INVOCATION

by WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
INVOCATION
This book is dedicated to the Ancient Ones, to the Lord of
Abominations, Humwawa, whose face is a mass of entrails, whose
breath is the stench of dung and the perfume of death, Dark Angel of
all that is excreted and sours, Lord of Decay, Lord of the Future, who
rides on a whispering south wind, to Pazuzu, Lord of Fevers and
Plagues, Dark Angel of the Four Winds with rotting genitals from
which he howls through sharpened teeth over stricken cities, to
Kutulu, the Sleeping Serpent who cannot be summoned, to the
Akhkharu, who suck the blood of men since they desire to become
men, to the Lalussu, who haunt the places of men, to Gelal and Lilit,
who invade the beds of men and whose children are born in secret
places, to Addu, raiser of storms, who can fill the night sky with
brightness, to Malah, Lord of Courage and Bravery, to Zahgurim,
whose number is twenty-three and who kills in an unnatural fashion,
to Zahrim, a warrior among warriors, to Itzamna, Spirit of Early Mists
and Showers, to Ix Chel, the Spider-Web-That-Catches-the-Dew-ofMorning, to Zuhuy Kak, Virgin Fire, to Ah Dziz, the Master of Cold, to
Kak U Pacat, who works in fire, to Ix Tab, Goddess of Ropes and
Snares, patroness of those who hang themselves, to Schmuun, the
Silent One, twin brother of Ix Tab, to Xolotl the Unformed, Lord of
Rebirth, to Aguchi, Master of Ejaculations, to Osiris and Amen in
phallic form, to Hex Chun Chan, the Dangerous One, to Ah Pook, the
Destroyer, to the Great Old One and the Star Beast, to Pan, God of
Panic, to the nameless gods of dispersal and emptiness, to Hassan I
Sabbah, Master of the Assassins.
To all the scribes and artists and practitioners of magic through
whom these spirits have been manifested . . . .
NOTHING IS TRUE. EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED.
NOTE: THIS "INVOCATION" IS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE
CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT NOVEL.