filled with wordless praise for Him who Dwells in the Shadow before light comes, I turned it in my hands then pierced the wretch’s heart with the cunning bronze spike. His scream of agony washed over me and I was reborn as a full Brother and servant of the Pharaoh of Shadows.

–––– –

Its angles were magnificent, and most strange; by their hideous beauty I was enraptured and enthralled, and I thought myself of the daylight fools who adjudged the housing of this room as mistaken. I laughed for the glory they missed. When the six lights lit and the great words said, then He came, in all the grace and splendour of the Higher Planes, and I longed to sever my veins so that my life might flow into his being, and make part of me a god!

Notes

Victor's revelations from reading the insane words of Crompton in Life as a God:

A devoted member of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. In the book, he talks about his life before Egypt. Youngest son of a minor noble, Lancashier family. Drinking and gambling were his main past times. His family purchased an army commission for him to set him straight, resulting in him fighting for the British Empire. Took a french calvery sabre in the head, spending several weeks near death in a field hospital. This is when he had his first vision of the Black Pharaoh. He was told by the Black Pharaoh that it was the only true god and all others were a reflection of his glory. After recovering, he went to Cairo, indulging in copious amounts of opium trying to reconnect with the god. Found British and European expats that inducted him into the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, which then let him participate in lots of orgies and sacrifice rituals. Rituals were held on a monthly basis with all sorts of horrible beasts arriving as part of it: Sulfurous bat horses, winged serpents, and more. He notes that the symbol of the Black Pharaoh is an inverted ankh. Crompton acknowledges that he and several brothers returned to England in 1805. "The night air knows best those rights and praises that were voiced by our lips and the ever waxing crimson flow knows our offerings, but no cunning art will compel me to betray my brothers still free to reap harvest of Britain's unclear fields."

Experiences with Ancient Text

Dr. Victor Lester studies this book.