Further Work on an Eldritch Diagram

[ecosophia]

 As the earlier draft of the Weird of Hali Tree of Life attracted a certain amount of interest, I thought I'd post this more complete version...



Some of the additional details should be fairly clear to those who've read the first two volumes of The Weird of Hali; the others will become a little less opaque as the story proceeds. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I was just thinking about this.
Thanks!

- Brigyn

The Elder Scrolls Variant

[(Anonymous)]

I wanted in on the fun, so I've made a similar system but using the Daedric Princes ("dark gods", the spirits that refused to partake in creation) of The Elder Scrolls franchise. It might prove amusing for anyone out there who's familiar with them.

1) Kether-Tamiel: Sheogorath (or Jyggalag)
2) Chokmah-Chaigidel: Meridia
3) Binah-Sathariel: Mephala (or Nocturnal)
x) Da'ath: Hermeus Mora
4) Chesed-Gamchicoth: Namira
5) Geburah-Golachab: Molag Bal
6) Tipereth-Thagirion: Mehrunes Dagon (or Boethiah)
7) Netzach-Harab Serapel: Malacath (or Hircine)
8) Hod-Samael: Sanguine (or Clavicus Vile)
9) Yesod-Gamaliel: Azura (or Vaermina)
10) Malkuth-Nehemoth: Peryite

And that covers all 17 known Daedric Princes!

Note: On the off chance anyone actually considers playing around with this - I've done this purely as an exercise / entertainment, I have never attempted working with any of these entities, and I have no clue what if anything would respond if you did use them - in fact, I don't work with Qliphoth at all. Use at your own peril!

-Brigyn

Re: The Elder Scrolls Variant

[ecosophia]

I don't recommend working with any malefic beings, imaginary or not. The logic behind my Weird of Hali Tree of Life is that in my stories, the Great Old Ones aren't evil -- they're the old gods of nature, and all those stories about the wickedness of them and their cultists are just propaganda...

Re: The Elder Scrolls Variant

[(Anonymous)]

Sage advice!

-Brigyn

Sphere of Protection

[tiagoantao]

This would be an interesting source for a variation of the Sphere of Protection.

Current mood: Reading Kingsport

Re: Sphere of Protection

[mesosylvania]

I've been doing this! For the elemental cross, I put Yog-Sothoth and Tsathoggua as the gods, and Shub-Ne'hurrath and Yhoundeh as the goddesses. For the Gates, see the most recent Magic Monday for JMGs assignments.

Also, according to this article by JMG, the Tree of Life maps to the Wheel of Life: http://aoda.org/publications/articles-on-druidry/treeoflife/

So, Kether/Azathoth=Alban Arthuan, Chokmah/Yog-Sothoth=Imbolc, Chesed/Cthulhu=Alban Eiler, Netzach/Yhoundeh=Belteinne, Malkuth/Phauz=Alban Heruin, Hod/Nyarlathotep=Lughnassad, Geburah/Ithaqua=Alban Elued, Binah/Shub-Ne'hurrath=Samhain. The seasons revolve around the Sun (Tiphareth/The King in Yellow) and the Moon (Yesod/Tsathoggua), so they aren't directly associated with any particular Station of the Wheel of the Year. Perhaps The King in Yellow could correspond to the light half of the year, and Tsathoggua to the dark half? I plan on meditating on all of the above extensively...

I'm also working on a usable Aklo language, and finding suitable Aklo names for the Stations, and other Druidic concepts. We already have voor for nwyfre, for example. :-)

Re: Sphere of Protection

[(Anonymous)]

So I've been lingering here in anticipation of your updates re: Saint Toad. I felt *oddly compelled* to craft His likeness as the others didn't quite capture the "jolie laid" aspect or were too Jaba-ish on the Jaba-Yoda spectrum (apologies for the out-of-universe reference, HPL noob :/).

Just need to whip up a suitable egg tempera, no better yet maybe cod liver oil base paint (thinking of charcoal and dried moss or algae for the pigments... Will post a pic when he's fully emerged :)

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

Hmm! I'll look forward to seeing it. As I see him, certainly, Tsathoggua isn't much like Jabba, or for that matter Pizza, the Hutt. The description in Kingsport is based on Clark Ashton Smith's account in The Tale of Satampra Zeiros:

"I had never seen an image of Tsathoggua before, but I recognized him without difficulty from the descriptions I had heard. He was very squat and pot-bellied, his head was more like that of a monstrous toad than a deity, and his whole body was covered with an imitation of short fur, giving somehow a vague suggestion of both the bat and the sloth. His sleepy lids were half-lowered over his globular eyes; and the tip of a queer tongue issued from his fat mouth. In truth, he was not a comely or personable sort of god..."

Mind you, I find such a deity both comely and personable, but then I suppose I'm just weird... ;-)

Re: Sphere of Protection

[(Anonymous)]

Clark Ashton Smith made some sculptures and pictures of Tsathoggua. There are photos of them in
http://www.centipedepress.com/art/realmsmystery.html

-- Lieven

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this! Most of his artwork can be seen at http://www.eldritchdark.com/galleries/by-cas/, though the photos are mostly black and white. Here's his most famous Tsathoggua sculpture, which also fed into my portrayal:

Re: Sphere of Protection

[mesosylvania]

Greetings fellow cultist! It's great to hear that others share my inexplicable attraction to Tsathoggua! My main update is that I've been doing Jenny Parrish's daily practice, at least once a day. I think the key here is consistency, just like consistency in ritual, meditation, and divination is key to the systems of magic that our host teaches.

Nothing dramatic so far, I'm just listening, and sometimes I feel like someone is there, in a comforting, but not necessarily human, way. Maybe it's in my head, but then there's the occult cliche that "your head is bigger than you think" or something along those lines.

I'd love to see your artwork, by the way.

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

I have another set of attributions of the Tree to the eight festivals, which will be in a forthcoming book. In this version the three highest spheres don't get assigned to festivals -- instead, Daath is added to the lower seven to give the eight stations of the year, as follows:

Alban Arthuan -- Malkuth
Imbolc -- Yesod
Alban Eiler -- Hod
Belteinne -- Netzach
Alban Heruin -- Tiphareth
Lughnasadh -- Geburah
Alban Elued -- Chesed
Samhuinn -- Daath

This sequence is specific to a system of self-initiation, though, and may not be well suited to the ritual calendar of those sinister, Shub-Ne'hurrath-worshipping Druids that Robert Bloch talks about in "Notebook Found in a Deserted House." In your place, I'd study the eight festivals and then make assignments of deities according to symbolism, whether or not that matches any particular version of the Tree.

Re: Sphere of Protection

[mesosylvania]

Thanks for the feedback! These attributions seem very intuitive for me, based on my limited knowledge of Cabala of this point. Tiphareth for Alban Heruin makes complete sense, for example.

I'm assuming this is an expansion of your Druidical Order of the Golden Dawn material? Part of me wanted to start my magical training with that system, because you're working so actively on expanding the system. But, I'm sticking with the DMH, like all of your recommendations state regarding working a system thoroughly, no dabbling.

In regards to working out my own attributions- will do! And I'll share that on a future Magic Monday, if anyone is interested in the mad ravings of a relative noob. ;-)

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

Yes, this is connected with the DOGD work. I've worked up a series of self-initiation rituals that use a particular Celtic legend cycle as the basis for an analogue of the old mystery initiations of the ancient world. It's finished, but just at the moment there's some question about who's going to publish it; I'll make an announcement when that's settled.

You should definitely continue with the DMH work if you're going to invoke eldritch deities -- the DOGD specifies the deities students are supposed to invoke. Mind you, an argument could be made that in at least some cases, it's a matter of different names for the same entity; Lovecraft and Smith both knew quite a bit about mythology and modeled their tentacular pantheon on relatively classic forms.

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

I was about to mention that I know of someone who's doing this, but Mesosylvania beat me to it.

I'm going to suggest another possible wording for the Elemental Cross:

"Azathoth, Primal Source; Nyarlathotep, Mighty Messenger; Nug of the Silent Stars; Yeb of the Whispering Mists; May the old gods of Nature be with me now and always."

Nug and Yeb aren't gendered in standard Lovecraftiana, but they give birth to other deities, therefore by my standards are female. They are also the Yin and Yang of the system: Nug is among other things the universe as it is, Yeb is among other things the world as we perceive it. For more details, consult The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. ;-)

The other attributions, for those who don't want to go digging in Magic Monday, are Hastur to the east and air, Cthulhu to the west and water, Phauz to the south and fire, Yhoundeh to the north and earth, Shub-Ne'hurrath to Spirit Below and down, and Yog-Sothoth to Spirit Above and up.

What else stirs in the depths

[(Anonymous)]

Any day now I’m half expecting to see Pathway assignations for R'lyehian glyphs, a functional system of ritual magic, and a publication announcement for “The Elder Tarot: The Cards of Hali.”

-Eric S

Re: What else stirs in the depths

[avalterra]

Would buy!

Re: What else stirs in the depths

[ecosophia]

That's certainly not what I had in mind. I laid out everything on the Tree because, as an occultist, that's the tool that came instantly to mind when I wanted to make sure the symbolic side of the story made sense. Still, we'll see what comes of it.

It wouldn't be a Tarot deck, by the way. Divinatory cards play a significant role in the third volume, Chorazin, but the deck used by the old witch Sallie Eagle in that story is a version of the Gypsy Witch deck, a traditional American cartomantic deck -- it's basically a 52-card expansion of the Petit Lenormand. I didn't plan on that -- my characters do things I don't intend, and those are the cards that Sallie Eagle pulled out of a shabby silk wrapper and laid out...

An entry for "Love in the Ruins"

[(Anonymous)]

Off-topic for this post, but I have an entry for the "Love in the Ruins" contest. https://troyjonesiii.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-ruinmans-villanelle.html (It is my first attempt at serious poetry in many years. Most verse I write could be described as "ironic doggerel".)

Re: An entry for "Love in the Ruins"

[ecosophia]

So noted and thank you! If you could also post this to the main blog once that starts up again in February, that would be great.

Re: An entry for "Love in the Ruins"

[(Anonymous)]

Sure thing!

Great Timing!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

This is handy, since I just started Kingsport Sunday night. And may I just say that if you had sat down to write Kingsport and said to yourself "How can I make this book appeal to Maria?" I don't think you could have done a better job. I loved the first book, but a lonely young female protagonist? A mysterious old mansion filled with antiques? A kindly and interesting great aunt? Closets and closets of vintage designer dresses? The idea that there is significantly more going on than meets the eye? Oh, my goodness. Yes, please.

Thanks for some very happy hours reading it, although I think it will soon make for one or two late nights followed by rough mornings. I am REALLY invested in Jenny Parrish and if things go pear-shaped I'll fret until I know how it ends. :)

--Maria

Re: Great Timing!

[ecosophia]

Delighted to hear it. Since spoilers are nobody's friend, I'll just say that Jenny is one of the two central characters of the entire Weird of Hali sequence, and she has a long strange road ahead of her...

Re: Great Timing!

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks, JMG. That's good news. :)

--Maria

Location 2792 of 33714 typo

[(Anonymous)]

OT, in The Weird of Hali Kingsport 'Jenny curtseyed and unfastened her cloak,let Charlotte and Sylvia drew it off her' should be 'draw'. Only typo I've noticed- really good type editing. Really good story to reread, too.

Re: Location 2792 of 33714 typo

[ecosophia]

Duly noted! I'm glad you like the story.

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a Druid equivalent to Ithaqua in the sense of a god of cold lands and their limits? Who would one want to speak to when traveling to the Arctic or Antarctica, for example? Ithaqua sounds quite interesting. I've never heard of a real god like that.

[ecosophia]

The orientation to the cold lands is pretty much unique to the Mythos, but a cold haggard deity of limits -- why, there are plenty of those. Native American gods such as Hobbomock, Matantu, and Atlantow are of the same kind, and the Greek god Hades is not so far off. In Welsh Druid tradition a close equivalent is Arawn, who rules Annwn, the land of the dead, in the cold half of the year (his rival Hafgan, "summer-bright," rules it in the warm half).

Sword and Serpent

[alexandermarcus]

I gather the Blade of Uoht is the Flashing Sword. Is there a WoH version of the Serpent?

Re: Sword and Serpent

[ecosophia]

The Lightning Flash and the Serpent of Wisdom don't really feature in this particular version of the Tree; the Blade of Uoht is a long dagger rather than a sword, and because it's associated with Hastur -- and because it plays an important role in the fourth of the seven books, the one that will have golden tentacles on the cover -- it's assigned to Tiphareth. The Ring of Eibon, the Blade of Uoht, and the Ghorl Nigral or Book of Night -- the mightiest of all tomes -- are the three treasures of drowned Poseidonis, and play a range of symbolic roles in the narrative.

[danielsobieraj]

Apologies for being late to the party!

Any chance of this chart being included as an illustration in forthcoming volumes of the Weird of Hali series? I think it would be great to have this handy in the next volume.

Daniel

[ecosophia]

If I may quote Blake: "The wisest of the ancients considered what is not too explicit as the fittest for instruction, because it rouses the faculties to act." For that reason, no, it's going to be tucked here on an obscure social media site, for those who have the enthusiasm or plain dumb luck to stumble across it. For the same reason, I won't be explaining why there will ultimately be 22 Owen & Jenny short stories. ;-)

(Feel free to drag and drop a copy of the diagram, and print out a copy for yourself if you wish -- that counts as fair use, and I'm not charging for access to this journal, after all.)

[danielsobieraj]

Thank you John, I shall do that.

Your response reminds me of another set of authors I enjoy reading. I have all of their works signed, but they occasionally release special "never before released" short stories or images like this in an e-mail list, and I do print them off and place them inside the books for when I do a reread. I'll do the same with this handy chart!

Cabala

[mesosylvania]

Ha! I'm starting to think a good close read of your Paths of Wisdom (which I haven't had the pleasure of doing) would be a great accompaniment to a reread of the Weird of Hali series.

Re: Cabala

[ecosophia]

Either my Paths of Wisdom or Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah will clarify a lot of the details of this diagram, yes. I suppose that saturating yourself for twenty years in Cabalistic ritual magic, as I did, is another approach. ;-)