The Cthulhu Mythos As Religion?

[Paul Baack]

There's a pretty interesting article at the Pop Matters website.  It takes a look at (mostly) latter-day homebrewed religions, whose deities are directly swiped from HPL's fiction.  Of course, and as the article points out, this is hugely ironic in light of the old gent's rather dim view of any theistic belief system, much less out-and-out capital "R" religion.

Naturally, we're all too smart to fall for bunk like that...   Nevertheless, I think folks here will enjoy reading Cults of an Unwitting Oracle: The (Unintended) Religious Legacy of H. P. Lovecraft.    If nothing else, it demonstrates the continuing relevance and influence of Lovecraft's work in American literature -- and culture.  Hope you like it!

[Genus Unknown]

Fascinating.  It's almost as if occultists were... a bunch of dorks and weirdos... hmmmm...

[TransconaSlim]

I was looking on the internet for The Esoteric Order of Dagon, the Lovecraft studies group/ the amateur press association organized by S.T. Joshi.  The first website on google that pops up is Esoteric Order of Dagon  which describes itself as "The Esoteric Order of Dagon is a collective of practicing magicians and artists who work within the context framed by the works of Lovecraft toward practical and Initiatory ends."    Apparently, "The EOD is a Dream and Magic Technocracy" what ever the hell that means. 

[Kaelestes]

I'm pretty sure it means they're not in it for the literature.

[DMcCool]

...worship them as gods mainly because, as Lovecraft would have it, that is how foolish humanity has always approached what they don’t understand: prostrated reverence

I think he sums it up it that sentence.

But truly, I am betting most modern "Cthulhu Cults" are really just Live Action Role Players who have forgotten how to role-play their original selves.  Just as I think most skin-heads don't start off looking to be white supremacists, a lot of people are just looking for somewhere to feel like they belong; somewhere to feel special.  You give them that, and they'll swallow whatever hoodoo you throw at them.  Ironically, that's exactly the opposite of any Lovecraftian cosmic view, which clearly shows we are just dust mites on a speck of dirt.

[catamount]

"But truly, I am betting most modern "Cthulhu Cults" are really just Live Action Role Players who have forgotten how to role-play their original selves.  Just as I think most skin-heads don't start off looking to be white supremacists, a lot of people are just looking for somewhere to feel like they belong; somewhere to feel special.  You give them that, and they'll swallow whatever hoodoo you throw at them.  Ironically, that's exactly the opposite of any Lovecraftian cosmic view, which clearly shows we are just dust mites on a speck of dirt."

Amen, Brother!

[Miel]

Um, as a member of a modern Cthulhu cult, I'd like to distance us from anyone mentioned in that article. Our cult started off as a board game group, then expanded to trivia and cooking (yes, as in making food). We do chant and dance around, but it's to get us psyched up for a game of chess or Jeopardy. We've never actually sacrificed anyone, and accept members of all creeds, beliefs, and religions.

[Kaelestes]

Um, as a member of a modern Cthulhu cult, I'd like to distance us from anyone mentioned in that article. Our cult started off as a board game group, then expanded to trivia and cooking (yes, as in making food). We do chant and dance around, but it's to get us psyched up for a game of chess or Jeopardy. We've never actually sacrificed anyone, and accept members of all creeds, beliefs, and religions.

The word cult stems from the French word culte which literally means "worship." So what I'm wondering is whether or not you guys actually support a theological system of belief based on the Cthulhu mythos or not. Gathering from your description, the group you're a part of sounds more like a social assemblage than a cult. If this is true, I don't think there's really anything wrong with labeling yourselves a cult, but there is an important distinction to be made between the functions of your group and the functions of an actual religious cult.

[Miel]

The Latin derivation is older and more correct. Cultus originally meant to tend or care for, hence 'cultivation'; the word later gained the connotation of devotion and worship. We're as much of a cult as Pastafarianism is. We're quite devoted to Cthulhu and HPL's deities, but we know where to draw the line.

[Kaelestes]

We're as much of a cult as Pastafarianism is. We're quite devoted to Cthulhu and HPL's deities, but we know where to draw the line.

Ok, but Pastafarianism? They're a social movement, which is a far cry from a cult. Their members don't worship the flying spaghetti monster in any capacity greater than as a tool for satirizing creationism and fighting the teaching of intelligent design in public science classes. All due respect, but I don't see the correlation if your group does in fact worship Lovecraft's deities.

His Holy Boiledness

[Genus Unknown]

Maybe the Church of the SubGenius would be a better analogue.

[Miel]

Sorry, I think I've done a bad job of explaining our cult. We're just geeks. We satire-worship Lovecraft's deities for our own amusement, and we believe in them as much as a Pastafarian believes in the FSM. It's our way of laughing at the world and it's something that we can all share in common, since we're all very different and all pretty damn weird. It's like LARPing, but we don't do LARPing. Only two of us know how to play CoC, in fact.

Apart from not playing CoC, I think we resemble a lot of modern Lovecraftian 'cults'. We call ourselves a cult because that's how we look to people. We meet in secluded spaces, we read texts that the sane mind shouldn't be able to comprehend (i.e. Lovecraft's work), and do strange things that seem like satanic rituals to 'normal' people. But in the end, we're just harmless geeks that like to freak out our neighbours.

[Kaelestes]

Sorry, I think I've done a bad job of explaining our cult. We're just geeks. We satire-worship Lovecraft's deities for our own amusement, and we believe in them as much as a Pastafarian believes in the FSM. It's our way of laughing at the world and it's something that we can all share in common, since we're all very different and all pretty damn weird. It's like LARPing, but we don't do LARPing. Only two of us know how to play CoC, in fact.

Apart from not playing CoC, I think we resemble a lot of modern Lovecraftian 'cults'. We call ourselves a cult because that's how we look to people. We meet in secluded spaces, we read texts that the sane mind shouldn't be able to comprehend (i.e. Lovecraft's work), and do strange things that seem like satanic rituals to 'normal' people. But in the end, we're just harmless geeks that like to freak out our neighbours.

Well thank god. Or don't, because Lovecraft would mock you, but yeah, whew! I can't get behind a group that pledges fealty to fictional alien monsters (I'm looking directly at you, Tom C.) because my "what the hell am I doing here?"-dar goes haywire, but hassling the neighbors is an altogether different story. Keep up the good work!

Oh, and all praises be to His Starchy Materials. Amen.

[Jake W]

but we don't do LARPing.

We meet in secluded spaces, we read texts that the sane mind shouldn't be able to comprehend (i.e. Lovecraft's work), and do strange things that seem like satanic rituals to 'normal' people.

Yeah, you do do LARPing. 

I've LARPed on & off about 20 years now (mostly off for the last 10) with a group of pirates who 'worship' Eris, goddess of chaos, strife and the destruction of cities. We don't do rituals, just a lot of comedy that comes from in-jokes around shared 'beliefs'. The worst thing you can do, for example, is attract the goddess's attention! Much like Cthulhu et al really 
It's our own version of Discordianism   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discordianism
(interesting to note Wikipedia calls Discordianism a religion rather than a faux religion)

[helios1014]

http://www.fredvanlente.com/cthulhutract/pages/

http://www.rubbersuitstudios.com/ptcct.htm