When Cthulhu* wakes up. Cthulhu woke up from eternal sleep? Scott Waring discovered this monster Who are the Others

My old internet buddy Scott C. Waring is still looking into satellite photos from DigitalGlobe. Let me remind you that they are all freely available on the Google Earth website. Of course, all this seems strange to a simple layman, but the pleasure of searching on the site is very strong. Scott's followers are in the tens of millions around the world. And this time Scott found something ... According to Scott C. Waring, at the coordinates (I give them exactly) 63 ° 2 "56.73" S, 60 ° 57 "32.38" W near Deception Island, located nearby with Antarctica. The body of a huge squid appeared from the water. The photo shows his head. The head is 30 meters long and 15 meters wide. Tentacles are visible in the water. The total length of the monster will be about 100 meters (!) And maybe a lot more. It is clear that such titans have never been found on Earth. The largest specimen known to science is about 20 meters long. But it is also considered huge. Scott tries to explain this phenomenon. But it cannot be explained. The monster seen on satellite, made in 2013, was found for the first time. The most interesting thing is that the area of ​​​​water itself is small. So the monster was specifically sought. It is hard to believe in such a coincidence. The only mystery is that the picture got on the Internet. Usually these photos are not published.

Someone (for example, journalists from Komsomolskaya Pravda) compares the monster with the legendary Kraken. The kraken is a legendary mythical sea monster of gigantic proportions, a cephalopod known from the descriptions of Icelandic sailors, from whose language its name is derived. The first detailed summary of marine folklore about the Kraken was compiled by the Danish naturalist Eric Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen (1698-1774). He wrote that the kraken is an animal "the size of a floating island." According to Pontoppidan, the kraken is able to grab with its tentacles and drag even the largest warship to the bottom. Even more dangerous for ships is the whirlpool that occurs when the kraken quickly sinks to the seabed. In the English edition of St. James Chronicle" in the late 1770s. the testimony of Captain Robert Jameson and the sailors of his ship was cited about a huge body they saw in 1774, up to 1.5 miles in length and up to 30 feet in height, which either appeared from the water, then sank and finally disappeared "during the extreme excitement of the waters." Following this, they found so many fish in this place that they filled almost the entire ship. This testimony was given in court under oath. According to cryptozoologist Mikhail Goldenkov, evidence of the size of a kraken “from an island” and “thousands of tentacles” indicates that this is not one creature that, with such dimensions, would be torn to pieces by waves even in a weak storm, but a flock of giant cephalopods, perhaps , giant or colossal squid. Smaller squid species are often gregarious, which may indicate that larger species are also gregarious.

But I like another legendary ocean dweller more. This is Cthulhu. a deity from the pantheon of Cthulhu Myths, the lord of the worlds, sleeping at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but nevertheless capable of influencing the human mind. First mentioned in Howard Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928). By the way, Howard Lovecraft is my favorite writer. In appearance, Cthulhu in different parts of the body is similar to an octopus, a dragon and a man: judging by the bas-relief of Anthony Wilcox, the hero of The Call of Cthulhu, and the mysterious ancient statue from the story, the monster has a head with tentacles, a humanoid body covered with scales, and a pair of rudimentary wings. A description from Gustaf Johansen's fictional journal adds that the living Cthulhu squishes and oozes as it moves, and its body is green, gelatinous, and miraculously regenerates with observable rapidity. Its exact growth is not indicated; Johansen likened the monster to a "walking mountain" larger than the "legendary Cyclops"; Cthulhu (floating or walking along the bottom) "raised above the impure foam, like the stern of a demonic galleon." Cthulhu belongs to the lineage of the Old Gods. He lies in a death-like dream atop the underwater city of R'lyeh in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "With the correct alignment of the stars," R'lyeh appears above the water, and Cthulhu is freed. The existence of a prototype of Cthulhu is not known for certain, but it is often hypothesized that Tangaroa (Tangaloa, Kanaloa), the Polynesian deity of the sea, served as the prototype for it. The following arguments are put forward in favor of this hypothesis: the Hawaiians represent Tangaroa in the form of a giant octopus or squid. Cthulhu is an alien creature completely alien to human nature, and the whole history of mankind is just a moment of his sleep. Admirers of Cthulhu are convinced of the great power of their idol, and the death of civilization seems to them a very likely, albeit insignificant, consequence of the awakening of Cthulhu. The description of Cthulhu is given in the "ancient" treatise Necronomicon. This is a fictional book created by Howard Lovecraft and often referenced in works of literature based on the Cthulhu mythos. According to the story "The Witch's Log", this book describes all the magical rituals, as well as the full history of the Ancients, who constantly waged bitter wars. Some believe in the existence of a real prototype of the ancient book, the author of which is Abdul Alhazred, and also that the author invented by Lovecraft had a historical prototype. I have read all versions of this work. And it seems to me that the diabolical magic of this book is much older than Loughcraft himself. Cthulhu is described there more than once. Since he is the last of the mythical Gods, who allegedly fought in space for their undivided power in the entire universe. By the way, the author of the find found a huge squid in the areolas of the “habitat” of Cthulhu himself. The Southern Ocean is the conventional name for the waters of the three oceans (Pacific, Atlantic and Indian) surrounding Antarctica. Sometimes unofficially identified as the "fifth ocean", which, however, does not have a northern border clearly defined by islands and continents. The conditional area is 20.327 million km² (assuming the northern boundary of the ocean is 60 degrees south latitude). The greatest depth (South Sandwich Trench) is 8428 m. It is interesting that some orientalists believe that Cthulhu was the high priest of the Ancients. And there is a legend according to which if the magician calls him at the wrong time, then Cthulhu will rise from the abyss of the Pacific Ocean and strike humanity with an unprecedented disease - bouts of insanity, from which no one can escape. The picture was taken on April 12, 2013. Need I remind you what happened in December 2013? It was in 2013 that this madness began, which will very soon lead the world to the brink of complete destruction. So, it turns out that fairy tales are not so fabulous? In any case, Cthulhu, and even the Kraken, have every reason to be true. And the photographs found by Scott C. Waring only prove this? So, apparently, everything is.

Oddly enough, I want to know the history of the appearance of Cthulhu.
The whole genesis, so to speak.

Cthulhu (English Cthulhu) in Myths Cthulhu is a monster sleeping at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, capable of influencing the human mind. First mentioned in Howard Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928).

In appearance, Cthulhu in different parts of the body is similar to an octopus, a dragon and a man: judging by the bas-relief from Anthony Wilcox, the hero of The Call of Cthulhu, and the mysterious ancient statue from the story, the monster has a head with tentacles, a humanoid body covered with scales, and a pair of rudimentary wings. A description from Gustaf Johansen's fictional journal adds that the living Cthulhu squishes and oozes as it moves, and its body is green, gelatinous, and miraculously regenerates with observable rapidity. Its exact growth is not indicated; Johansen likened the monster to a "walking mountain" larger than the "legendary Cyclops"; Cthulhu (floating or walking along the bottom) "raised above the impure foam, like the stern of a demonic galleon."

Cthulhu belongs to the genus of the Ancients. He lies in a death-like dream atop the underwater city of R'lyeh in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "With the correct alignment of the stars," R'lyeh appears above the water, and Cthulhu is freed.

The Cthulhu Mythos describes an ancient religious tradition of worship (cult) of Cthulhu. According to Lovecraft, cultists are present all over the world; in particular, among the Eskimos of Greenland, and among the inhabitants of New England. At their meetings, the cultists arrange human sacrifices, rage, dance and read the mantra "Ph'nglui mglv'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh vgah'nagl fhtagn", which, according to the testimony of some cultists (according to the "Call of Cthulhu"), should be understood as "In In his house in R'lyeh, the dead Cthulhu waits, sees dreams.

Cthulhu is able to influence the mind of human beings, but his abilities are drowned out by the water column, so that only the dreams of especially sensitive people remain subject to him. In The Call of Cthulhu, the dreams cast by Cthulhu greatly horrify those who see them, and sometimes drive them to madness. Cthulhu is an alien creature, completely alien to human nature, and the whole history of mankind is just a moment of his sleep. Cultists are convinced of the great power of their idol, and the death of civilization seems to them a very likely, albeit insignificant, consequence of the awakening of Cthulhu.

Here's what the myths say about it:

CTHULHU (also KUTULU, CTHULHUT, THU THU, TULU). A formless Great Old One who is most often described as a clawed, octopus-headed creature with large, bat-like wings. Cthulhu sleeps in a death trance in R "lyeh, but one day he will wake up in order to rule the world once again.

Records of Cthulhu are sketchy, but it seems that he was born on the world of Wurl in the twenty-third nebula. Later He roamed the green double star Hoth, where He copulated with a being called Idh-yaa to beget the Great Old Ones Ghatanothoa, Ythhogtha, and Tsog-Ommoga. Then Cthulhu and his offspring flew to Yuggoth, from where they descended to Earth.

Upon Their arrival, Cthulhu and his retinue on an island in the Pacific Ocean built a huge stone city R "lieh. At first, the Elder Beings who lived on earth for millions of years before the arrival of Cthulhu resisted the offspring of Cthulhu. After the war, in which the descendants of Cthulhu destroyed all the cities of the Elder Beings , both camps declared peace and agreed not to interfere with each other.

After this, Cthulhu and his descendants enjoyed freedom in this world for many years, but they soon fell into a period of deep expectation. For millions of years, humanity has slowly evolved. Cthulhu spoke to these new creatures in their dreams, telling them where the statues with his image were, which he brought from the stars. Thus the cult of Cthulhu was born. But one day a black R "lieh suffered a disaster. Perhaps it was the revenge of unknown deities or changes in the stars, the moon, separated from the Earth (although it is believed that the servants of Cthulhu would know about this). The time of this disaster is also unknown; according to the doctrine of the cult, this happened after the birth of his first cults, others believe that this happened long before the beginning of the development of mankind. For no reason, the city of R "lieh plunged into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, slamming Cthulhu and his descendants into a trap. The water blocked most of their telepathic signals, preventing any contact with their servants except through random dreams. Cthulhu couldn't do anything and is waiting for the stars to align in their proper order; only then will he be released from prison.

Since then, Cthulhu's tomb has risen from the water from time to time, freeing Cthulhu for brief periods. Every time, after several days or weeks, R "lieh again plunged back into the sea. However, the day will come when the black city will not return to the seabed. Zasim Cthulhu will kill and rush around the world.

The cults of Cthulhu are widespread; traces of his worship remained in Haiti, Louisiana, the South Pacific Ocean, Mexico City, Arabia, Siberia, K "n-yan, and Greenland. Immortal priests supported the cult somewhere in the mountains of China, but the true center of the cult was located somewhere in Arabia, near Irem.The first work of Professor Angell and his successors gave much information about hidden cults.

Mostly this cult has remained secret, but legends still circulate in the Hawaiian Islands about Kana-loa, an evil squid god who is imprisoned in the underworld. The rituals of Cthulhu are often performed near the ocean or a large bay, and it is believed that halloween- one of its highest festivities. Rumor has it that Cthulhu is simply the high priest of Yog-Sothoth. Some enmity exists between Cthulhu and his brother, the Unspeakable Hastur. However, no one knows what caused the conflict between them.

In some texts, Cthulhu is called a water elemental, despite the ocean blocking his telepathic signals to humanity. The Sassekh manuscript mentions Cthulhu as a manifestation of Nyarlathotep, although no other source interprets it that way. Francis Laney tried to connect Cthulhu Kuiha-Ayar with the god of war Huitzilopohtli. This is an obvious nonsense; Huitzilopohtli is the god of the Aztecs and he does not look like Cthulhu at all. Finally, some have drawn parallels between Cthulhu and K'thulu Souhis, the high priest of Mu who escaped to South America. Some accept either of these hypotheses.

In appearance, Cthulhu is similar to an octopus, a dragon and a man in different parts of the body: according to Lovecraft's description, it is green, sticky and fat, has an octopus-like head, a twisted dragon-like body covered with scales and a pair of rudimentary wings. Its exact size is not indicated, but, judging by the story "The Call of Cthulhu", it is clearly no smaller than a medium-sized ship. It was first mentioned in the story "Dagon" (1917) by the same grandfather.

Cthulhu lies "in a dream like death" in the sunken crypt city of R'lye (R'layh in another translation) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "When the stars are in the right position," R'lye will rise from the seabed and Cthulhu will wake up. The Cthulhu Mythos describes an ancient religious tradition of Cthulhu worship. According to Lovecraft, cultists are present among the Eskimos of Greenland, and among the inhabitants of New England, and in general throughout the world. At their meetings, the cultists arrange human sacrifices, dance and chant the mantra "Ph'nglui mglv'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh vgah'nagl fhtagn", which, according to the testimony of some cultists, should be understood as "In his home in R'lyeh, the dead Cthulhu sleeps, waiting in the wings".

Cthulhu is able to influence the mind of human beings, but his abilities are drowned out by the water column, so that only dreams remain subject to him. In the story, the dreams cast by Cthulhu greatly horrify those who saw them, and sometimes drive them to madness.

Lovecraft's spelling is surprisingly close in pronunciation to the Sumerian deity Kululu - the main deity of the Sumerians Enki lives in his house at the bottom of the sea.

His name is pronounced in the language of mortals, something like Khlûl'hloo or Kathooloo, as Grandpa Lovecraft bequeathed to us:

None of the English pronunciations of the sound "c" ( Cthulhu) No. In English for sound c combination is used ts, while the letter With reads like Russian With before letters e, i And y("fifty With ent”, for example, against the Russian transcription “cent”) or as “k” in all other cases. Thus Cthulhu cannot be in English sources, just like Stulhu, because the letter combination "ct" can only be read as "ct". Exceptions are abbreviations. Most likely, such a pronunciation came from one of the translations of the pseudonecronomicon (Simon's Necronomicon).

In the youth layers of the Runet, the image of Cthulhu gained popularity along with the bear and even acquired its own emoticons - (;,;), (:?, :-E, (jlj), and also?. Cthulhu has become the subject of many caricatures, anecdotes, jokes and parodies (common phrases “Cthulhu sighs fsekh!”; “Cthulhu fhtagn!”; “Cthulhu sighs your mosk!”). In these jokes, Cthulhu is sometimes attributed to actions unusual for him, borrowed from similar images, for example, eating the human “mosk” (brain) ( perhaps because of the similarity with illithids and because of the property of Cthulhu himself to control the minds of people at a distance, that is, the absorption of the mind, and then paraphrased as "absorption of the brain").

The cult of Cthulhu, which causes quite justified fears of the heads of many states, from North Korea to France and the United States, has long been in the darkness of scientific oblivion on the part of ethnographers and religious scholars, being the property of a few scattered and isolated sects. The first mention of the worship of Cthulhu is found in "Kitab al-Azif" by the Arab traveler and occultist Abdullah ibn-Hazred (or Abdul Alhazred, as he is often called in English sources). This book was written in Damascus around the year 730 and is not so much a mystical as a historical treatise by an aged wanderer about what was and is gone. There were many works of this kind in the enlightened Arab East. A native of Yemen, Abdullah ibn Khazred traveled a lot, from the Punjab to the Maghreb, easily learned foreign languages ​​​​and did not miss the opportunity to boast of the ability to read and translate manuscripts that were beyond the power of less learned people.

Ibn Khazred showed a rather specific interest in the forgotten beliefs, secret cults and dark superstitions of the various tribes and sects he encountered along the way. The famous American writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft undeservedly calls him "the mad Arab". In fact, even if by modern standards Ibn Khazred behaved somewhat eccentrically, sometimes risking his life to reach the sand-covered ruins of the "city of columns" of Irem, such actions are quite justified by the desire to achieve the goal known to any serious traveler.

In the final book of his entire life - "Kitab al-Azif" ibn-Hazred spoke about a sect, or rather, a group of sects that worship the Elder Gods and seek to help them subjugate the entire Earth to their power. An important role in this is played by the high priest of the Elder Gods, the monstrous Cthulhu, sleeping in a dead sleep in the abyss of the sea and under the water column waiting in the wings when the stars and planets line up in a certain order. Then, with the help of the will of the adepts, Cthulhu will wake up himself and wake up the Elder Gods. Until then, adherents do not allow their religion to fade away, regularly conducting rituals and chants.

All these gloomy beliefs would have remained the property of researchers in the history of religions, if at the beginning of the 20th century the location of the sunken city of R "Laikh and the crypt of the sleeping priest of the Elder Gods, Cthulhu, had not been accurately established.

For the first time, civilized white people started talking about Cthulhu in 1860. An Arctic expedition from Princeton University searched Iceland and Greenland for ancient Viking sites and runic inscriptions carved on stones. The hypothesis of the discovery of America by Scandinavian sailors, popular in those years, was tested. The inscriptions were not found, but on the west coast of Greenland they discovered an endangered tribe of Eskimos who worshiped the devil - tornasuk. In any case, so claimed the neighboring tribes, who tried to stay away from adherents of a frightening religion. This was doubly strange, given the cruel and sometimes savage pagan rites common among the Eskimos of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. The head of the expedition, professor of anthropology Joel Korn, visited the tribe fading in isolation and even managed to talk to the chief shaman - angekok. The tribe had a fetish: a small figurine of porous black-green stone, standing on a tall granite boulder. The Eskimos danced around it as they welcomed the sunrise after the long polar winter. In the same place, near the boulder, human sacrifices of captives or fellow tribesmen were performed. Professor Korn was interested in rituals hitherto unknown among the Eskimos, passed down from generation to generation from time immemorial. Of particular interest was the chant with which they addressed the figurine symbolizing the tornasuka. These were the words of a completely different language, unknown to science and unlike anything else! Angekok carefully reproduced the phoneme of the words of the diabolical liturgy for the curious professor. The Eskimos worshiped the powerful Cthulhu sleeping at the bottom of the sea and made sacrifices to him, assuring them of their loyalty to the day of awakening.

The publication of Joel Korn's report in the annual collection of the Royal Geographical Society, of which the professor was a member, aroused the interest of the enlightened world. The British court poet Alfred Tennyson immediately reacted to this with the poem "Cthulhu":

Far from the storms raging above him
At the bottom of the abyss, under the abyss of the higher waters,
Deep sleep, eternal and deaf,
Cthulhu sleeps soundly; a rare beam will shine
In the bottomless darkness; the flesh of the sides is covered
Giant sponges with eternal armor.
And looks up at the weak light of day,
From many hidden corners
Having sensitively spread the network of living branches,
Polyps gigantic predatory forest.
He sleeps for centuries, monstrous worms
In a dream, swallowing; but wait for the day
The hour of the last fire will come;
And to the world of people and inhabitants of heaven

For the first time he will emerge - and all will come to an end.

Interest in the degenerate Eskimo tribe quickly faded, and another time they started talking about Cthulhu in 1908. At a meeting of the American Archaeological Society in New Orleans, police inspector John R. Legrasse brought a figurine of black and green stone for identification. The figurine was captured during a police raid in the woods of Louisiana. A sect of idolaters, suspected of human sacrifice, held their disgusting worship on an island in the middle of a swamp. Taken by surprise, the mestizos hardly resisted. The police were able to find the decomposed remains and an eight-foot granite pillar with an incomprehensibly tiny stone idol on top. Since Legrasse, who was investigating this case, could not identify a strange cult, the conscientious inspector turned to specialists.

To his surprise, the figurine aroused the frantic interest of Professor William Channing Webb, who had taken part in Korn's Arctic expedition almost half a century ago. Webb stated that the mestizo fetish strongly resembles the idol of Eskimo devil worshipers. But how could the figurine get from distant Greenland to the American South? It is obvious that these were two different statues. Professor Webb asked if Legrasse knew about the chants of the sectarians? This was also recorded in the inspector's papers. A strange litany in an unknown language sounded like "Ph" nglui mglw "nafh Cthulhu R" lyeh wgah "nagl fhtagn", a pathetic imitation of the phonetics of absolutely inhuman words, determined by the physiological structure of the speech apparatus, completely different from the earth.

These are the words William Webb heard on the west coast of Greenland!

Two identical cults, two identical figurines of savage tribes in different parts of the Earth - it was incredible! Inspector Legrasse added that during interrogations he found out the translation of the pagan chant: "In his house in R" "Dead Cthulhu waits in a dream." The arrested mestizos told a lot about the Elder Gods and the great priest of Cthulhu in a dark crypt at the bottom of the sea. Howard Phillips Lovecraft sketched a statue of Cthulhu.

Lovecraft, an extraordinarily erudite man, made a connection between these two strange sects and the description of the forgotten cults made in Kitab al-Azif. He outlined his observations in the story "The Call of Cthulhu", thanks to which Cthulhu gained a lot of admirers, especially in today's Russia. Modern sectarians conduct role-playing games, and the results of Internet voting, when more than sixteen thousand people thought about the awakening of Cthulhu at the same time, is a good example of the wild popularity of the Elder Gods.

The final chord in this story was the discovery in 1925 by the crew of the Alert yacht of strange ruins that rose from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean as a result of seismic activity in the region of 47 degrees 9 minutes south latitude and 126 degrees 43 minutes west longitude. This is how the city of R "Laich was found. The island did not have time to be blurred, as it soon went under water again. The studies carried out by the US Navy in the second half of the twentieth century did not remain a state secret for long. The phenomenon of R" Laich was recognized as real. The heads of state left Cthulhu alone until better times. Treating him with suspicion, and anxiously waiting for the great sleeper to wake up.

Cthulhuism

Cthulhuism is a parodic religion similar to Pastafarianism. Cthulhians claim that Cthulhu will wake up and "zohavait fsekh".

The Cthulhians practice several playful religious rituals:
Offering sacrifices. Each cultist is obliged to perform a ritual zokhavyvanie at least once a month. To do this, you need to eat something tasty and say loudly: “Zohavano in the name of Cthulhu!”
offerings. Any cultist who has spent, lost or otherwise parted with some property must consider this a membership fee for the benefit of Cthulhu, of which he must immediately notify others by saying “Cthulhu zohawal!”

Although Cthulhuism is a Russian phenomenon, parodic Cthulhu cults also exist in other countries, such as the American Campus Crusade for Cthulhu.

Cthulhuism, as a trend, in turn gave rise to new pseudo-cult manifestations: in particular, a doctrine called fkhtagnizm appeared in Chelyabinsk. Adherents of Phtagnism, perceiving Cthulhuism as a kind of Old Testament, generalize it and claim that inside everyone there is an unknown force that can wake up and make truly global changes. The basic postulate of fkhtagnizma says: "In his house, everyone will wake up at the appointed hour!" He draws a parallel with the main spell of the Cthulhu cult: "Pkhnglui mglunawh Cthulhu Rleich ugahnagl fhtagn!" (In his house, the dead Cthulhu will wake up at the appointed hour), cited by Howard F. Lovecraft himself.

In July 2006, while preparing for the Internet conference of Russian President V.V. Putin, a playful question “How do you feel about the awakening of Cthulhu?” was among the leaders in popularity. 16682 people voted for him. At the conference itself, the answer to it, as well as to other questions of "unnaturally high popularity", did not follow. However, in an informal conversation with journalists, Putin said: "I am generally suspicious of any otherworldly forces. If someone wants to turn to true values, then it is better to read the Bible, the Talmud or the Koran. It will be more useful."

When Cthulhu wakes up...

In one of Vladimir Putin's annual live online conferences with Russian citizens, he was asked how he felt about the awakening of Cthulhu, a monster sleeping at the bottom of the ocean that can influence the human mind. The question was clearly urgent - after all, 16,682 users voted for it via the Internet!

Putin found it difficult to give an immediate answer about his attitude to Cthulhu. After the end of the communication session with the people and the consultation of some expert, who had at least a rough idea of ​​what it was about, the Russian leader told at the subsequent meeting with the press that he was suspicious of any otherworldly forces.

The statement, of course, is very ambiguous, for the Lord God and his saints are also forces not of this world, but it must be admitted that Cthulhu, as a phenomenon of a very special kind, caused Vladimir Vladimirovich's suspicious attitude quite reasonably.

Notes of a Mad Arab

The cult of Cthulhu, which, due to celestial coincidences, which will be discussed below, causes fears of the heads of many states, has long been in the darkness of scientific oblivion on the part of ethnographers and religious scholars. It was the property of a few disparate and isolated sects.

The first mention of the worship of Cthulhu is found in "Kitab al-Azif" - the work of the medieval Arab traveler and occultist Abdullah ibn-Hazred. This book was written in Damascus around the year 730 and is not so much a mystical as a historical treatise by an aged wanderer about what was and is gone.

There were quite a few works of this kind in the enlightened Arab East. A native of Yemen, Abdullah ibn Khazred traveled a lot - from Western India to present-day Morocco and Tunisia, easily mastered foreign languages ​​​​and did not miss the opportunity to boast of the ability to read and translate manuscripts, which other learned people could not cope with. The learned Yemenite showed particular interest in the forgotten beliefs, secret cults and dark superstitions of the various tribes and sects he met on his way.

The famous American writer Howard Lovecraft calls him "the mad Arab". In fact, even if by modern standards he behaved at times eccentrically, his actions are quite justified by the desire to achieve the goal that is characteristic of any serious traveler and ethnographer.

In the final book of his life - "Kitab al-Azif", the scientist spoke about a sect, or rather, a group of sects that worship the Elder Gods and seek to help them subjugate the entire Earth to their power.

The primary role in this is played by the high priest of the Elder Gods, the monstrous half-man-half-lizard Cthulhu, sleeping like a dead sleep in the abyss of the sea and under the water, waiting in the wings for a heavenly sign to happen. Then, with the help of adepts who will send a collective energy impulse, designed to enter into resonance with the forces of the astrological alignment, Cthulhu will wake up himself and wake up the Elder Gods. Until then, adherents do not allow their religion to fade away, regularly conducting rituals and chants.

All these beliefs would have remained the property of researchers in the history of religions, if at the beginning of the 20th century the location of the sunken city of R’layh and the crypt of the sleeping priest of the Elder Gods, Cthulhu, had not been accurately established.

arctic devil

For the first time, representatives of European civilization started talking about Cthulhu in 1860. An Arctic expedition from Princeton University searched Iceland and Greenland for ancient Viking sites and runic inscriptions carved on stones. The hypothesis of the discovery of America by Scandinavian sailors, popular in those years, was tested.

The inscriptions were not found, but on the west coast of Greenland they discovered an endangered tribe of Eskimos who worshiped the devil - tornasuk. In any case, this was what the neighboring tribes claimed, trying to stay away from adherents of a frightening religion.

This was doubly strange, given the cruel and sometimes savage pagan rites common among the Eskimos of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic.

The head of the expedition, professor of anthropology Joel Korn, visited the tribe fading in isolation and even managed to get the chief shaman to talk. The tribe had a fetish: a small figurine of porous black-and-green stone, standing on a high granite boulder. The Eskimos danced around it as they welcomed the sunrise after the long polar winter. In the same place, near the boulder, human sacrifices of captives or fellow tribesmen were performed.

Professor Korn was interested in rituals hitherto unknown among the Eskimos, passed down from generation to generation from time immemorial. Of particular interest was the chant with which they addressed the figurine, symbolizing the devil. These were the words of a completely different language, unknown to science and unlike anything else!

The shaman carefully reproduced the course of the diabolical liturgy for the curious professor. It turned out that the Eskimos worshiped the powerful Cthulhu sleeping at the bottom of the sea and made sacrifices to him, assuring him of their loyalty and waiting for his awakening.

The publication of Korn's report in the annual collection of the British Royal Geographical Society, of which the professor was a member, aroused the interest of the enlightened world. The court poet Alfred Tennyson immediately reacted to this with the famous poem "Cthulhu":

Far from the storms raging above him
At the bottom of the abyss, under the abyss of the higher waters,
Deep sleep, eternal and deaf,
Cthulhu sleeps soundly; a rare beam will shine

In the bottomless darkness; the flesh of the sides is covered
Giant sponges with eternal armor.
And looks up at the weak light of day,
From many hidden corners

Having sensitively spread the network of living branches,
Polyps gigantic predatory forest.
He sleeps for centuries, monstrous worms

In a dream, swallowing; but wait for the day
The hour of the last fire will come;

And to the world of people and inhabitants of heaven
For the first time he will emerge - and all will come to an end.

Priest in the Dark Crypt

Interest in the degenerate Eskimo tribe quickly faded, and the next time they started talking about Cthulhu was in 1908.

At a meeting of the American Archaeological Society in New Orleans, police inspector John R. Legrasse brought a figurine of black and green stone for identification purposes. The figurine was captured during a police raid in the woods of Louisiana. A sect of idolaters, suspected of human sacrifice, held their disgusting worship on an island in the middle of a swamp. Taken by surprise, the mestizos hardly resisted.

The police were able to find the decomposed remains and an eight-foot granite pillar with an incomprehensibly tiny stone idol on top. Since Legrasse, who was investigating this case, could not identify a strange cult, the conscientious inspector turned to specialists.

To his surprise, the figurine aroused the frantic interest of Professor William Channing Webb, who had taken part in Korn's Arctic expedition as an intern almost half a century ago. Webb stated that the mestizo fetish strongly resembles the idol of Eskimo devil worshipers. But how could the figurine get from distant Greenland to the American South?

It is obvious that these were two different statues. Professor Webb asked if the policeman knew about the chants of the sectarians? This was also recorded in the inspector's papers. A strange litany in an unknown language sounded like a pitiful imitation of the phonetics of absolutely inhuman words, which suggested the physiological structure of the speech apparatus, which was completely unlike the earthly one. But these are the words that William Webb heard on the west coast of Greenland!

Two identical cults, two identical figurines of savage tribes in different parts of the Earth - it was incredible! The inspector added that during interrogations he found out the translation of the pagan chant: "In his house in R'layh, the dead Cthulhu is waiting in a dream." The arrested mestizos told a lot about the Elder Gods and the great priest in the dark crypt at the bottom of the sea. Howard Phillips Lovecraft, who was visiting New Orleans, sketched a statue of Cthulhu.

Lovecraft, an unusually erudite man, made a connection between these two strange sects and the description of the forgotten cults made in Kitab al-Azif. He outlined his observations in the story "The Call of Cthulhu", thanks to which he gained a lot of admirers, including in today's Russia.

Modern cultists, worshiping the ruthless and bloodthirsty high priest of time immemorial, hold role-playing games to find a place in the violent world of Cthulhu and the Elder Gods. And the results of the Internet voting that took place during the communication of Russians with the leader of the country, when more than 16 thousand people thought about the awakening of the monster at the same time, is a good example of the fair popularity of the Elder Gods.

strange ruins

The final chord in this story was the discovery in 1925 by the crew of the Alert yacht of huge strange ruins that rose from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean as a result of seismic activity in the region of 47 degrees 9 minutes south latitude and 126 degrees 43 minutes west longitude. So the city of R'lyah was found, which, however, soon went under water again.

Research carried out by the US Navy in the second half of the twentieth century did not remain a state secret for long. The phenomenon was recognized as real. The heads of state left Cthulhu alone until better times. Treating him with suspicion and apprehensively waiting for the great Sleeping Priest to wake up.

Apophis - a sign of darkness and death

But what then, according to the fans of Cthulhu, will happen? Yes, in fact, everything is the same as described in any legend about the end of the world: heavenly fire, devouring everything in its path; floods that will swallow up most of the land; terrible diseases that will bring to the grave those who did not know about the existence of Cthulhu; the triumph of his few followers and their resettlement in some other spheres - either purely astral, or completely material ...

But there is one circumstance that moderates the desire to include this cult in the category of superstitious delirium. According to the approximate calculations of Ibn Khazred, who, like any enlightened Arab in those days, had knowledge of astrology, Cthulhu will wake up around 2030. Approximately the same date turned out according to the calculations of the expert on the occult Howard Lovecraft - from 2029 to 2031.

Both lived at a time when such a prospect could not particularly frighten their contemporaries. But the indicated period is very worrying for modern astronomers: in their opinion, there is a great chance that in 2029 the Earth will collide with the asteroid Apophis, named after the ancient Egyptian god of darkness and destruction.

“Pfsmo will wake Cthulhu,” said the legend of the Eskimo devil-worshippers. What is this random consonance? Or - scary to think! Is it still a memory of the future?

Cthulhu is an ugly creature that appears in dreams that make the blood run cold. The inhabitant of the deep sea is not distinguished by antiquity, like ghosts and vampires, the heroes of European legends - the creature settled in the mysterious worlds of books, suffering from nightmares, only at the beginning of the 20th century. But today, modern science fiction with elements of mysticism and horror is unthinkable without it.

History of appearance

Creepy mythology, filled with chaos and nightmares, was invented by the American writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft, initiating the genre of mystical horror, which many authors later turned to. Lovecraft's universe has a special atmosphere of cosmic fear, inexplicable to humans. Mythology consists of a large galaxy of deities, "half-breeds" and monsters, which are both otherworldly and quite real.

The main deity of the pantheon is the terrible monster Cthulhu. Readers met this character in 1928 in the story "The Call of Cthulhu", and since then the creature has become a constant hero of the author's works. Ridges of Madness, published in 1931, is considered the key story from the Cthulhu Mythos cycle.

According to the researchers of Lovecraft's work, the prototype for the vile monster was the god of the sea element Tangaroa, who lives in the epic of the Polynesians. And there is a lot of evidence for that. The inhabitants of Hawaii represented the sea lord as a squid or an octopus of enormous size (the book Cthulhu in appearance is also a representative of cephalopods). In the worlds of the American science fiction writer, there was a place for the deity Getanoa, whose name echoes the name of the Polynesian god. And finally, Howard Lovecraft placed Cthulhu to hibernate near the islands of Polynesia.

Fans of the writer's work still have questions about the pronunciation of the character's name. The author explained that in fact the word sounds and is written as "Khlul'Hluu", and its roots should be sought in the language of the ancients (he did not specify which people).

The concept of "Cthulhu myths" arose after the death of the brilliant creator of horror films. The term appeared with the light hand of August Derleth, writer, friend and colleague of Howard Lovecraft. He edited and added to the unfinished works, noting specific artistic techniques and cast of characters. Derleth was later joined by Richard Tierney who expanded on the myths. In the future, Frank Long, Colin Wilson and, of course, pored over the Cthulhu universe.

Cthulhu in myths

The evil god rests peacefully in his arms in the sunken city of R'lyeh (house of the dead) in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, waiting for the heavenly bodies to take a certain position. Then Cthulhu will wake up from sleep and go to sow devastation and chaos around the world.

"Father of Horror" Lovecraft claims in the books that the ancient religion of this deity exists in every corner of the globe. Greenland natives and residents of part of the American states believe in an underwater monster. On the pages of stories, the author tells about the rite of worship of Cthulhu, which requires human sacrifice. Adherents of the cult dance and chant the mantra "Ph" nglui mglv "nafh Cthulhu R" lieh vgah "nagl fkhtagn", which translates as "In his house in R" Lieh, the dead Cthulhu sleeps, he will wake up at the appointed hour.

God appears before the reader in the form of a giant (like a mountain, even higher than the Cyclops) with the features of an octopus, a man and a dragon, covered with how many green scales. Long nails flaunt on the arms and legs, and wings on the back, like a bat. The head of the sea monster is devoid of vegetation, the mouth is framed by many tentacles. Followers of Lovecraft described the living monster as squelching as it moved.

The descendant of the Ancients has the ability to influence people, but since the giant rests on the seabed, this talent loses its power. But Cthulhu is cunning and goes the other way - he gives a person terrible dreams, from which it is easy to lose one's mind.

A terrible creature - the father of Cthulla, a young lady of cosmic origin. The secret daughter of the deity, like two drops of water similar to him, is hiding in a place called Yuth. The mission of the girl is to make sure that her father does not die. In case of death, she will revive him to life. Therefore, the body of the heiress is vigilantly guarded by the servants of Cthulhu.

Screen adaptations

An unknown monster appears in a number of works of world cinema. Cthulhu was called to rise from the bottom of the seas by occultists from the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, directed by Harold Ramis. Adherents of the cult used a book of spells in the rite.

The deity is given episodes in three episodes of the animated film "South Park". Here, the monster was awakened from its sleep by employees of an oil refinery who blew up an oil platform.

In 2005, the film "The Call of Cthulhu" was released based on the story of the same name by the American progenitor of mystical horrors. Director Andrew Lehman decided to stylize the film as a silent black-and-white movie, believing that such a decision would better convey the atmosphere of a work of art. The film stars Matt Feuer, John Bohlen, Ralph Lucas and others.

The last mention in the cinema of Cthulhu happened in 2007 - the picture bears the name of this sinister character and tells about the adventures of the offspring of the head of the Order of Dagon. The director was Dan Gildark, and Jason Cottle, Casey Curran, Ethan Atkinson, Patrick McKnight, Kara Buono met on the set.

1. To attract tourists to the Kammon Sea Strait (Japan), the Attractions Association marketers created a commercial in which the “local Cthulhu” awakens. A monster 230 meters high was named Kaisendon.
2. Based on the mythology of Cthulhu, 130 playing cards of the online game "Heartstone" from "World of Warcraft" are based.

1. The Cthulhuist Church operates in the world, taking the "Call of Cthulhu" as the basis of the doctrine. The slogan of the occultists sounds like "Cthulhu fhtagn." They say that among the 16 million people who identify themselves with the church, 60 thousand are from Russia.
2. Cthulhu is so popular in popular culture that the creators of memes could not get past the deity. Internet dreamers have come up with hundreds of pictures with phrases that mention the name of the monster. One of the popular ones is "Cthulhu fell asleep for our sins."

Quotes

"This cult will never cease, it will continue until the stars again take a favorable position, and the secret priests raise the great Cthulhu from his grave to revive His subjects and restore His power on earth."

"He is not dead who can lie forever."

"In strange epochs even death can die."

“I looked into the eyes of universal horror, and since then even the spring sky and summer flowers have been poisoned for me by its poison. But I don't think I'm destined to live long. Just as my grandfather passed away, as poor Johansen passed away, so I have to leave this world. I know too much, and yet the cult is still alive.

“The one who rises can plunge into the abyss, and the one who plunges into the abyss can rise again.”