Knock

Knock
The Lore that Opens, Serpent
The Knock permits no seal and no isolation. It thrusts us gleefully out of the safety of ignorance. [The Knock is the principle that opens doors and unseams barriers.]
SUBVERTS
HOURS
The Mother of Ants The Beachcomber The Meniscate The Horned-Axe
PRECURSOR
The Seven-Coils and The Horned-Axe

'Seven were the wounds of His body, seven the doors of the House. Seven the lesser aspects of the Hours, and Knock the aspect above all...'
'Read 'The Gospel of Zacchaeus''

Knock is one of the Principles of the invisible arts. It is focused on the opening of doors both physical and spiritual, the revealing of secrets, and the summoning of supernatural entities. Knock often acts as a facilitator and intermediary for the other aspects.

Themes and Imagery

'Sooner or later, every locksmith has the Dream. Now we recite its seven phases...'
'A Locksmith's Secret'

The symbols of Knock almost entirely revolve around the openings of things: the opening of doors, the opening of the body, the opening of the mind. As such, keys, wounds, and dreams all have significant meaning to the Principle. Serpents are also tied to Knock through the Mother of Ants and the Great Hooded Princes, as "the visitors which may not be denied".

The most common application of Knock is in the summoning of spirits, which usually requires the aspect to open the path between the Mansus and the Wake. It may also be used for uncovering hidden objects and paths, or unlocking doors and avoiding obstacles, making it a useful aspect for thieves and smugglers.

Though seven is used as a recurring number throughout the Secret Histories universe, it has particular significance to Knock.

• The Mother of Ants has seven titles and ascended through the death of the Seven-Coils during the Lithomachy.
• There are seven “standard” Aspects that Knock subverts.
• The Locksmith’s Secret mentions seven phases of the Dream.
• Seven Lock-Scars are required to achieve a Threshold victory in Cultist Simulator.

Ascension

'Knock, and Ye Shall Be Opened.'
'To be a Threshold'

In the Priest Legacy of Cultist Simulator, the player can ascend through the aspect of Knock and the grace of the Mother of Ants, also called St. Agnes. Rather than pursue their own temptation, the Priest seeks to facilitate the ascension of their congregation. This is done by taking on seven lock-scars, one for each of the other standard Principles, and opening oneself in a grand ritual to become a Threshold into the Mansus.

In the Fifth History, however, the player transforms into a shape reminiscent of the Great Hooded Princes. This suggests that the Princes went through a similar ascension themselves, which also allowed them to escape their demise in the Fifth History. It is unknown if there are other Knock-Long who have ascended through different means.

Subversion

'When we open a thing, then we learn its nature.'
'All Shall Be Opened'

Knock is unique in that it subverts all other Principles, excluding Secret Histories, and is not subverted by any of them. This is likely because the purpose of most occult knowledge ultimately is to allow one to ascend the Mansus. Such power is thus a key, a means of opening the way. For this reason, Knock may be considered the “greatest” of the aspects, or at least the most fundamental.

Hours

'The Mother of Ants is the child of two rivers. The Horned-Axe is the last god-from-Stone. The Meniscate was born in the Moon from Light. The Wound and the Threshold and the Revelation are all the Gate's aspects, and here is their secret doctrine...'
'Mysteries of Opening'

• The Mother of Ants: One of the first gods-from-flesh, the Mother of Ants was a priestess who ascended and helped open the Mansus to mortals. She is a healer, a key, and an oracle among many things, and embodies Knock as the Hour of Wounds and Serpents.

• The Meniscate: A fragment of the Divided Sun, in the broken mirror-face of the Meniscate one may find truth. She is the Knock Hour of Revelation, presiding over entry into the House of the Moon, the mirror-realm of the Mansus.  

• The Horned Axe: The last of the gods-from-stone, the Horned Axe guards the Ways and Doors of the House from the dangers of Nowhere, though she permits passage to those who are worthy. She represents the Threshold of Knock as the Hour of borders, liminal spaces, and division.

• The Beachcomber: A collector of secrets and other treasures, the Beachcomber finds what is lost, and may permit others to discover hidden things. He is a Knock Hour of spies, thieves, and voyeurs.

Other Entities and Followers

'The Great Hooded Princes are described as having 'escaped from the history of their death to a history where they yet live'. The text claims that there are now one hundred and eight of them, but - in one of many instances of twinnedness - before they crossed from their death chronicle, there were only fifty-four.'
'Read ‘The Twin-Serpent Tantra’'

• Old Mother Anguish: A Name of the Mother of Ants who had two children that became Names of the Twins, her daughter Daha and her son Ahad, a murderer child whose bones still lie in Kerisham.

• Great Hooded Princes: A group of Knock-Long who passed through the Spider's Door, also known as the Serpent Gate, sacred to the Mother of Ants. They are also called naga and are some sort of “serpent-folk”. After fleeing the Fifth History and their home, likely Mesopotamia, they went on to conquer the Land of the River, India. Sulochana Amavasya is the daughter of one of the Princes.

• Arun Peel: One of the Great Hooded Princes, who abandoned his lineage’s dedication to Knock for the Thunderskin’s teachings. He supposedly flayed himself and used his blood to write The Flayed Tantra, which—along with the employment of the Geminate Invocation—helped protect him from the retribution of his brothers.

• Jekadu: The author of A Manual for Departure, was allegedly one of the original Hooded Princes. He recounts the process by which the Princes had to flee the Fifth History, and laments that the Princes had neglected to record some things before their escape. He seems slightly arrogant.

• The Nazarene Messiah: By some accounts, was a Knock-Long, ascended in the name of the Mother of Ants.

• Younger Sisters: These great serpents are the younger sisters of the Mother of Ants, likely some form of offspring of the Seven-Coils. and can be found guarding many old tombs and forgotten locations. Not so many of them are left in their serpent-form, they are known to take the human form as the world changes.

• Giorgiou: A melancholy, contemplative smuggler who specializes in rare poisons and weapons. He can be recruited as an Ally in the Exile Legacy from Avignon.

Other Notes

• Knock seems to transcend the Dionysian/Apollonian dichotomy of the other aspects, as a Principle which has ties to both reason and passion. It is also the only aspect in Cultist Simulator which can be used to upgrade both.

• Christian symbolism and scripture are often adapted for use by Knock, most notably through the Priest Legacy. Coincidentally, early 1st Century christians sometimes referred to their beliefs as "the Way", which fits into Knock's themes of opening doors and creating passage.
• The aspect of Knock shares similar characteristics to the sephirot Da'ath (knowledge), the "empty slot" in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Both Knock and Da'ath are said to hold or contain the other elements in their respective sets, and Knock's position as being outside of, or somehow above the other aspects, both in flavor text and in it's ability to subvert them is similar to Da'ath's status as being the state in which the sephira are indistinguishable from one another (and, by extension, Da'ath).

Sources