iä! zukala-koth! iä!

𓋹⋆｡°𖦹 cypress 𖤐 nineteen 𖤐 chaos witch 𖦹° ｡⋆𓋹 ꧁ ༺ 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣-𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔞 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔨 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔪𝔢, 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔢 ༻ ꧂

[voidlure]

THE PRAYER TO YHTILL

“ O Phantom of Truth!

The Stranger in the Mirror,

A faceless Pallid Mask

That stares back at me.

O Great Ruiner!

Yellow Sign Cursed --

The Doom of Carcosa,

Since before history.

O Mighty Harbinger -

In Tattered Saffron Raiment

Step between spaces from the

Black Stars of the Hyades.

O Mask of Pallid Gaze!

I AM You, laid bare during

The Dark Night of Souls

On the shores of Lake Hali! ”

- THE PRAYER TO YTHILL by Allen Mackey

[voidlure]

O JAUNDICED ONE

“ O Jaundiced One! I0! I0! Listen! In the ancient Holy Books of our Order, It was said aforetime that our Lord, Hastur, waked down from the heights to behold a youthful world in the lower registers of consciousness. A world that had been ripe for His soft touch of corruption. This is the World of Horrors. The Saffron Pestilence irrevocably tainted this planet, sealing its DOOM; it lurks unsuspected in shadowy places. The hot winds of sickness cleanse the weak! For is it not said that His is the breath that instantaneously wilts plants? Observe, His feet never touch the ground. He wears His tattered yellow shreds in the mirror, looking at you; He is also in your dreams. Initiate contact with The King In Yellow. Bow before the Elder Throne which is on the planet Carcosa. O Jaundiced King, May Your Blessings Forever Shower Down Upon Me! Hastur! Hastur

Haster! Bow! For Behold, He is your King now, too. ”

- a quote from O JAUNDICED ONE: A TALE OF THE KING IN YELLOW by Allen Mackey

[scarletarosa]

The King in Yellow

The outer god known as the King in Yellow is, like all other outer deities, an unknowable being of immense power. He is an aspect of Hastur, meaning that the King in Yellow was formed from Hastur as a part of himself, but is an independent deity. As stated in the introduction to the outer gods, the outer deities are not evil beings but are usually neutral in morality and typically do not care much for humans. The outer gods all formed within the Void and are larger than all the planets of the Universe combined. They are also immensely powerful and help guide the process of evolution in Creation.  

Appearance: The King in Yellow tends to show himself as a very tall humanoid figure wearing a hooded yellow cloak and a mask called the Pallid Mask. Sometimes he also has tentacles coming from his lower body. He has countless other forms, however, but is always associated with yellow and does not show a face.

The most well-known account of this greater god is documented in Ambrose Bierce’s short story “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (1886) when he had unknowingly connected to this world and wrote about it, believing it to be imagination. However, the King in Yellow truly is the king of Carcosa and is connected to the planet itself since his essence flows through it. When the citizens of Carcosa had, in their arrogance, believed Carcosa to be their own instead of being allowed to them by the King in Yellow, they were punished for their hubris. Their planet suddenly turned still, leaving their two suns motionless in the sky. But at the same time, places and buildings began changing location at random, making it nearly impossible to meet with particular people, such as friends and family. The lands became unrecognizable; otherworldly and full of mists, and every mirror showed grotesque images of terror. The people of Carcosa were driven insane by all this, and many ended their lives. But even then, their bodies did not decompose. Nor could anyone die from old age. For the rest, they accepted their new way of existing; embracing their madness and the haunting mysteriousness of their altered world.

However, the King in Yellow is not a cruel, malicious deity. One should not jump to such conclusions since morality is not the same for every being, and the greater gods tend to have a much more strict sense of justice and believe in severe lessons. And since we as humans are very limited beings, we can never understand the best ways of acting on such a grand scale; such wisdom is beyond us. As the ruler of Carcosa, the King in Yellow was austere but also understanding, showing compassion towards those who were good-natured and respected him. He could usually be seen siting silently on his dark throne, and would speak to others through telepathy.

While the King in Yellow is most well-known for causing insanity, it is by far not the only thing he is capable of. But as for insanity, it is something utilized to be either a blessing or a curse. For those minds that cannot handle certain tears in their “reality”, their minds become broken, unable to handle the overwhelming realizations they’ve been presented with. But for those who are more resilient and adaptable, they become darkly Awakened with their blessed madness, filling their minds with inhuman understandings. But since the vast majority falls into the former description, it is all too easy for the King in Yellow to make horrible madness tear through the minds of those who insult him. Even his presence alone can be overwhelming for many, causing their minds to be stretched past their limits. This happens as a natural effect of being near to him, so I give a word of caution for anyone who wishes to contact him.

The Yellow Sign, his symbol, represents his Will. Those who possess the symbol end up drawing his attention and can sense his energy through the Sign. One known race of beings who serve the King in Yellow are the Shantaks, the dragon-looking eldritch creatures.

As with all forms of spirit work, it is highly unadvisable to commune with spirits if one has psychosis since the experiences can greatly worsen the symptoms. The outer gods can cause this even moreso (whether they try to or not) so please avoid working with them if you have psychosis of any kind.  

Offerings: yellow calcite, chrysoberyl, onyx, opal, copper, live black ants, ceremonial bells, pale African lunar masks, objects made from alabaster, rattlesnake skin, yellow linen, mustard, black raisins, figs, dried seaweed, belladonna flowers, weeping willows; incense: jasmine + musk, or amber + musk

[alkemistress]

Art Challenge

October 31st

Mask

[arcane-abomination]

Now it’s important to remember that Eldritch work is done from each individuals unique perspective. Thus, what I have down as a sabbat is something unique to me. My own UPG if you will. This list came from my personal understanding with the gods that I work with, so take from it What’s suits you. Feel free to add or take away as you like.

Disclaimer: be aware that this only pertains to the Lovecraftian gods that I work with. Not all of them.

• New Moon •

The new moon is cloaked in darkness symbolizing the unseen in the physical realm and the stronger pull of the metaphysical where the gods dwell. Thus this moon gives us a great time to honor all Eldritch forces. Offerings, meditative rituals, and drawing down Eldritch energies are just some of the practices performed around this time.

• Velamen •

Latin for “veil” this sabbat takes place on October 31st. Associated as the time the veil between worlds is the thinnest, thus greater connections to alternate dimensions and the realm of the dead can be made more easily at this time. Within Eldritch magick, this is the time to honor Yog Sothoth. He’s not only the deity associated as the keeper of dimensions, but also carries many Necromancer properties as well. Thus it is considered respectful to give offerings and thanks to this deity at this time.

• Hibernal Solstice •

The Hibernal Solstice takes place on December 21st in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the two moments during the year when the path of the Sun in the sky is farthest away making the day shorter and the night longer. This time can be dedicated to all Eldritch deity but most often can be more directly associated with both Azathoth and Cthulhu. This is because symbolism is often dedicated to aspects of dreams and dream magick in accordance with the night since it’s associated primarily with sleep. This means the connection to those dream forces is extra strong, and while all Eldritch deity reach out in dreams, both Azathoth and Cthulhu are most well known for their dream-like energies. Offerings, dream pillows, and other dreamy associated concoctions can be dedicated to the gods at this time.

• Nativitas •

From the Latin word for “birth” this marks the time of the spring equinox, March 20th, and therefore energies associated with new life and new beginnings. Shub Niggurath, the goddess of fertility is celebrated around this time. Offerings and rituals dedicated to the goddess are performed at this time.

[oncultcraft]

Harnessing Abyssal Energies

While there is extreme danger in doing so, it’s extremely powerful in practice, however I will not try this because the incomprehensible nature of the void of space makes me feel incredibly existential. 

Note: this will not give you an eldritch blast in real life, it’ll probably just make you unhinged mentally

Onto the topic at hand, the abyssal energies come from space, but are often associated with the deep ocean because that’s the most comprehensible version of the abyss to non-astronauts, to those of us scared of deep water, just think of a sensory deprivation tank and form those thoughts into neutral energies and add entropic energy to the neutral energy either through two focal points or if you’re unskilled, use a symbol to concentrate one of the energies through, the best bet would be a sealing circle, to some the symbols inside matter, but if you just want a singular symbol or just a circle that’s up to you, but it must contain a form of either entropic or neutral energy to direct the former or latter on. The fusion is important, as is the thought process behind it, that being said, you must direct it back onto yourself so you may absorb it to be used later on, much like a battery, however, the battery recharges when you do, it is now stuck to you, a little piece of the cosmos at your disposal, use it before it grows.

[arcane-abomination]

Read up on the deity as a whole in this blog, Shub Niggurath, if you’re confused about who she is.

To Shub Niggurath milk is a sacred drink. As a goddess of fertility it symbolizes strength, power, growth, protection and love respectfully. In her mythos it is said that she offers her milk to her followers and I’m some sources claims it can make a person into dark young. But from a realistic stand point the milk is something more akin to either an offering or a blessed drink the worshipper consumes. Many followers may make variations on moon milk recipes in this case, adding in spices and flavors to bring in additional energies.

When blessing the milk I use a very simple system. You may add or take away from this spell as you wish, just as long as whatever you do is in honor of the dark goddess. First off, I use my finger to draw a crossroads over the glass. This creates a liminal space for the goddesses energy to connect. Then I draw a clockwise circle around the glass and speak into it whatever I am wanting. An example would be something like this:

”Iä Shub Niggurath I call on you now. Bless this milk with your protective energies.”

The milk is then drank and the goddess is given gratitude. It’s a small ritual but one i find quite fruitful. And don’t be afraid to mix things up. If you’re not one that drinks milk directly you can always bless it on its own before mixing it into your coffee or tea. You can even bless it before baking or cooking with it.

I also use this technique when doing an offering. But I usually say something like:

“Ïa Shub Niggurath, blessed dark mother. I make this offering unto you. As I partake of this milk so do you partake of this offering.”

You can just set this on the altar if you don’t want to drink it, but I advise altering the words if you do.

[scarletarosa]

Shub-Niggurath

The outer goddess known as Shub-Niggurath (“The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Dark Young”) is one of the two safest outer deities to work with (along with Cthulhu). As stated in the introduction to the outer gods, the outer deities are not evil beings but are usually neutral in morality and typically do not care much for humans. The outer gods were all created within the Void and are larger than all the planets of the Universe combined. They are also immensely powerful and help guide the process of evolution in Creation.  

Appearance: Shub-Niggurath appears as a large goat-humanoid (very similar to Baphomet but without male genitalia), has swirling black tendrils at her sides, countless goat legs, and has the head of a beautiful black goat. Her expression is usually serene and benevolent, which has a fascinating contradiction to the dark tendrils which violently lash around at her sides. She is beautiful in a most incredible and unique way; her form is also so complex that one’s mind can hardly comprehend it. Her appearance can also chaotically change to indescribable forms that may look like a shifting mass with many sharp-toothed mouths, goat legs, and tentacles at the top.

When she arrives, she does a “triple laugh” where she does a sort of giggling laughter which sounds three times. As stated above, her size is larger than the very Universe, but like all other gods, she is able to shrink her form down to the minute size of a human when called upon (though the gods still stand tall and nearly reach ceilings).  

Roles: Shub-Niggurath is primarily a goddess of fertility and the propagation of mutations which benefit life. Regarding the mutations, an example is that she’s known to assist plantlife in adapting to different situations. As such, she is linked to the elements of earth and vegetation. From speaking with her, she has explained that her “thousand young” are mutated trees which have three “legs”, a gaping mouth, and use their branches like tentacles to lash out at people. They are not malevolent, but are angry at humans for what they have done to the Earth. As a fertility goddess, she has been known to have had offspring with many other outer gods

Personal experiences: In personality, she tends to be very caring, nurturing, motherly, and fiercely protective of forests (which she guards over). Shub-Niggurath is also a gentle being and tends to be deeply saddened when humans speak badly about her appearance or see her as evil. She desires those who wish to work with her to be respectful and also appreciate the untamed places in nature; she likes all nature, but prefers the dense wilderness most of all. She also seeks to spread love among all beings and hates prejudice, hypocrites, arsonists of forests, littering, and those who carelessly destroy life. These are the sorts of people who she has no gentleness towards and seeks to eliminate them. 

Shub-Niggurath specializes in helping with things such as fertility issues, self-acceptance, self-healing, and transitioning into different stages of self-identity. As with all forms of spirit work, it is highly unadvisable to commune with spirits if one has psychosis since the experiences can greatly worsen the symptoms. The outer gods can cause this even moreso (whether they try to or not) so please avoid working with them if you have psychosis of any kind.  

Offerings: goat milk, venison, pork with greens (boiled with cabbage, etc), courgettis, beetroot, parsnips, carrots, mandrake, horseradish, spinach, vanilla, olive oil, pine resin, creeping vines, stinging nettles, poison ivy, venus fly traps, fungi, puffball mushrooms, lichens, ivory, charcoal, limestone, copper, serpentine, chrysocolla, burning wood as incense, goat horns, black goat hair, handcrafted totems from twigs, and goat statuettes  

[scarletarosa]

The Outer Gods

Sometimes, what many deem to be merely fiction is actually embedded in truth. There have been times when authors (and other creators) have written about seemingly fictional deities, but unbeknownst to them, these very real gods had actually played a role in their writings. This is what had occurred for the gifted author, H.P. Lovecraft, who had been tormented throughout his life by many traumatic occurrences, and even had strange nightmares of eldritch deities. From these deities who came and spoke to him, he was inspired to write horror stories, not knowing that these maddening visions were actually real. The Outer Gods are only some of the deities who have made themselves known to humans by being placed into their books or other forms of work that many would think only serve as entertainment; but the truth goes far deeper than that. But unlike the stories, the Outer Gods are not evil, though many of them can be very cruel and dangerous. Remember that these deities are far removed from the way of thinking that we possess; they are far more vast than us in every possible way.  

Many Outer Gods also do not possess any emotions, as they have no need for them. They care not for life for life’s own sake, they only care for spiritual evolution. Any being who does not spiritually evolve (which is gained through a lifetime of pain, effort, and rebirth) is deemed as pathetic to the Outer Gods and unworthy of existence. Therefore, their view of life is completely different from how a typical human may view life, since us saying “all life is sacred” is simply laughable to these ancient deities. They are also usually neutral in morality; they care not for those who serve no higher purpose and feel nothing when they destroy them, yet they care for existence overall since they seek to have it evolve. For them, it does not matter how many insignificant humans they must kill in order to bring creation to the point where it needs to be. Though if they do find a rare human who is capable of evolving to the point of usefulness for creation’s development, they approach them and put the human through even more suffering, so that the person can evolve even further in strength and wisdom.  

Overall, the Outer Gods are elder deities dwelling within the Void who are incomprehensible in every single way. Many of them are larger than every planet combined (though they can shrink themselves when interacting on Earth), and they have existed for many eternities. Despite many of these gods being cold and harsh, they are extremely beneficial to all existence and understand the purpose of creation better than most other beings. Their usual lack of emotion simply allows them to perform their divine tasks more efficiently and to eradicate unnecessary things without being held back by sympathy.  

It is important to remember that the Outer Gods are very different from the gods who watch over humanity and other civilizations. Even though the gods we know of are very complicated, the Outer Gods are even moreso, and even greater in power as well. They are not meant to be worked with as how we work with our pantheon deities; the Outer Gods choose who they go to, not vice versa. They can still be respected, but speaking to them and worshipping them must be done by someone who is not at all new to working with deities and does not have psychosis. The Outer Gods must be treated with great respect, but remember that by interacting with them, you are allowing yourself to become highly vulnerable to losing your mental stability. They do not cause madness intentionally (usually), but this happens as a natural cause of being around their vast, unknowable essence. Even their appearances alone can cause madness in those who have sensitive minds.  

It is also important to remember that no amount of studying these deities will allow a person to understand even a portion of what they are truly like. It would even take the effort of a thousand people for an entire lifetime just to document what these deities do in one day of theirs. Thus, they are utterly incomprehensible to us, as our minds are nowhere near being as vast as their minds are. So one should not make assumptions about any of these gods. They also have no interest in being overlords of this planet, as many may believe due to fictitious stories; these elder gods only wish to see this planet evolve and become full of highly intelligent, spiritual beings who seek Illumination. And if the majority of people on a planet turn this down, then the elder gods usually seek for the population’s annihilation, since it no longer serves a higher purpose. As such, these gods seek people who willingly undergo the sufferings of their lives, refusing to give up or wallow in self-pity. Yet these courageous few must also be ones who love truth absolutely, seek the truth of the cosmos, and seek higher spirituality, so that they may devote their life to it.

If you choose to attempt at attracting the attention of these elder deities or just to worship them, do so with great caution and make certain that it is something you are truly prepared for. Be very respectful towards them and do not act arrogantly since they do not hesitate to severely punish or even kill people who irritate them. If you manage to have the honour of working with one or speaking to these gods, there is an immense amount of knowledge that you can learn from them, which allows the worthy to reach their highest potential. 

[ava-is-up-to-something]

Translating Nyarlathotep’s names, titles, and epithets into Middle Egyptian for funsies

Middle Egyptian is the version of the Ancient Egyptian language that was spoken from about 2000 BCE (4000 years ago) to 1300 BCE (3300 years ago). I’ve been learning it for several months now, but since I am still learning there are many epithets I just do not know how to translate yet (and I could be wrong even about the ones I think I do know how to translate). Also, I’m pretty sure that the lore around Nyarlathotep is that he was in Egypt in the Old Kingdom, when they spoke Old Egyptian not Middle Egyptian, but I don’t know Old Egyptian so fuck it, we ball.

All the hieroglyphs I’m going to show here should be read left to right, top to bottom. If you want to change them to be read right to left (which is how hieroglyphs were usually read), you just have to mirror reverse them so they face the other way. Hieroglyphs can’t be read bottom to top, however, so you can’t change that. Some formatting changes would be required to change the ones that are primarily horizontal to being primarily vertical, and vice versa.

First off: His name.

Originally, I was going to start this post with a punishingly long explanation of exactly what all this means and why I have all these different variations of the name. I think an explanation like that is necessary to put somewhere on this post, but I don’t want to force people who just do not care to read all that, so I’ve put it at the very end beneath a “keep reading.”

Now for (some) epithets and titles:

“Mighty Messenger:”

Transliteration: wpwty wsr. A way to pronounce it: Weputy weser or uputy user.

“Great Messenger:”

Transliteration: wpwty wr. A way to pronounce it: Weputy wer or Uputy ur.

The “Black Pharaoh:”

There are two ways to write this one. The first is this:

Transliteration: nsw km. A way to pronounce it: Nesu kem.

It means “black king” not “black pharaoh,” but I think it might make more sense to say it this way. The way you’d say “black pharaoh” is like this:

Transliteration: pr-ʿȝ km. A way to pronounce it: Per a’a kem.

This literally means “the black Great House,” since the word “pharaoh” literally means “Great House.” This would be sort of like if Nyarlathotep appeared on earth today in the form of a United States president and we called him “the black White House,” or if he appeared as a Russian president and we called him “the black Kremlin.” The problem with this one is that I’m not so clear on if the rules for stacking adjectives would even allow for you to say this.

Also, fun fact, Ancient Egyptians considered black to be a good colour, since they associated it with the fertile soil beside the Nile. So this title would not be sinister to them. Like if Nyarlathotep appeared as a US president and we called him “the cool awesome White House.”

“Soul (of the Other Gods):”

Transliteration: kȝ kywy nṯrw. A way to pronounce it: Ka keywey netcheru.

It’s hard to just translate “soul” directly into Egyptian because the Ancient Egyptians didn’t just believe in “a soul,” they believed in a bunch of different parts of a soul that all did different things. The part I’ve used for this translation is the ka, because I think it’s the closest to what we might think of when we hear the word “soul.” I think you could make an argument that since Nyarlathotep’s job is to go and enact the Other God’s will for them, he could be considered their akh, but the akh is a very distinctly Egyptian concept and has lot to do with being dead and getting to the Egyptian afterlife, so I don’t think it works well here. You might also argue that he could be their heart (ib) since the Egyptians thought that you did your thinking with your heart instead of your brain, and Nyarlathotep seems to be a lot more capable of thought than the rest of the “blind, voiceless, mindless” Other Gods, but hearts don’t go out and do things for you so I don’t think that one works either.

“Soul and messenger (of the Other Gods):”

Transliteration: kȝ wpwty kywy nṯrw. A way to pronounce it: Ka weputy keywey netcheru.

“God of a Thousand Forms:”

Transliteration: nṯr ḫprw ḫȝ. A way to pronounce it: Netcher kheperu kha.

Also, as a bonus, I noticed while I was looking for epithets to translate that Fungi From Yuggoth calls Azathoth the “Lord of All.” That’s an Azathoth epithet, so I don’t really have an excuse to translate it into Egyptian, but “Lord of All” is also a common epithet for the Egyptian god Horus. If I ever write that thing about Egyptian gods fighting Nyarlathotep then I will find a way to exploit this. Anyway, here’s how you can say “Lord of All:”

Transliteration: nb tm. A way to pronounce it: Neb tem.

Nyarlathotep’s name is kind of a nightmare to try and spell with the Ancient Egyptian alphabet (good for him, he’d probably want it that way). Here’s my long ass explanation of why I chose to write it the ways I did in this post:

Why is his name spelled without vowels?:

In Ancient Egyptian writing, the vowels are usually left out and only the consonant sounds in words are written down (it’s a lot like Hebrew in this way). The Egyptians eventually did create a system for writing vowels, and that was used for words that Egyptian readers wouldn’t already know how to pronounce, like foreign names. Nyarlathotep, coming from outer space, would be pretty foreign to them, but the earliest vocalic writing is from the end of the Old Kingdom. I’m going to use that as an excuse to say it didn’t exist when he was around and just not bother with it, because there is no way to spell his name in any vocalic writing system that isn’t incomplete and/or confusing (there are two A’s in there and one of them is right next to an L and that is An Issue). The Is in the spellings of his names with the eye symbol in them do not count as vowels, because they are actually transliteration symbols for a consonant sound.

The L sound:

The L sound in his name is an issue because Ancient Egyptian languages might have had an L sound in them, at some point, but they might’ve not. Basically: If you’ve ever done one of those things that will tell you how to write your name in hieroglyphs, you’ve probably been told that this vulture glyph 𓄿 makes an A sound. That is only true in certain types of vocalic writing. The rest of the time it made a consonant sound. We don’t know what consonant sound, though, because the Egyptians stopped pronouncing it in the New Kingdom. Our best guess (based on it being used to transcribe words from other languages that we know had L and R sounds) is that it made a sound like L or R, which is why I’ve used it here for the L sound.

Why are there all those variations around the TH sound?:

Ancient Egyptian languages did not have a TH sound, and the Egyptian letter T and the Egyptian letter H did not combine to make a new sound like they do in English. They did have an F sound, so you could just spell it Nyarlafotep instead. However, “hotep” (transliteration: ḥtp) is an actual Ancient Egyptian word. It means “peace.” Many Ancient Egyptian names are the name of a god + ḥtp, for example “Amenhotep” which means “Amen is at peace.” That the Ancient Egyptians would have thought Nyarlathotep’s name meant that someone called Nyarlat was at peace is too deliciously ironic to ignore, and that meaning is lost if you spell it NYRLFTP. The two options to preserve that meaning are to make the T the bread loaf glyph 𓏏 (this would change the pronunciation to Nyarlat-hotep) or to try and keep the TH sound somewhat by putting the horned viper glyph 𓆑 in there (this would change the pronunciation to Nyarlaf-hotep).

What do the variations with the eye sign in them mean?:

The eye sign is a hieroglyph that makes two consonant sounds. These sounds are transliterated ir, but that i does not represent an actual I sound (except in vocalic writing). Usually, i made a glottal stop sound, but sometimes it made a Y sound. This means you could use the eye glyph for the consonants YR in his name (and this is cosmic horror, where we like eyeballs and put them on everything wherever we can). However, this might make the name even more confusing to read, because it makes it easy to mistake the Y in the name for a glottal stop.

Why is his name in a cartouche?:

The names of pharaohs (and only pharaohs) were written inside cartouches. And not just any of the pharaoh’s names. Pharaohs had several different types of names, and only the throne name and birth name were written in cartouches. This means it could be debated wether or not it would be proper for his name to be written in a cartouche. However, Nyarlathotep is not actually from Egypt, he’s from space, and at least one of the stories he’s in portrays him as a showman who uses aesthetic connections to Ancient Egypt as a gimmick to get people to come see his brainwashing prophecies of doom, so I feel like he would not care if it was proper or not and would use it anyway because it’s a very recognizable piece of iconography. But if we found hieroglyphic carvings by Ancient Egyptians that warned of the evils of the god Nyarlathotep, his name might not be written in a cartouche and instead be written with the determinative for god 𓀭 after it.

[void-acolyte]

Fascinating.

[scarletarosa]

Cthulhu

The outer god known as Cthulhu is one of the safest of the outer deities to work with (along with the goddess Shub-Niggurath). As stated in the introduction to the outer gods, they are not evil beings but are usually neutral in morality and typically do not care much for humans. The outer gods were all formed within the Void and are larger than all planets of the Universe combined. They are also immensely powerful and help guide the process of evolution in Creation. These ancient deities are capable of many things that our Universal gods cannot do; they also even know of all things occurring within the Universe and are easily able to intervene in these events (but usually don’t due to being apathetic towards most people).

Cthulhu is among one of the Great Old Ones and is their high priest. He is a very peaceful and intuitive deity who is deeply connected to dreams. When Cthulhu awakens while slumbering, he tends to send out dreams to certain types of humans in order to communicate with them and fill them with creative inspiration. He cares greatly for the classical arts and sees dreams as an artform of their own, which can inspire even more beauty to come into being. The stories of him by Lovecraft are of course fictitious since the writer had believed his visions of the gods to be merely his own imagination. Due to this lack of understanding of the outer gods, he ended up portraying them in inaccurate ways. Nevertheless, some things he wrote of are in fact true, but not regarding how the deities seek power over Earth; they have no need for this. Cthulhu also does manifest within Earth’s oceans at times, but he mostly dwells with the other outer gods in the Void.  

Appearance: Cthulhu is an enormous humanoid entity with an octopus-like head and eyes which contain swirling vapours. He has draconic wings on his back and basically looks just as he is presented in artwork. The normal size of Cthulhu is about 100 meters tall, though he can diminish this when manifesting before devotees.  

Personal experiences: Cthulhu is a very loving deity towards those who respect him and do not bring unnecessary harm upon others. He is very patient, understanding, wise, creative, and more friendly towards humans than typical outer gods. He values the Earth and its well-being, especially the sea life. Since he is the high priest of the Great Old Ones, Cthulhu is strongly associated with occultism and can assist in magick. Contact with Cthulhu primarily happens through dreams, in which he will manifest before a person and speak to them or show them visions. Cthulhu is the son of Yog-Sothoth (outer god of knowledge) and an unknown mother. He is served by the gods Dagon and Hydra (who are also both connected to the sea), the Deep Ones, and the giant octopi beings who tend to accompany him. Cthulhu loves all things related to the sea, as well as fog, mist, paintings, and sculptures.

As a note, any person who has psychosis should highly consider refraining from doing spirit work since the experiences can greatly worsen the symptoms of this mental illness. This goes even moreso for working with the outer gods since their energies and appearances may be too much for some people to handle, especially for those with any sort of psychosis.

Offerings: ocean jasper, ammonite fossils, trilobite fossils, raw squid, seaweed, limpet shells, sea anemones, white corals, selenite, sea pebbles, sea mollusks, jellyfish, octopus artwork, seaweed green granite, opalina stones, basalt, volcanic stones, leather-bound occult books, dark green candles. One can also listen to Cthulhu’s ambience by Cryo Chamber as a devotional act

[universitybookstore]

A Seventh Collection of Literary Maps

The Dreamlands, from the Dream Cycle stories of H.P. Lovecraft

Zothique, from the stories of Clark Ashton Smith

Hyperborea, from the stories of Clark Ashton Smith

The Travels of Ulysses, from The Iliad & The Odyssey, Homer

The Travels of Stephen Daedalus and Leopold Bloom, 16 June 1904; from Ulysses, James Joyce

Angria, from Tales of Angria, Charlotte & Branwell Brontë

Erewhon, from Erewhon, Samuel Butler

Oceania, Eurasia, Eastasia; from 1984, George Orwell

[spiritconnect]

I would love to see more tips for those who don't have developed psychic abilities yet! I've tried to get into spirit work many times, but I can never feel or hear anything, it's very unmotivating, and i assume many beginners who suffer the same. Would you have any advice?

Psychic Abilities, Communication, and Discernment Masterpost

Honestly the best advice I can give is to keep practicing! I know it can get frustrating to keep going without getting any results, but this truly is a thing that can take a lot of time and dedication. While you practice, take advantage of other communication methods; Try out using tarot cards, a pendulum, automatic writing, etc! 

Here are some exercises and helpful posts:

[Card Exercise to Enhance Psychic Skills] by @urbanspellcraft

[Visualization Exercise: Memory Sprints (Long Version)] by @spiritvexer

[Honing Your Spirit-Sensing Skills] by @insertcheesywitchypunhere

[Spirit Communication (Non-Verbal)] by @stygiantarot

[Spiritual Senses: The Clairs] by @wolfofantimonyoccultism

[Buggy Spirit Hearing?] by @pearlescent-princess

[Questions to Ask Your Spirit Friends] by @spiritvexer

[Questions for Spirits/Conversation Prompts] by @silkensorceress

[Cognitive Processing and Spirits] by @astralarchive

[Spirit Communication Tips] by @/ekonsine

[Spirit Communication Masterpost] by myself

Try to remember that ‘hearing’ spirits isn’t necessarily universal, which means people hear spirits differently. I’ll be entirely honest- some of the time if I’m not focusing, I hear the spirit’s voices as my own inner voice (meaning they sound weirdly like me). I have to do a lot of discernment and work to uncover what is actually a spirit. It’s super frustrating, and this may be what you’re dealing with right now! I’ve created a helpful list of questions and ideas that I generally go through when I’m trying to discern whether I’m just hearing myself, or a spirit.

Try to do what I do, and just listen to any thought or voice that passes through your mind, and dissect it. Some questions to ask yourself:

Is this something you would actually say? Is this something you would actually think? 

Are there words you wouldn’t normally say? Are there words that you don’t even know?

Is it a coherent thought? Does it make sense?

Does it feel like you said it or does it feel like it originated from an outside source? Does it catch you off guard or startle you?

Is there an accent? Any sort of tone or inflection that does not sound like your own? 

Is it normal for you to have random thoughts? Do you normally respond to yourself in your head?

Is the thought a response to something you said? How does it relate to what you said? 

Ask multiple questions- do the responses all sound the same? Do they all add up?

Does it sound like an actual conversation with someone else (even if it sounds like your voice)? 

Do they coincide with a spirit visiting? Try practicing with and without a spirit around to create a baseline for your experiences.

Do a reading- does it confirm what you heard? 

As for feeling, for the most part you don’t physically feel anything. Sometimes you may get what I call phantom touches, which to me is that weird feeling that there’s pressure against your body in some form. You can also feel them as different manifestations, like a breeze, warmth, or cold chill. Some spirits may feel ‘stronger’ and more present in those manifestations than others.

I would recommend just sitting still (in a position that won’t cause any body part to fall asleep or cause discomfort), in an area with minimal air flow, and just take not of anything you may notice or think you feel. Ask yourself:

Is there a breeze even without the airflow? Is it warm or cold? Is there normally a breeze like that? Do you feel the breeze if you move to another area? Is it the same strength and feeling?

Do you feel unusually hot or cold? Is this normal for you? Does it cover your entire body or stay in one spot?

Is there a feeling of pressure? Is it in one spot? Move that body part, is it still there? Is it natural for you to feel pressure?

Do you feel tingling? Does it cover your entire body or stay in one spot? Is it natural for you to feel tingling? Does it go away when you move?

Is there a feeling of discomfort in a particular spot? Move that body part, is it still there? Is it natural for you to feel discomfort in that area?

Walk around, do you still feel those sensations? Do you feel them in another position?

Do you still feel those sensations when repeating this exercise? 

Do you still feel those sensations outside of the exercise? 

Do these sensations change or move? Do they get stronger or weaker over time? 

Do they coincide with a spirit visiting? Try practicing with and without a spirit around to create a baseline for your experiences. 

If you work with a spirit, ask them to touch your shoulder, and then a different body part. Do you feel any sort of sensation? Is it consistent even in different areas?

Do a reading- does it confirm what you felt?

I hope this helps!

[chaotichermes]

The Great Nyarlathotep

Oh! Cryptical One

Infinite and Vast Nyarlathotep You, Keeper of Magick Great Faceless Librarian Bizarre Mathematician Hyper Cosmic Designer Boundless Scalenus   First Hermit You, with the Three Hands Great Inconceivable

Oh! Mysterious One

Father of Km.t Creator of the Black Pyramid Promoter of Change Catalyst of Dissolution You with the Myriad Masks Judge of Worlds Dweller of the Outer Chaos Lord of the Labyrinth

Oh! Merciless One

You, Inscriber of the Path of Otherworldliness Please see our prayers Turn your enigmatic Face to us Show us the harsh and painful path of Transcendence Don’t erase us from Life You, who test everyone, even your own Self Don’t leave us behind You, who walk unseen amongst our shadows and betwixt the dreams we fear…

                                                                                                Triple Unity

[scarletarosa]

Dagon

Greater god of the sea

While Dagon is not an outer god from the Void, he came from somewhere beyond our solar system and entered the Earth to dwell in its seas. He is still, however, an immensely powerful deity and is very difficult to comprehend. Furthermore, Dagon is the same deity worshiped by the Canaanites, Philistines, and Babylonians under the same name. He was praised as a fish-tailed god of the seas who ruled over fishing and agriculture. These civilizations all worshiped gods of water as agriculture gods due to water being needed for the irrigation of crops. Thus, he is not truly linked to agriculture, but it’s something he has secondary connection to because of water’s importance in the fertility of the land. When Lovecraft received his horrific visions of the outer gods, he witnessed some of the greater gods as well; one of which was Dagon, in his true form. This inspired Lovecraft to write stories, but he was unknowingly connecting to many truths in what he wrote since his mind was influenced by the vast deities who made themselves known to him.

Appearance: Dagon is an enormous, aquatic humanoid-amphibian with green-yellow eyes, and a massive sea serpent-like tail. He also has fins on his arms and legs. Overall, Dagon looks very similar to the above image.

Father Dagon is one of the greater gods who rule over the race of beings known as the Deep Ones. These are humanoid, fish-like beings who are often said to mate with humans, which produces a hybrid offspring. The hybrids are known to have the blessing of the sea and spend their lives feeling scorn for humanity. They are always filled with an overwhelming desire to abandon the land for the ocean and go to the Deep One city of Y'ha-nthlei. Eventually, they leave land to dwell in the sea once they are matured and more physically aquatic. Those humans who seek to be close to the sea and join its depths worship Father Dagon and his mate, Mother Hydra. These two gods are only surpassed by Cthulhu in regards to being deities of the ocean, since Cthulhu leads all of them, including the Deep Ones. Two known books which hold secrets of these gods of the deep are The Book of Dagon and the Cthäat Aquadingen.

In the ancient past, Dagon was one of the Shepherds of the Sea, meaning that he would watch over the sea creatures and protect them. He also used to come upon land at times and wander beaches before returning to the sea. Though now, since the ocean is full of toxins and is no longer alive with as much mystery and beauty (especially after the death of so many ancient sea-races), Dagon has been filled with sorrow. He now usually keeps to himself, deep in the shadowy depths of the ocean. Despite what some may believe, Dagon is not a being who is destructive and cruel; he is typically a very gentle god who is filled with great wisdom and compassion. However, when Dagon is angered, he is terrifying and can easily cause immense destruction. He is only willing to speak to humans who respect both him and the sea, especially since he has long been angry with our race for causing so much pollution and slaughter.

As one of the Lords of the ocean, Dagon is a mysterious and majestic deity who knows the sacred secrets of the deep, watery world surrounding us. For all the millions of years that have passed untold, the sea keeps the ancient knowledge hidden in its enigmatic depths. Those who worship Dagon earnestly and truly love the sea may have the rare honour to experience the truth of the ocean and some of the knowledge which Father Dagon holds. This can cause an immense sense of longing towards the sea as one wishes to delve into it and never return. We seek to become one with the ocean, forever in its embrace and beyond the reach of humanity. As the sea is the primal womb of our Earth, the Mother always beckons to her true children. There, Father Dagon and Mother Hydra await, calling their sons and daughters into the waves.

Offerings: aquamarine, turquoise, green calcite, amber, seashells, pearls, shark teeth, star fish, dried sea urchins, seaweed, crab shells, coral, sea sponges, cuttlefish bones, anything else from the sea (unharmed), limes, tangerines, watermelons, Mediterranean pinecones, calendula flowers. Listen to the song Dagon by Graham Plowman since it connects very well to his energy.

Incense burner with the following placed on it: at least three burning charcoals, clams, crushed sea urchins (dead), and sea salt. Burn these all together as an offering, but careful not to breathe it in due to the strength of smell.

[krakaheimr]

A concept sketch for the King in Yellow's design that developed into a portrait.

[ID/ A digital drawing of the King in Yellow, with wood block texturing to the shading. He is in three quarters profile, looking towards the left, on a dark reddish brown background. The drawing cuts off at his shoulders, with his chest shown in a deep V, bust style. Instead of a face, there is smooth white chitin. Many insect legs poke out of his shirt collar, and curl around his chin. The King is wearing a hooded robe in glowing golden amber, thrown over a mellow tan shirt. The edges of the robe and shirt are slightly tattered, with small holes. On his head is a glowing crown, with tall angular spikes in the same pale yellow. This crown wraps around the sides and back of his head, but leaves his forehead bare. Behind the King’s head is a cracked circle of a lighter brown outlined in gold, mimicking a halo. The edge behind him has shattered, leaving shards exploding towards the right. At the bottom, the artist's signature is written in gold. "Tyrastafr - Krakaheimr". /End]

[unidentifiedflamingbastard]

Eldritch Alter Pieces

So I’m sick af, and im poking around etsy and found something amazing. If any of you for whatever reason want alter pieces for eldritch deities I STRONGLY reccomend Crytocurium. He has something for pretty much everyone, up to and including Yig. His work is also beautiful; handcrafted resin sculptures.

The idols I’ve seen are: Cthulhu, Father Dagon, Mother Hydra, Yig, The King In Yellow (aka Hastur), Shub-Niggurath, Tsathoggua, Haunter of Chaos (aka Nyarlthotep), Yog-sothoth (sold in a shrine set), and Azathoth (sold in a shrine set).

 Check out Cryptographic on etsy (X).

Here are a few examples of his work:

Mother Hydra, Father Dagon, and Cthulhu (X)

He also offers different colors on this set if you are not fond of this one. 

This is a shrine set with Yog, Shub, Azathoth, and Nyrarl (X).

Needless to say, I am now saving up for some art.