Alex de la Iglesia and the Necronomicon: hidden clues or just cinema?

Alex de la Iglesia and the Necronomicon: hidden clues or just cinema?

Alex de la Iglesia's new film, 'Ages of Madness: The Howling of the Jinn', has sparked the interest of conspiracy circles. The official synopsis – a young woman trapped in a cult, a detective of the occult and a man marked by past pavor, all connected by a forbidden book – points directly to the Necronomicon. But while for some it is simple entertainment, for others it is a gateway to real occultist information.

The Necronomicon: literary invention or operative grimoire

The debate starts from an uncomfortable fact: the Necronomicon is not an ancient grimoire but an invention of H.P. Lovecraft. However, figures such as Kenneth Grant and Aleister Crowley reinterpreted it through Chaos Magic and Thelemic theology. While Lovecraft conceived it as fiction, later esoteric currents elevated it to an operative text. The question is whether de la Iglesia has gone beyond mere aesthetic ornament.

From Crowley's aeons to Zagami's mind control

Trinc of the aeon theory – Crowley speaks of Isis, Osiris and Horus; Grant adds the Typhonian – see in the film's temporal structure (four historical settings) a possible map of cycles of consciousness. Authors such as Leo Zagami and Peter Levenda have explored these connections in depth, but their sources are as heterodox as they are fascinating. Zagami mixes Freemasonry with mind control; Levenda is more rigorous. The truth is that the source material is so dense that it is hard to believe a Sensacine production has integrated it faithfully.

The puzzling detail: despite the suspicions, the most detailed analysis suggests that the film's Necronomicon is as authentic as the one in any disposable esoteric goods shop. Yet the very discussion reveals how deeply the occult has permeated popular culture.