Title, All Are One: A Lovecraftian inspired college story. ...Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, All Are One in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earths fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread… Anyone who says that Howard Philips Lovecraft is unable to form a description of the horrors he speaks of, needs to re-read The Dunwich Horror and traverse the great passages that were penned nearly ninety years ago. What Lovecraft accomplished in his fantastic tale was not simply a gory description of some second rate beast, as is the heartthrob of so many fans of the horror genre. Instead, what was described in the story was rather a horror far greater than a mere otherworldly monster. The summoning of the Old Ones, through the power of Yog-Sothoth, is an act which can be described as the ascension of horror beyond the confide of earthly trauma. Much like Lovecraft’s many other creations, Yog-Sothoth and the Old Ones are indescribable (often used as a jab against Lovecraft) which means that the level of unease and terror abound in the creations are above any perception of human consciousness. Many critics will use that interpretation against Lovecraft, yet in so doing they ignore the real genius of the tales themselves. Yes? Ah, very good. I was going to mention that fact. I see that the pizza I brought is rather popular among the class. Seeing as this is our last class together, I felt I should arrange something special for us. Eat up, by all means. Ramona raised a great point. Lovecraft did in fact place a somewhat describable vessel of our horrors in the story. The Necronomicon. Now, as we all know, or at least you should know if you’ve been reading the stories assigned this semester, that the Necronomicon is a book and not an actual sentient being like Cthulhu or Yog-Sothoth. Yet, the Necronomicon is something that we human readers can somewhat vision ourselves. We can picture in our minds what a Necronomicon would look like. True, some may see it differently, but each reader leaves the stories with some visual image in their mind of what the Necronomicon looks like. I see, interesting point Dexter. I suppose one way of interpreting the Necronomicon is as merely a vessel, yet perhaps not necessarily a visible form of cosmic horror itself. Though, I disagree respectfully. The Necronomicon, though may just be a book, a vessel, is in fact a far greater visible description of the horrific than say any creature to come from a Stephen King novel. As horrifying as those beings are, the Necronomicon offers us so much more. The Necronomicon is a book, yet rather than being a living beastly monster in itself, the book offers the power of both knowledge of beings beyond our control and comprehension as well as the ability to summon these forces into our dimension and release a bound of horror far greater than a second-rate vampire or zombie apocalypse. Many cultures in the past have viewed scrolls and books as potential passageways into different worlds. I mean that they believed that in the literal sense, and not a figurative sense. The power of the written word and the materials that bind them trap powerful energies in them, and certain texts contain powers so great that reading them aloud will summon forth the energies of those bound to the words. I’ve heard the many critics over years say rather negative things related to Lovecraft’s writing based on his personal, often racist and xenophobic, beliefs. Remember when we were discussing The Horror At Red Hook and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Racist attitudes were somewhat tied to the fictional narratives. Cthulhu is often claimed to be, quoted from one feminist critic; Cthulhu itself is an embodiment of Lovecraft’s attitude towards women, a representation of the monstrosity of the female genitalia. I’ve read and heard many off put criticisms of Lovecraft, and yes some of them are based in reality. He was a racist, and xenophobic and yes also had some rather strange views about women. Yet, as I said, his personal feelings had input within the fictional framework of certain stories. Yet the core inspirations of the text were solidly based in reality. There really were Old Ones, Deep Ones, and many lots of beings and vessels described in Lovecraft’s work. And yes, there was a Necronomicon. At least, in inspirational terms. Go ahead George, have the last slice. Please, go ahead. I brought it for you guys. Let’s see, where was I? Oh, yes! The power of the Necronomicon. Now, I speak somewhat passionately about this, mostly it was, well, I took an entire class on the grimoire. It was a long time ago, thirty-two years ago. It was a private class, not a university class. Yes, an entire class just on the Necronomicon, of both fiction and practical ideal. Yes, practical ideal. The Necronomicon merely fiction? Yes, I understand what you are saying. It’s half true. I’ll explain. First we have to go back to Lovecraft for a moment. The Necronomicon, as has been popularized, is an ideal mostly based on the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Yet, the question that few readers, scholars, critics, and Lovecraft enthusiasts fail to ask is from what was Lovecraft’s fiction based upon? It’s a tricky topic, one somewhat obscured by mainstream literary and historic interpretations. But, since this our last class together, I figure we can have an interesting conversation on these topics. What Lovecraft penned in his stories was a grimoire known as The Necronomicon. It is hailed as one of Lovecraft’s best fictional concoctions, something that has been used and reused again and again in the various fictions from writers like Robert Bloch, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Howard, and movies such as The Evil Dead series. What many fail to research, or even accept, are that what Lovecraft penned were fictional renderings of powers and possibilities he himself was exposed to. No, I am not trying to be poetic. Hear me out for a moment. This is just for fun, humor your professor on our last day of class. I will begin by stating that much of what I learned on this matter was learned in that special class I told you about. Much of what I learned I had no concept of, no meaningful way of piecing together the many inspirations of Lovecraft’s writings. When I first signed on for the class, I believed it was merely a rather expanded Lovecraft fan-class. Yet, it was something quite different. I learned from my instructors that the stories of fiction that were written by Lovecraft and followed by others were, in fact, inspired by tales and experiences passed to Lovecraft as he was developing his writing talents. Not really, though I do see your point George. Well, for the most part the stories of Lovecraft are fiction, as in the human characters, events, structure and so on. However, what many don’t realize are the fact that Lovecraft based many of his cosmic horrors on issues told to him by documents and predeceasing madmen. It sounds incredible, I know. It sounded the same way to me when I first heard it over thirty years ago. Believe me. I considered dropping the class, though I would not have been refunded my two-hundred and fifty dollars. Yet, then I soon drew connections and understood that perhaps there was some validity of what I was told. For starts, there really is a book that we come to know as The Necronomicon. Yes, it really exists. Well, at least in a certain form. No it is not either the Egyptian or Tibetan books of the dead. Though many of us come to know The Necronomicon as a book of the dead idea, in reality it is much more than that. The Necronomicon’s prime purpose is to open gates, not in the traditional sense however. The book doesn’t merely open a door, something that we can walk through in a physical sense. Instead, The Necronomicon opens the reader up. It exposes the mind to perceptions and worlds that the human race was never meant to perceive. The Necronomicon is not merely a text to summon dead souls, but rather a great tome that contains powers that range across the cosmos and can never be fully understood and documented by the human psyche. There is also a real history to The Necronomicon. A history that many see as fiction, but in fact have a solid basis in real events. It begins in the eighth century A.D. Around the year 730 in the Middle East, there was a man that we come to know as Abdul Alhazred, The Mad Arab. It was he who first set down the texts of The Necronomicon. It was first known as the Kitab Al-Azif, and many conflicting versions are told of Alhazred’s story. And yes, I know what you all are thinking. Alhazred was in fact a real person. Lovecraft claimed to have based him from one of his readings of The Arabian Nights. Yet, Lovecraft was very infamous for blurring lines between what he concocted and what he learned. At least, this is what I came to know. Yes, it goes back to that class I took. The main instructor was, in fact, a ninety-six year old, self-proclaimed, necromancer who claimed that he in fact was a personal mentor to Lovecraft while his stories were being formed. Well, maybe mentor is too far, but this instructor, I will refer to as Zib, had many private meetings and arangements with Lovecraft while Lovecraft spent time in here in New York. Zib held the entire, true, history of The Necronomicon in his possession and revealed to me the same information he revealed to Lovecraft himself. The Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred, was in fact a historic figure, albeit rather obscure. The name Abdul Alhazred is in fact a pseudonym for a real person, though his true name has been lost to history. Lovecraft claims that he penned the name as a name for himself as a child, yet this was in fact an instruction that Zib made to him. In fact, Zib coined the name Abdul Alhazred during his studies as a youth and gave it to Lovecraft to write in his works. Abdul Alhazred is not a proper Arabic name in its current form. The proper way to say the name would be Abd-al-Hazred or Abdul Hazred, yet there is no formal knowledge known by humans of what Alhazred’s real name was. Zib apparently searched every corner of the earth for deeper knowledge, yet was unable to seek out Alhazred’s true identity. Alhazred was exposed to various maniacal visions and rituals, done by men who worshipped deities whose names could not even be initially understood. Rituals done with men in black robes wearing masks, with torches and idols of beings whose features could not be fully described. Over the course of his visions and witnessing of events, he came to learn perceivable knowledge that he began to write down in collective works that would one day be re-written and known as The Necronomicon. The collection grew into a work of incantations and semi-history of Alhazred’s accounts. Symbols of beings known as The Elder Gods, or what Lovecraft would term The Outer Gods. The Elder Gods would bear names like: AZAG-THOTH, SHIB-INSAGNURATH, and YAG-SATOT. There were many other deities related to these beings, which we have to know as The Old Ones, whose names also shared similarities to deities worshiped in ancient Mesopotamia: KUTULU, NERGAL, MARDUK, DAGON and YYG. Certainly you can hear the similarities of the names. KUTULU, Cthulhu. YAG-SATOT, Yog-Sothoth. AZAG-THOTH, Azathtoth. SHIB-INSAGNURATH, Shub-Nigurrath. YYG, Yig. Dagon’s name of course remains the same. Certainly these similarities are much more than mere coincidence. It is amazing to fully grasp, yet Lovecraft indeed based his mythos on an already existing mythos. It was a mythos that existed before the dawn of earth or man. It is truly amazing to comprehend for the first time. Since it’s our last class, I decided to save the best lecture for the last. Pun greatly intended. The Old Ones, like the Elder Gods, were beings that were born from the darkness of the stars. The Old Ones were trapped upon earth, awaiting the day they can be released again. Only the texts of The Necronomicon contain the rites for the Old Ones to return into this world. Once they are reawakened, they shall establish their dominion on this planet and proceed to reestablish their dominion on planets beyond. Abdul Alhazred learned the spells and incantations, as well as the emblems and necessary rites in order to conjure the Elder Gods, as well as releasing the Old Ones back into this world. Alhazred also learned the ability to conjure any number of beings from any other plain of existence. It is said that KUTULU, or Cthulhu as we have come to know him, personally transferred these visions to Alhazred so that The Necronomicon could be written. The power that Alhazred gathered in his texts caused him much ill fate, however. His health declined over years, as well as his basic grip on reality. By channeling the power of KUTULU and the Elder Gods, Alhazred remained their vessel and the effects of this caused him to go insane. He wasn’t known as The Mad Arab for no reason. It was then in the year 738 that a great tragedy befell Alhazred, with no clear account as to what happened to him. Only one issue was certain. Alhazred died in the year 738, by some rather unexplainable means. Some claimed he just simply disappeared, vanished into another realm with the Elder Gods. Others claim a story that Alhazred was suddenly attacked and viciously mauled by an invisible being in a public square, leaving a crowd of spectators stunned in utter terror. No one, not even Zib, knew which versions were true. I know these things from both Zib, and this right here. It appears as a harmless little paperback book, I know. Yet this book is, in fact, a printed version of The Necronomicon itself. It is often discredited as a hoax, but I know it is much more than that. Zib himself gave and edited the texts for the publishers, though some of the more damning incantations were saved for special editions not readily available to the public market. This little paperback book is in fact one of those special editions. I finally found it after nearly twenty years of searching. It wasn’t easy. Of course, my former instructor Zib never aided me in my quest. He claimed I was not meant to have one, that I was not strong enough to handle the power of The Necronomicon. I was not the proper vessel. I never needed his help anyway, I got what I needed all on my own. And now, it’s time my faithful students. Everyone seems so quiet now, was it something I said? No, it’s certainly not what I said. No, more or less it has to do with something you ate, say the pizza? Haven’t any of you noticed that I am the only one who hasn’t eaten any of the pizza? Very poor observation skills, my students. Yes, a devilish concoction pizza is. I’m surprised most of you didn’t taste the rather stringent taste of the Vecuronium more quickly. Oh well, worked in my favor anyway. I know all you can do is sit and stare. How many are you here, nine? That will do just fine. I’m somewhat sorry I had to paralyze you all like this, but I had no other way. Or, perhaps there were other ways, but I found this process much more convenient to my needs. You really were a good class, probably one of the best classes I ever taught on Lovecraftian Horror. Now here we are, our last class together, and everyone right where they need to be. It took some time for the effects to fully kick in, but that’s what my little lecture was for. Now it’s time to begin the real purpose of my little class. Honestly, I was going to leave this university behind after this semester, so why not take full advantage of the situation? The Necronomicon is the key. You may all have been thinking of how crazy I was, by revealing what I did tonight. Now let me demonstrate the powers that I hold in the palm of my hands. With the Invocation of the Five Gates, the Old Ones shall return: XU’UL NNAT! IBIM KURA! MER URULA! BOZIM TA’ARGAN! ZI ALO KANPA! EL XIA KANPA! UTUK XU’UL, TA XNIOM! KUTULU, ATAL’KAN! AZAG-THOTH, ATAL’KAN! YAG-SATOT, ATAL’KAN! SHIB-INSAGNURATH, ATAL’KAN! DAGON, ATAL’KAN! IA ANZIT! IA A’ROM! IA NNGAN! XABOAN! Can you feel it, my captive offerings? Can you feel the air begin to change, the ground beneath you shake? They are coming. The Invocation is nearly complete, and you my faithful students shall be the offerings to seal my allegiance with the Old Ones. As they return, I shall serve their will and grow mighty with the knowledge they shall bestow upon me. I shall gather every corner of knowledge from the dark universe they are birthed from, and I shall bestow upon them their chance to conquer the galaxies once again. Insane I must seem, but you will certainly see the powers that I am summoning before you. I can see how fearful you are at the moment. Remember what Lovecraft said, what I told you all at the beginning of the semester, Fear is the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind. The oldest and strongest type of fear, is fear of the unknown. Indeed, now you rest at the foot of the unknown. It goes into our reading of Lovecraft, and the level of terror that Yog-Sothoth brings into our minds. Unseeing, unknown, unable to comprehend. Those forces are coming for you know. They come to enslave mankind once again. All Are One, is that not so? In Yog-Sothoth? Yes, we are. We All Are One. In our fears and our terrors that creep upon us, All Are One. Before I read the final passages of the Invocation and cut your throats open, I give a reminder to you, my faithful students, that this all goes back to that quintessential passage from The Dunwich Horror, a passage I will ensure no human shall forget once the Elder Gods reign again; ...Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, All Are One in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earths fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread…
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 22:04:56 +0000
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