Almousin, Almousin-Metraton

Almouzin appears in a list of names of God in an invocation in the Grand Grimoire. [Index of Angel names, magical words, and names of God, Twilit Grotto: Archives of Western Esoterica, ret. 07/13/2024] Online text of the Grand Grimoire is available in various places, including www.esotericarchives.com and the Internet Archive (both retrieved. 01/26/2025). The spelling is variously given as Almousin, Almouzin, Almoazin, and Almozin. The Grand Grimoire, like other works of goetic magic, invokes God for help in commanding demons; for "men of every prophane sect and society do bind devils by invocating the divine name." [Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993, p. 695]

It is not clear if the name Almouzin is derived from Hebrew, or from some combination, abbreviation, or mispronunciation of Hebrew names. ChatGPT has suggested to me that it could come from the Hebrew words "El Moshia" (אל מושיע), stating that "This phrase means 'God, the Savior.' If transliterated and altered, it could phonetically resemble 'Almousin'." For what it's worth, articles about El and Moshiah' at www.hebrew4christians.com (ret. 01/26/2025) appear to support the translation of "El Moshia" as "God, the Savior."

The name Almousin was mentioned in one of Charles Dexter Ward's invocations on the day he revived his ancestor Joseph Curwen, and also in Joseph Curwen's chant to invoke his ancient ally when confronted by Dr. Marinus Willett. Almousin is also mentioned in the composite name Almousin-Metraton, which is mentioned in salutations and closings to letters by Joseph Curwen and Simone Orne: "Sir, I am yr olde and true ffriend and Servt. in Almousin-Metraton," and "Brother in Almousin-Metraton." These phrases suggest that Curwen and Orne regarded themselves as servants or devotees of Almousin-Metraton. [HPL Case (online text)]. This usage is perplexing at best. If taken literally, it would suggest that Curwen and Orne regarded themselves as followers of the God of the Bible. More likely, the name had some more esoteric meaning for them, perhaps as a code name for Azathoth.

See Metraton and Sources of Necromancy in Charles Dexter Ward.

Note: In many editions of Lovecraft's stories, this name is spelled as Almonsin rather than Almousin. The corrected spelling Almousin is given in H. P. Lovecraft (ed. S. T. Joshi), Collected Fiction: A Variorum Edition: Volume 2: 1926–1930, New York: Hippocampus Press, 2016.

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