Proppingupthemythos
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Spoiler thread for Leaf 007!
🕑 Added 2018-11-16 21:27:24 +0000 UTC Hello fellow cultists!Page 13 reveals some of our author's tendency toward abusive language. It feels crappy to be called ignorant and of weak faith, and to have your commitment challenged, right? Well that's a page right out of Lovecraft's stories. Harley Warren and Asenath Waite are prime examples of this character type. In defining my version of Abdel Hazred I leaned heavily on these sorts of domineering knowledge-seekers.
I really like how this woodcut came out by the way. The hand sign our True Believer is making will get a better explanation around page 100 (Leaf 014).
Page 14 has to do with a fascinating aspect of the Cthulhu Cult (and other fellow travelers in the worship of Yog-Sothery): in the Call of Cthulhu the swamp cult is met by creatures from the mythos. This means there is tangible evidence for all cultists to see that their religion is founded on something concrete (that is in stark contrast to the faith-based religions we encounter in the real world). But with that comes a danger to the ruling class in the cult hierarchy. It wouldn't do if every cultist interpreted the dreams the multi-eyed polyp in the unseen lake handed out, so there has to be a warning given to maintain control.
The artwork here depicts either a future event, or a misinterpretation of how ancient Masters used to speak in dreams with Cthulhu before the sinking of R'lyeh. Adding stuff that is open to interpretation is fun though, as it puts a little more meat on the bones.
Now we jump to page 35 and the Zhirn Gate (a passing Lovecraft reference that I pulled from my Arkham House Selected Letters). This is more of the Dreams in the Witch House style "math and science in ancient tomes" material. I plan to revisit some of these concepts as the book progresses, the idea being as the reader gains more power they will understand these various formulae more deeply. "Knowledge is different in different states of consciousness" -Maharishi.
Finally we come to page 36. I imagine there's at least on patron who would prefer to tear this page out, but let me first explain the intent behind it.
First, the quote from John Dee in the margin is really important in the history of the Necronomicon. It is from the story The Space Eaters by Frank Belknap Long, a friend of Lovecraft's and fellow Weird Tales author. He attributes his quote as from " —John Dee's Necronomicon " and so Lovecraft incorporated this into his history of the book, and eventually in the Dunwich Horror. So this little note is the basis of the entire English translation being by Dr. Dee, and so it had to go in the book. But it isn't a great quote and so I felt I needed to work around it somewhat. My solution was to focus on the Tau cross (an Egyptian symbol), and then bring up the Hounds of Tindalos (who really like right angles).
Second, the talk of crosses opens up a way to handle an even trickier conundrum: the signs of the Old Ones in the Shadow Over Innsmouth being described as swastika-like. Sir Randolph's margin note makes it clear that this book will not dwell on such symbols as they are harmful to our fishy kin. While contemporary politics are *not* the subject of this work, taking a swipe at folks who align themselves with the Hakenkreuz is a nice perk.
Third, Lovecraft's own Dreams in the Witch House gives us a protagonist brandishing a cross for protection. Love it or hate it (or head-canon it away) it is a story point that I felt needed some coverage.
Comments
Yeah, like thats something I'm going to touch on in my next set of Lovecraftian pics for Halloween.
Christian Matzke
Absolutely. There has to be tension and infighting between groups, right? You even get a sense of this from Wilbur Whateley's diary: “Today learned the Aklo for the Sabaoth,” it ran, “which did not like, it being answerable from the hill and not from the air." That shows a bias on his part.
I wondered about that too. Like ones that worship the cult of cthulhu may not appreciate the esoteric order of dagon? If so they could use the necronomicon to harm other cults and gods.
