The book of Venym, An Egalitarian Demonology

by Alex CF

The Book of Venym is a fully illustrated grimoire, detailing the philosophy and invocation of a pantheon of pagan nature deities, known as the Increscent, that have shepherded life, in all its forms since it appeared on earth.
They are guardians of compassion and love, betrayed by humanity with the emergence of organised religion. This book envisions their summoning, to not only defend the natural world from our destructive proclivities, but also our hatred and violence towards one another.
It is written from the perspective of an unnamed author, from the comfort of his 1800’s study, whose prophetic visions foresaw their return.
It is part anti-fascist call to arms, part cosmic horror, part occultist text, a bestiary of frighting and beautiful creatures, each of which represents the disenfranchised, innocent and the othered. The book of Venym is a battle cry for the much beleaguered idea of compassion above self interest and bigotry.

Genres: Horror

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Alex CF is a writer and illustrator of animal mythology, fantasy and speculative fiction. His current series of books is collectively known as "The Books of Orata," -. the first of which is "Seek The Throat From Which We Sing" and its sequel 'Wretched is the Husk,' a visceral tale of animal mythology, a dark environmental epic in the tradition of Watership Down, Rats Of Nimh and Duncton Wood. He has also created an encyclopaedia of the mythological world in which these books take place "The Orata, a compendium of the cultures and creeds of Naa." - an illustrated encyclopaedia and companion piece, 148 pages of full colour illustrations depicting the animal cultures within his novels.

Separate to his animal mythology novels, he has self published 'The Book Of Venym; An Egalitarian Demonology' an anti-fascist grimoire, a novella about a haunted north London house and attempts to explain the presence through science in 'An Absence: A Scientific Approach To A Haunting' - and his first published work, 'Punks in the willows' - an illustrated guide to the punk rock community.

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely find at the Satanic flea market. I bought both of these books and loved them both. Wonderful punk take on the occultism of the 30s

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t know what to expect with this book, but it was oddly intriguing, and it turned out completely delightful and surprisingly resonant and deep.

The premise is this mysterious group of occult, pagan, antifascists and their premonitions of world dystopian apocalypse who call forth these compassionate but fierce nature dieties to fight the fascist forces destroying Earth pre-WW2.

But the book is really an illustrated pantheon of the dieties with their symbolism, purpose, poems and invocations.

As someone who loves mythology, that was the magic of this book. The art was exquisite, but even more so is that the dieties are so imaginative. And they all deeply resonate with today’s late stage capitalism and mass delusions and destruction. I’d spend a while idling on each page.

The craftsmanship of this book is so nice too, with the gold foil on the red cloth. I loved everything about this book. Happy I took a leap on this purchase. Such a fun read.