Ritual to The Darkness – By Scifur
This is a ritual to summon one of the oldest Eldritch horrors, The Darkness.
Often overlooked and underappreciated, this is the eldest sibling to The Nameless Mist, and the most celebrated, Nyarlathotep. While it seems simple enough to call upon The Darkness (and it is) this ritual is meant to strengthen one’s personal connection, and bond with it. While at its core it may seem like “Just turning off the lights”, it is meant to be more as you are putting in the focus and energy to meet The Darkness halfway.
This ritual is very simple, and is purely about intensity on your end until the final exile of light, in the name of, The Darkness. Create a ritual environment in a location that can be shut off from as much light as possible. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, as your pupils dilate they will start to find more ambient light. You should plan to eliminate as much of this beforehand. Rooms with windows should be avoided when possible, or they should be well covered to prevent moon, star, or neighbouring lights from entering your ritual space. Lights in adjoining rooms should be shut off, and it is still advisable to place a towel on the floor under the door to block out more light. Light is a tricky thing, and it will find a way. Do your best to stop it before it even has a chance!
Beyond that, prepare your ritual environment as you see fit, but the only true necessity is a single candle. Black is best, but the colour does not truly matter. What matters is once this candle is blown out, your room, and ritual space will be pitch black. Incense and other ritual tools are fine if they help put your subconscious in a ritual mindset, but once again, are not needed. This is about connecting with The Darkness, and all the Darkness needs to fully and truly enter your ritual space, is the absence of light. The only other suggestion is to have an easy-to-find light source for when you complete the ritual sitting next to your ritual area, as clearly it will be very difficult to see when you are done.
Once all preparations have been made, light your candle, then turn off any remaining lights in your ritual space. Begin to stare intently into the flame of your candle, and tap your hand on the floor, or altar nine times. The amount of time between each tap should be longer between each one, creating a progressively slower beat, still staring into the flame of your candle. Your gaze into the flame should be intense, and undistracted.
After you have tapped your hand the ninth time, you should then call on The Darkness. I will not tell you what to say here to invoke it, because you should not look away from the fire to read. Speak from the heart on this, and speak as if you are calling on a favorite pet, or best friend. Call The Darkness to join you, and be with you. The Darkness is an old friend, and it is time for you two to catch up.
After calling on The Darkness with an unbroken gaze, begin to repeat “I call The Darkness to join me, I call The Darkness to join me…” faster and faster, until you can’t say it any faster. At this point, you may shorten it down to “Darkness join me, darkness join me…” Then as it becomes impossible to say it faster, shorten it again to simply saying “Darkness, Darkness, Darkness…” Until you have exhausted your ability to speak faster and need a breath.
At this point, waste no time in blowing out the candle, and realize you have summoned your old friend. (Again, do not break your gaze into the flame. If you somehow cannot remember those words, it’s fine, just remember why you’re doing this ritual… To join and hang out with the oldest thing in Azathoth’s creation, The Darkness. If the exact words do not find you, it will be fine, but this ritual is meant to be simple to memorize while being equally effective)
As you sit in your ritual space and catch your breath, realize that you are no longer alone. You have achieved exactly as you have set out to do. You have conjured one of the oldest Eldritch horrors into physical manifestation. You are now with The Darkness, and no one can deny your success. There is darkness, and there is The Darkness. They are not the same.
Enjoy your time with The Darkness. Open your mind’s eye to see what it has to show you, and hear what it has to tell you. It may be nothing, and that is fine. Sometimes silent moments together can be just as bonding as deep conversations. When you are ready and the time has come to say goodbye, at the very least do say that. “Goodbye” before you turn on the light. Remember, you have called The Darkness to join you, and it has. Turning on the lights before you dismiss The Darkness would be a great insult, like throwing a friend out of your house with no word or warning as to why.
If this ritual has found you, I have to believe that you would be wiser than to intentionally insult The Darkness. However, once you have verbally acknowledged that the time has come for you to move on, you may turn on a light and move on from your ritual space. It is encouraged to go straight to bed from this ritual and record any dreams you might have in the morning.
This ritual was published in our most recent edition of the Arkham Advertiser. If you wish to find out more about our beliefs and practices then please join us on Discord or Facebook.