By Guest Contributor Zulqarnayn XIII*
My author name is Zulqarnayn XIII, a name that reflects the fusion of my
roots: a Mexican heritage rich in ancestral traditions, and another from the
ancient Ottoman Empire, particularly from Turkey. Zulqarnayn or
Dulqarnayn was one of the names by which the biblical Cain was known in
those lands, a figure of exile and cursed power, a shadow that crosses the
boundaries of the human and the divine. The XII, in Roman numerals,
connects my work to the 13th card of the Tarot, Death, an energy deeply
revered both by the indigenous peoples of Mexico and, in modern times, by
the devotees of our Mother Santa Muerte.
Since 2010, I began my explorations into esotericism, leaning toward the
Left-Hand Path. Along the way, my studies and practices have focused
primarily on the mysteries of necromancy and vampirism, two paths that
delve into the power of death and rebirth, the transgression of boundaries,
and the search for eternity.
Throughout my career, I have written several books, but my most recent
work is the one I feel is closest to the manifestation of my own gnosis:
“Santa Muerte and Necromancy: Liber Tenebrae Magna.” In this grimoire, I
publish a series of ritual works that fuse my personal knowledge, traditional
necromancy, and witchcraft, while also strengthening other rites from my
own perspective and experience. This work is an offering to Death, to the
Holy Mother who guides and protects her devotees.
The idea for this book has been growing for some time. Santa Muerte,
being one of the few spirits of death who uses colors and has various
masks or manifestations, offers a vast field of spiritual work. She is not only
an earthly force but also a psychopomp, an entity that opens and closes
portals, that both destroys and creates at the same time. In her duality lies
her greatness, for she not only grants protection in worldly matters, but also
guides in the spiritual, beyond what is already known.
Santa Muerte, with her multifaceted power, allows you to cross thresholds.
By utilizing your etheric double, she can transport you to other planes of
existence, opening encounters with entities from various realms and aiding
in the deciphering of necromancy’s deepest and most transformative
secrets.
Taking this into consideration, we can delve deeper into the relationship
between Santa Muerte and Da’at, according to Kabbalistic and Qliphothic
traditions. Da’at is the crucial point that connects the divine with the
infernal, a portal located in the abyss that separates the higher triad of
Kéter, Chokmah, and Binah from their qliphothic counterparts: Thaumiel,
Ghagiel, and Satariel. This sphere symbolizes the forbidden knowledge,
the knowledge that made us “equal to God,” for it was through the fruit of
knowledge that humanity gained the ability to discern between good and
evil.
In the same way, Santa Muerte can be seen as the embodiment of this
duality, as Da’at unifies opposites. Santa Muerte manifests in the earthly,
the celestial, and the infernal realms, and this multiplicity is reflected in the
diverse colors she adopts, with white and black, yin and yang, being the
most significant expressions of her dual nature.
Through my own personal experience and the gnosis granted by Santa Muerte,
she revealed to me that her name contains 11 letters, a number that is not
coincidental. 11 is the number of Da’at, the portal that not only represents
forbidden knowledge but also the connection between all opposites. Santa
Muerte then emerges as a living symbol of this balance, showing that every
being contains both light and darkness, both a primitive side and a rational
one.
In conclusion, we see that Da’at and Santa Muerte teach us that existence
is neither completely luminous nor entirely dark; rather, it is a unification of
both extremes. True wisdom lies in integrating these poles, balancing our
natural predatory tendencies with our rational capacity. Thus, the journey
toward knowledge, toward Da’at, is a path toward understanding our wholeness and the interconnectedness of the conscious and the subconscious.
Thank you for reading, and a special thanks to Dr. Andrew Chesnut for the
opportunity to share this article.
The artwork in this article belongs to Zulqarnayn XIII for his grimoire Santa
Muerte and Necromancy: Liber Tenebrae Magna, being a manifestation of
Santa Muerte in a ritual performed in the Malinche, located between
Tlaxcala and Puebla, in Mexico.
*Zulqarnayn XIII is a writer and the editor of Sauroctonos Publishing, renowned for his prolific work on the Left-Hand Path and Necromancy. Among his books are Liber Tenebrae Magna, Codex Putrefactio Nigra: the Canaanite’s book of death, and Liber Arcana Cainita, texts that delve into the depths of occultism and the dark arts. With 14 years of esoteric practice, Zulqarnayn XIII, of Mexican origin, currently resides in Portugal, where he continues his work in the field of occult sciences and publishing. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and check out his publishing house.
Most Holy Death 