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128-531: A recurring theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of humanity in the face of the cosmic horrors that exist in the universe, with Lovecraft constantly referring to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a death-like sleep. Lovecraft named several of these deities, including Cthulhu , Ghatanothoa , and Yig . With

256-619: A "deity" and various cultures have conceptualized their deities differently. Monotheistic religions typically refer to their god in masculine terms, while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways—male, female, hermaphroditic , or genderless. Many cultures—including the ancient Mesopotamians , Egyptians , Greeks , Romans , and Germanic peoples —have personified natural phenomena , variously as either deliberate causes or effects. Some Avestan and Vedic deities were viewed as ethical concepts. In Indian religions , deities have been envisioned as manifesting within

384-488: A Great Old One. An invisible wolf-like fiend similar to Fenrir of Norse mythology (if not coincident). Mh'ithrha ( Arch-Lord of Tindalos ) is the lord of the Hounds of Tindalos , and the most powerful. Although not an actual Outer God as such, its form and astounding powers defy standard classification. Mh'ithra's eternal battle with Yog-Sothoth is said to be legendary. Mlandoth is a primal entity or force, not dissimilar to

512-424: A black, shapeless, malevolent mist. The sight of such a fiend is unsettling if not traumatizing. Kaajh'Kaalbh is a lesser Outer God, servitor of Azathoth , but secluded in a parallel chaotic-dimension where everything is unstable. The god itself is constantly formed or disrupted and has no true form at all. Whoever attempts summoning this entity needs the aid of a dimensional shambler , and the deity may manifest in

640-557: A colossal, vampiric, red mass of both tentacles and eyes. It dwells within the realm of Rhylkos , which matches with the red planet Mars , and whoever summons Uvhash witnesses an atrocious death. He has affinities with the star vampires , and is rumored to have been one of mad emperor Caligula 's eldritch sponsors as well. There is enmity with both the Elder God Nodens and the Great Old One Gi-Hoveg. Xa'ligha ( Master of

768-422: A creator God or transcendental absolute principle ( monistic theologies), which manifests immanently in nature. Henotheism accepts the existence of more than one deity, but considers all deities as equivalent representations or aspects of the same divine principle, the highest. Monolatry is the belief that many deities exist, but that only one of these deities may be validly worshipped. Monotheism

896-505: A false prophet, appears in Dunsany's The Gods of Pegana , and Mynarthitep, a god described as "angry", appears in Dunsany's "The Sorrow of Search". Nyarlathotep differs from the other beings in a number of ways. Most of them are exiled to stars, like Yog-Sothoth and Hastur , or sleeping and dreaming like Cthulhu ; Nyarlathotep, however, is active and frequently walks the Earth in the guise of

1024-540: A few exceptions, Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, et al., this loose pantheon apparently exists outside of normal space-time. Although worshipped by deranged human (and inhuman) cults, these beings are generally imprisoned or restricted in their ability to interact with most people (beneath the sea, inside the Earth, in other dimensions, and so on), at least until the hapless protagonist is unwittingly exposed to them. Lovecraft visited this premise in many of his stories, notably his 1928 short story, " The Call of Cthulhu ", with reference to

1152-569: A few of them, particularly Dumuzid , Geshtinanna , and Gugalanna were said to have either died or visited the underworld. Both male and female deities were widely venerated. In the Sumerian pantheon, deities had multiple functions, which included presiding over procreation, rains, irrigation, agriculture, destiny, and justice. The gods were fed, clothed, entertained, and worshipped to prevent natural catastrophes as well as to prevent social chaos such as pillaging, rape, or atrocities. Many of

1280-427: A formless black void, with seven pulsing orb-like eyes, and is mainly worshiped by ghouls , which tribute him in a defiled cult described in the mysterious Cambuluc Scrolls of the wizard Lang-Fu, dating back 1295 AD. Peering through the eyes of this god, after a hideous and devastating ritual, allows one to see straight into Azathoth 's court. It is rumoured that the powers of Mongolian warlord Temujin (Genghis Khan)

1408-642: A huge reptilian monster. (HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea") Karakal, also known as Karakal of Flames is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He might also be the same being as Zo-Kalar. (HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea", Mike Minnis' "The Crawler of Pnoth") As it is known in the Mythos, the Outer Gods are ruled by Azathoth , the "Blind Idiot God", who holds court at

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1536-568: A human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man. He has "a thousand" other forms, most of these reputed to be maddeningly horrific. Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults serving them; Nyarlathotep seems to serve these cults and take care of the deities' affairs in their absence. Most of the gods use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can be mistaken for a human being. The other Outer Gods and Great Old Ones are often described as mindless or unfathomable rather than truly malevolent, but Nyarlathotep delights in cruelty,

1664-598: A human of African descent, though his facial features are described as Caucasian. Finally, in " The Haunter of the Dark " (1936), the nocturnal, tentacled, bat-winged monster dwelling in the steeple of the Starry Wisdom sect's church is identified as another manifestation of Nyarlathotep. This avatar cannot tolerate light. Lovecraft suggests that the fake Henry Akeley that appears at the end of " The Whisperer in Darkness " (1930)

1792-447: A magical formula for astral projection . When followed, the formula always works as expected, harmlessly transporting the user in astral form to whatever destination is desired. However, unbeknownst to the user, the ritual also brings the subject into contact with the Hydra, which then merges with the individual's astral self, using it as a host. Anyone present where the astral traveler appears

1920-528: A malign intellect and reveals a mocking contempt for his masters. Lovecraft himself never made reference to them as the Outer Gods, instead calling them the Other Gods or the gods of the outer hells, as noted in his short story " The Other Gods ". Aiueb Gnshal ( The Eyes Between Worlds , The Child-Minded God ) is a mysterious Outer God, who has his abode in a forgotten temple located somewhere in Bhutan . He appears as

2048-422: A more unsettling and tentacled appearance. Although it can be noted that when defeated for the last time, he switches back to the human appearance of one of the playable characters. In Charles Stross' series The Laundry Files , a human avatar of Nyarlathotep under the name Fabian Everyman becomes UK's prime minister. In the mobile video game Dragalia Lost , there is a dragon named Nyarlathotep who appears in

2176-644: A pantheon of deities, the chief of whom was the god El , who ruled alongside his consort Asherah and their seventy sons . Baal was the god of storm, rain, vegetation and fertility, while his consort Anat was the goddess of war and Astarte , the West Semitic equivalent to Ishtar , was the goddess of love. The people of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah originally believed in these deities, alongside their own national god Yahweh. El later became syncretized with Yahweh , who took over El's role as

2304-492: A prehistoric female deity. A number of probable representations of deities have been discovered at 'Ain Ghazal and the works of art uncovered at Çatalhöyük reveal references to what is probably a complex mythology. Diverse African cultures developed theology and concepts of deities over their history. In Nigeria and neighboring West African countries , for example, two prominent deities (locally called Òrìṣà ) are found in

2432-609: A presiding deity, who inspired social rituals, special trading markets and community festivals. A deity with aspects similar to Kulkulkan in the Aztec culture has been called Quetzalcoatl . However, states Timothy Insoll, the Aztec ideas of deity remain poorly understood. What has been assumed is based on what was constructed by Christian missionaries . The deity concept was likely more complex than these historical records. In Aztec culture , there were hundred of deities, but many were henotheistic incarnations of one another (similar to

2560-575: A race of foul servitors. He has been permanently banished from the Elder Gods' Olympus and imprisoned beneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea , near Greece , in a dark, basalt-built citadel named Atheron . However the exiled deity is not dead but just sleeping, and one day he will rise again from his abyss manifesting himself as a blue, 6-metre tall, cyclops -like monstrosity, with the bulk of his body covered entirely in crawling worms. A goat-like fiendish horror with bat wings and multiple horns, mentioned as

2688-460: A rudimentary face or faces within the glowing mass. The Star Mother, also called "The Great Mother Of All", appears as a chunk of yellow-green stone about the size of an infant. Its shape suggests a plump, huge-breasted, faceless female figure. From it extend dozens of pencil-thin root-like strands. It is one of the Larvae of the Other Gods and has no cult, although served by zombie slaves. Suc'Naath

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2816-407: A specific and flawed personality. They were not omnipotent and could be injured in some circumstances. Greek deities led to cults, were used politically and inspired votive offerings for favors such as bountiful crops, healthy family, victory in war, or peace for a loved one recently deceased. The Roman pantheon had numerous deities, both Greek and non-Greek. The more famed deities, found in

2944-460: A variety of forms, often as an immense lava lake or a vast pool of solidified quicksilver . Lu-Kthu ( Birth-womb of the Great Old Ones or Lew-Kthew ) is a titanic, planet-sized mass of entrails and internal organs. On closer examination it appears a wet, warty globe, covered with countless ovoid pustules and spider-webbed with a network of long, narrow tunnels. Each pustule bears the larva of

3072-524: Is a "misty, shapeless thing" spawned by Azathoth , and is the progenitor of Yog-Sothoth . Ngyr-Korath ( The Ultimate Abomination or The Dream-Death ) is a dark blue-green mist that causes a sense of terror as it approaches. Once close, an eye of flame forms within. He was spawned by fission of the Great Old One (or the avatar of) ‘Ymnar, and his nemesis is the Elder God Paighon . He coincides with

3200-423: Is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Zo-Kalar was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Tamash and Lobon. (HPL: "The Doom That Came to Sarnath"). It is also possibly the same being as Karakal or Karakal of Flames. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath"; "Wizards of Hyperborea") Hagarg Ryonis, also known as The Lier-in-Wait is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as

3328-434: Is a mysterious entity spawned by Azathoth , and is the progenitor of Shub-Niggurath . D'endrrah ( The Divinity ) is a sort of blurry female entity of supernatural beauty, dwelling within her obsidian palace located on Mars' moon Deimos . She lives in a hall composed of myriad mirrors that distort her appearance, which is that of a tentacled dark abyss. This Mythos entity is somewhat inspired by C. L. Moore 's Shambleau ,

3456-448: Is also Nyarlathotep. In the story, the Mi-Go chant his name in reverential tones, stating "To Nyarlathotep, Mighty Messenger, must all things be told. And he shall put on the semblance of man, the waxen mask and the robes that hide, and come down from the world of Seven Suns to mock." At the end of "The Whisperer in Darkness", the main character to his horror discovers a loose dressing gown and

3584-653: Is also served by a race of mole-like humanoid burrowers known as the Talpeurs . Cxaxukluth ( Androgynous Offspring of Azathoth ) is one of the Seed-Spawn of Azathoth , grown to adulthood and monstrous proportions. In appearance, Cxaxukluth resembles something of a cross between Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla : an amorphous, writhing mass of bubbling, nuclear, protoplasmic-gel. He normally dwells alone within an unnamed dimension beyond time and space, unless disturbed or summoned away. Darkness ( Magnum Tenebrosum , The Unnamed Darkness )

3712-566: Is also used today to refer to God in Islam by Persian, Urdu , Tat and Kurdish speakers. The Turkic word for god is Tengri ; it exists as Tanrı in Turkish . Nyarlathotep Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft . The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos , a shared universe . First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem " Nyarlathotep ", he

3840-555: Is an author of horror and science fiction short stories and a contributor to the Cthulhu Mythos. He created the parallel Mlandoth Cycle. A Lesser Outer God composed of slime, tentacles, eyes, and mouths. The Mother of Pus was spawned through an obscene mating between a human and Shub-Niggurath . When summoned to Earth, the Mother of Pus seeks refuge in pools of stagnant, foul water. The Nameless Mist ( Magnum Innominandum , Nyog' Sothep )

3968-400: Is decapitated, the victim's head taken to become part of the Hydra. Afterwards, the astral traveler is returned safely to his or her original body, suffering no ill effects, except perhaps receiving a terrible shock from the grisly scene so witnessed. Sometimes The Hydra is treated as a Great Old One. Ialdagorth ( The Dark Devourer ) is both the cousin and servant of Azathoth , appearing as

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4096-405: Is deceptive and manipulative, and even cultivates followers and uses propaganda to achieve his goals. Nyarlathotep enacts the will of the Outer Gods, and is their messenger, heart and soul; he is also a servant of Azathoth , his father, whose wishes he immediately fulfills. Unlike the other Outer Gods, causing madness is more important and enjoyable than death and destruction to Nyarlathotep. It

4224-451: Is derived from Proto-Germanic *guthan , from PIE *ghut- , which means "that which is invoked". Guth in the Irish language means "voice". The term *ghut- is also the source of Old Church Slavonic zovo ("to call"), Sanskrit huta- ("invoked", an epithet of Indra ), from the root *gheu(e)- ("to call, invoke."), An alternate etymology for the term "god" comes from

4352-500: Is distinguishable in darkness only as vaguely shimmering oily pitch. Although intelligent, it speaks no known language and ignores attempts to communicate. A man-eating cloudy mass, it is an unnamed Outer God at the court of Azathoth . C'thalpa ( The Internal One ) is a huge mass of living sentient magma, located in the Earth's mantle . She is mother of the Great Old One Shterot , and five other unnamed hideous children. She

4480-469: Is impossible to conclusively identify any prehistoric figurines as representations of any kind of deities, let alone goddesses. Nonetheless, it is possible to evaluate ancient representations on a case-by-case basis and rate them on how likely they are to represent deities. The Venus of Willendorf , a female figurine found in Europe and dated to about 25,000 BCE has been interpreted by some as an exemplar of

4608-562: Is known as one of the chief gods of Celephaïs. ("Celephaïs", The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ; HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Kadath/The Vision and the Journey") Oukranos is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. ( The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ) Tamash is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Tamash was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Zo-Kalar and Lobon. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath;" HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea") Zo-Kalar

4736-504: Is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is devi . Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea . In Old Persian , daiva- means " demon , evil god", while in Sanskrit it means the opposite, referring to the "heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones". The closely linked term " god " refers to "supreme being, deity", according to Douglas Harper, and

4864-523: Is mentioned frequently in other works. In " The Rats in the Walls " (1924), Nyarlathotep is mentioned as a faceless god in the caverns of Earth's center. In The Shadow Out of Time (1936), the "hideous secret of Nyarlathotep" is revealed to the protagonist by Khephnes during their imprisonment by the Great Race of Yith . Nyarlathotep does not appear in Lovecraft's story " The Crawling Chaos " (1920/21), despite

4992-562: Is not the home of Cthulhu, just a point of travel between the Void and the Material Realm. The so-called "gods" of the Dreamlands, the Great Ones are not as powerful as the Great Old Ones and are not even as intelligent as most humans. However, they are protected by the Outer Gods, particularly Nyarlathotep . While they once lived on peaks across the world they were driven off of lower mountains by

5120-450: Is one of the mindless gods which twist and dance in the court of Azathoth . It appears as a formless spinning hurricane -like thing with strings of violet and golden colors across its shape, constantly emitting sickening smacking and screeching noises while showing pain-stricken faces across its body. Suc'Naath's essence is currently divided into three parts, one in a comet called Aiin , the other in some sort of statue located somewhere in

5248-447: Is that of an insectoid to toad-like squid, but its shape continuously changes, emitting an awful buzz. The Mi-Go discovered the prison of Azhorra-Tha the millennia after, and made everything to not reveal its location to any human being. The Blackness from the Stars is an immobile blob of living, sentient darkness, torn from the primal fabric of the cosmos at the center of the universe. It

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5376-414: Is the belief that divinity pervades the universe, but that it also transcends the universe. Agnosticism is the position that it is impossible to know for certain whether a deity of any kind exists. Atheism is the non-belief in the existence of any deity. Scholars infer the probable existence of deities in the prehistoric period from inscriptions and prehistoric arts such as cave drawings , but it

5504-429: Is the belief that only one deity exists. A monotheistic deity, known as "God", is usually described as omnipotent , omnipresent , omniscient , omnibenevolent and eternal . However, not all deities have been regarded this way and an entity does not need to be almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent or eternal to qualify as a deity. Deism is the belief that only one deity exists, who created

5632-456: Is the superstitious man who fears the gods, while the truly religious person venerates them as parents. Cicero, in his Academica , praised Varro for this and other insights. According to Varro, there have been three accounts of deities in the Roman society: the mythical account created by poets for theatre and entertainment, the civil account used by people for veneration as well as by the city, and

5760-489: Is typically seen as male . In contrast, all ancient Indo-European cultures and mythologies recognized both masculine and feminine deities. There is no universally accepted consensus on what a deity is, and concepts of deities vary considerably across cultures. Huw Owen states that the term "deity or god or its equivalent in other languages" has a bewildering range of meanings and significance. It has ranged from "infinite transcendent being who created and lords over

5888-504: Is unclear what these sketches and paintings are and why they were made. Some engravings or sketches show animals, hunters or rituals. It was once common for archaeologists to interpret virtually every prehistoric female figurine as a representation of a single, primordial goddess, the ancestor of historically attested goddesses such as Inanna , Ishtar , Astarte , Cybele , and Aphrodite ; this approach has now generally been discredited. Modern archaeologists now generally recognize that it

6016-588: Is zoomorphic and is most often found in Middle Eastern archaeological remains depicted as a "snake-dragon" or a "human-animal hybrid". In Germanic languages , the terms cognate with ' god ' such as Old English : god and Old Norse : guð were originally neuter but became masculine, as in modern Germanic languages, after Christianisation due their use in referring to the Christian god . In Norse mythology , Æsir (singular áss or ǫ́ss ) are

6144-484: The Latin deitatem (nominative deitas ) or "divine nature", coined by Augustine of Hippo from deus ("god"). Deus is related through a common Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin to *deiwos . This root yields the ancient Indian word Deva meaning "to gleam, a shining one", from *div- "to shine", as well as Greek dios " divine " and Zeus ; and Latin deus "god" ( Old Latin deivos ). Deva

6272-546: The Vanir went to war , according to the Nordic sources. The account in Ynglinga saga describes the Æsir–Vanir War ending in truce and ultimate reconciliation of the two into a single group of gods, after both sides chose peace, exchanged ambassadors (hostages), and intermarried. The Norse mythology describes the cooperation after the war, as well as differences between the Æsir and

6400-578: The Vanir which were considered scandalous by the other side. The goddess Freyja of the Vanir taught magic to the Æsir , while the two sides discover that while Æsir forbid mating between siblings , Vanir accepted such mating. Temples hosting images of Germanic gods (such as Thor , Odin and Freyr ), as well as pagan worship rituals, continued in Scandinavia into the 12th century, according to historical records. It has been proposed that over time, Christian equivalents were substituted for

6528-524: The Yoruba religion , namely the god Ogun and the goddess Osun . Ogun is the primordial masculine deity as well as the archdivinity and guardian of occupations such as tools making and use, metal working, hunting, war, protection and ascertaining equity and justice. Osun is an equally powerful primordial feminine deity and a multidimensional guardian of fertility, water, maternal, health, social relations, love and peace. Ogun and Osun traditions were brought into

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6656-442: The avatar concept of Hinduism). Unlike Hinduism and other cultures, Aztec deities were usually not anthropomorphic, and were instead zoomorphic or hybrid icons associated with spirits, natural phenomena or forces. The Aztec deities were often represented through ceramic figurines, revered in home shrines. The Polynesian people developed a theology centered on numerous deities, with clusters of islands having different names for

6784-426: The "All-in-One and One-in-All", co-rules with Azathoth and exists as the incarnation of time in the cosmos, yet is somehow locked outside the mundane universe. Nyarlathotep , the "Crawling Chaos", is the avatar of the Outer Gods, existing as the incarnation of space and functions as an intermediary between the deities of the pantheon and their cults. The only Outer God to have a true personality, Nyarlathotep possesses

6912-483: The Accursed Archives raid event. Nyarlathotep appears as a playable unit in the 2016 Japanese mobile game Tokyo Afterschool Summoners , where he is depicted as a popular DJ with a rep for causing chaos simply to cause chaos. Nyarlathotep is the focus of an augmented reality game distributed by The Mysterious Package Company. Nyarlathotep appears in the loosely-based ' Azathoth Rising' by Joseph S. Dale, as

7040-697: The Americas on slave ships . They were preserved by the Africans in their plantation communities, and their festivals continue to be observed. In Southern African cultures , a similar masculine-feminine deity combination has appeared in other forms, particularly as the Moon and Sun deities. One Southern African cosmology consists of Hieseba or Xuba (deity, god), Gaune (evil spirits) and Khuene (people). The Hieseba includes Nladiba (male, creator sky god) and Nladisara (females, Nladiba's two wives). The Sun (female) and

7168-428: The Earth, seemingly gathering legions of followers, the narrator of the story among them, through his demonstrations of strange and seemingly magical instruments. These followers lose awareness of the world around them, and through the narrator's increasingly unreliable accounts, the reader gets an impression of the world's collapse. Fritz Leiber proposes three interpretations of the character based on this appearance:

7296-723: The East Semitic Ishtar, became popular, with temples across Mesopotamia. The Mesopotamian mythology of the first millennium BCE treated Anšar (later Aššur ) and Kišar as primordial deities. Marduk was a significant god among the Babylonians. He rose from an obscure deity of the third millennium BCE to become one of the most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon of the first millennium BCE. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk as creator of heaven, earth and humankind, and as their national god . Marduk's iconography

7424-660: The Father , God the Son , and the Holy Spirit . The first person to describe the persons of the Trinity as homooúsios ([ὁμοούσιος] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) ( help ) ; "of the same substance") was the Church Father Origen. Although most early Christian theologians (including Origen ) were Subordinationists , who believed that the Father

7552-651: The Germanic deities to help suppress paganism as part of the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples . Worship of the Germanic gods has been revived in the modern period as part of the new religious movement of Heathenry . The ancient Greeks revered both gods and goddesses. These continued to be revered through the early centuries of the common era, and many of the Greek deities inspired and were adopted as part of much larger pantheon of Roman deities. The Greek religion

7680-636: The Greek pantheon were the Twelve Olympians : Zeus, Hera , Poseidon , Athena , Apollo , Artemis , Aphrodite, Hermes , Demeter , Dionysus , Hephaestus , and Ares . Other important Greek deities included Hestia , Hades and Heracles . These deities later inspired the Dii Consentes galaxy of Roman deities. Besides the Olympians, the Greeks also worshipped various local deities. Among these were

7808-543: The Inca people have corresponded to elements of nature. Of these, the most important ones have been Inti ( sun deity ) responsible for agricultural prosperity and as the father of the first Inca king, and Mama Qucha the goddess of the sea, lakes, rivers and waters. Inti in some mythologies is the son of Viracocha and Mama Qucha . Inca Sun deity festival Oh creator and Sun and Thunder, be forever copious, do not make us old, let all things be at peace, multiply

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7936-482: The Moon (male) deities are viewed as offspring of Nladiba and two Nladisara . The Sun and Moon are viewed as manifestations of the supreme deity, and worship is timed and directed to them. In other African cultures the Sun is seen as male, while the Moon is female, both symbols of the godhead. In Zimbabwe , the supreme deity is androgynous with male-female aspects, envisioned as the giver of rain, treated simultaneously as

8064-529: The Nameless Mist or Darkness, although it is uncertain if it is a place, conscious being, or an inconceivable maelstrom of unknown forces and properties outside the perceptible cosmos. It is mentioned in Uralte Schrecken as a kind of prime archetype from which all mythical god-heads are derived. According to the cycle surrounding these beings, they are a sort of cosmic yin and yang, whose meeting resulted in

8192-411: The Outer Gods, created them (along with many other worlds) and thus effectively serves as the supreme deity of the Cthulhu Mythos. Azathoth can't understand anything in his dream, hence his title. Azathoth also shifts in his slumber, causing reality to change. Azhorra-Tha is an Outer God imprisoned on the planet Mars , as it fled from Earth after the imprisonment of the Great Old Ones. Its appearance

8320-509: The Proto-Germanic Gaut , which traces it to the PIE root *ghu-to- ("poured"), derived from the root *gheu- ("to pour, pour a libation "). The term *gheu- is also the source of the Greek khein "to pour". Originally the word "god" and its other Germanic cognates were neuter nouns but shifted to being generally masculine under the influence of Christianity in which the god

8448-592: The Son". According to George Hunsinger, the doctrine of the Trinity justifies worship in a Church, wherein Jesus Christ is deemed to be a full deity with the Christian cross as his icon. The theological examination of Jesus Christ, of divine grace in incarnation, his non-transferability and completeness has been a historic topic. For example, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE declared that in "one person Jesus Christ, fullness of deity and fullness of humanity are united,

8576-478: The Sumerian deities were patron guardians of city-states . The most important deities in the Sumerian pantheon were known as the Anunnaki , and included deities known as the "seven gods who decree": An , Enlil , Enki , Ninhursag , Nanna , Utu and Inanna . After the conquest of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad , many Sumerian deities were syncretized with East Semitic ones. The goddess Inanna, syncretized with

8704-524: The Twisted Sound or Demon of Dissonance ) is an entity made of maddening sound, somehow similar to Tru'Nembra . There is some affinity with the Great Old One Hastur . Xexanoth is a fictional character from Clark Ashton Smith 's Cthulhu Mythos work. It appears only once in "The Chain of Aforgomon", where it is summoned by the main character. Apparently, Xexanoth is the bane and mortal enemy of

8832-656: The brother of Shub-Niggurath . Olkoth ( God of the Celestial Arcs ) appears as a demoniacal god-like entity able to reincarnate in human bodies if the stars are right (sort of a "Cthulhian" Antichrist ). Olkoth may emerge in our dimension through an eyeless, grotesque statue of the Virgin Mary . Shabbith-Ka appears as a shapeless, roughly man-sized purplish aura, spitting and crackling with powerful electrical arcs. A sense of power, malignancy, and intelligence accompanies it and persons able to gaze at its form long enough can see

8960-563: The center of infinity. A group of Outer Gods dance rhythmically around Azathoth, in cadence to the piping of a demonic flute. Among the Outer Gods present at Azathoth's court are the entities called "Ultimate Gods" in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (called "Lesser Outer Gods" in the Call of Cthulhu RPG), and possibly Shub-Niggurath , the "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". Yog-Sothoth,

9088-442: The creation of all things (although Azathoth is usually attributed to this). Their joinings routinely create and destroy matter and entities. One of the beings created in this way was the inimical Outer God Ngyr-Khorath. Mril Thorion is an Outer God who, along with Mlandoth, serve as Yin and Yang. Mlandoth and Mril Thorion were created by Walter C. DeBill Jr., but were suggested years earlier by Clark Ashton Smith. Walter C. DeBill Jr.

9216-577: The dawn, for instance, is cognate to Indic Ushas , Roman Aurora and Latvian Auseklis . Zeus , the Greek king of gods, is cognate to Latin Iūpiter , Old German Ziu , and Indic Dyaus , with whom he shares similar mythologies. Other deities, such as Aphrodite , originated from the Near East . Greek deities varied locally, but many shared panhellenic themes, celebrated similar festivals, rites, and ritual grammar. The most important deities in

9344-399: The deity is a principle or reality such as the idea of "soul". The Upanishads of Hinduism, for example, characterize Atman (soul, self) as deva (deity), thereby asserting that the deva and eternal supreme principle ( Brahman ) is part of every living creature, that this soul is spiritual and divine, and that to realize self-knowledge is to know the supreme. Theism is the belief in

9472-406: The dismembered head and arms of Akeley lying on the couch, presumed in the story to have been a Mi-Go in disguise. But due to the mention in the chant to Nyarlathotep wearing the "waxen mask and the robes that hide", S. T. Joshi writes that "this seems a clear allusion to Nyarlathotep disguised with Akeley's face and hands; but if so, it means that at this time Nyarlathotep is, in bodily form, one of

9600-509: The dream he had had—described as "the most realistic and horrible [nightmare] I have experienced since the age of ten"—that served as the basis for his prose poem "Nyarlathotep". In the dream, he received a letter from his friend Samuel Loveman that read: Don't fail to see Nyarlathotep if he comes to Providence. He is horrible—horrible beyond anything you can imagine—but wonderful. He haunts one for hours afterwards. I am still shuddering at what he showed. Lovecraft commented: I had never heard

9728-399: The entity described in H. P. Lovecraft's story " The Festival ". Tulzscha appears as a blazing green ball of flame, dancing with its Lesser Outer Gods at the court of Azathoth . Called to our world, it assumes a gaseous form, penetrates the planet to the core, then erupts from below as a pillar of flame. It cannot move from where it emerges. Uvhash ( The Blood-Mad God of the Void ) appears as

9856-559: The entity known as the Magnum Tenebrosum . First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop role-playing games making use of the Cthulhu Mythos. Later writers describe him as one of the Outer Gods. He is a shape-shifter with a thousand forms, most of them maddeningly horrific to humans. Once an Elder God, Nyctelios has been punished by his peers—especially Nodens —for having created

9984-449: The eponymous creature. However, it was Derleth who applied the notion to all of the Great Old Ones. The majority of these have physical forms that the human mind is incapable of processing; simply viewing them renders the viewer incurably insane. As written by H.P. Lovecraft, only the slumbering R'lyehians are Great Old Ones. The RPG Call of Cthulhu is the one that originally coined Outer God, and Great Old One. Despite misconceptions, R'lyeh

10112-408: The existence of one or more deities. Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses , with accompanying rituals . In most polytheistic religions, the different gods and goddesses are representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles , and can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of

10240-518: The form of Johnny Carcosa, a masked drug dealer who frequents Cthulhu-themed clubs and occult shops. His manner of converting new followers is to place them in a vegetative state, susceptible to "Aklo"—words related to Lovecraft's work, which alter the consciousness of those who listen to them. In Moore's story, he serves the allegorical role of the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation , informing

10368-458: The form of a humanoid in the fight, however, he takes the form of a leviathan eldritch beast. How he has been worked into the plot is deliberately very vague, as he only appears at the very end, though it is clear that he was up to the trickery and manipulation of his past portrayals. In the manga series Ghost Reaper Girl the head of the Eastern Branch is a woman called Nyarlathotep who uses

10496-459: The formation of an Egyptian state under the Pharaohs and their treatment as sacred kings who had exclusive rights to interact with the gods, in the later part of the 3rd millennium BCE. Through the early centuries of the common era, as Egyptians interacted and traded with neighboring cultures, foreign deities were adopted and venerated. The ancient Canaanites were polytheists who believed in

10624-432: The fungi — especially if, as seems likely, Nyarlathotep is one of the two buzzing voices Albert Wilmarth overhears at the end." Joshi notes this is problematic, because "if Nyarlathotep is (as critics have termed it) a 'shapeshifter', why would he have to don the face and hands of Akeley instead of merely reshaping himself as Akeley?" Though Nyarlathotep appears as a character in only four stories and two sonnets, his name

10752-440: The game's story. In the 2017 game Sundered , Nyarlathotep appears as the final boss, the god of a group of worshippers based on Lovecraftian mythology. In the podcast Malevolent created by Harlan Guthrie, Nyarlathotep appears as an enigmatic, manic, unpredictable and dramatic antagonist. In the podcast he uses the name Kayne, but is later revealed to be Nyarlathotep. In a 1921 letter to Reinhardt Kleiner, Lovecraft related

10880-791: The goat-legged god Pan (the guardian of shepherds and their flocks), Nymphs ( nature spirits associated with particular landforms), Naiads (who dwelled in springs), Dryads (who were spirits of the trees), Nereids (who inhabited the sea), river gods, satyrs (a class of lustful male nature spirits), and others. The dark powers of the underworld were represented by the Erinyes (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives. The Greek deities, like those in many other Indo-European traditions, were anthropomorphic. Walter Burkert describes them as "persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts". They had fantastic abilities and powers; each had some unique expertise and, in some aspects,

11008-858: The god of darkness and light and is called Mwari Shona . In the Lake Victoria region, the term for a deity is Lubaale , or alternatively Jok . Ancient Egyptian culture revered numerous deities. Egyptian records and inscriptions list the names of many whose nature is unknown and make vague references to other unnamed deities. Egyptologist James P. Allen estimates that more than 1,400 deities are named in Egyptian texts, whereas Christian Leitz offers an estimate of "thousands upon thousands" of Egyptian deities. Their terms for deities were nṯr (god), and feminine nṯrt (goddess); however, these terms may also have applied to any being – spirits and deceased human beings, but not demons – who in some way were outside

11136-501: The goddess Meretseger represented parts of the earth, and the god Sia represented the abstract powers of perception. Deities such as Ra and Osiris were associated with the judgement of the dead and their care during the afterlife. Major gods often had multiple roles and were involved in multiple phenomena. The first written evidence of deities are from early 3rd millennium BCE, likely emerging from prehistoric beliefs. However, deities became systematized and sophisticated after

11264-497: The great, the obscure, the unutterable Nyarlathotep. Will Murray has speculated that this dream image of Nyarlathotep may have been inspired by the inventor Nikola Tesla , whose well-attended lectures did involve extraordinary experiments with electrical apparatus and whom some saw as a sinister figure. Robert M. Price proposes that the name Nyarlathotep may have been subconsciously suggested to Lovecraft by two names from Lord Dunsany , an author he much admired. Alhireth-Hotep,

11392-472: The guardian of the Necronomicon , as he tries to make wizards and other people of power use the spells in the book ostensibly to gain power. In the 2007 visual novel Shikkoku no Sharnoth: What a Beautiful Tomorrow , Nyarlathotep is revealed to be the true identity of the character simply named 'the M'. The dimension of Sharnoth which is closely associated with Nyarlathotep also plays a significant part in

11520-506: The guise of the Dark Man in Larry Correia 's story "Dead Waits Dreaming" (2013). Though he does not appear in Lovecraft's original short story, Nyarlathotep in his "Black Man" form appears in the 1993 Caliber Comics adaption of The Music of Erich Zann , in flashbacks for the eponymous Erich Zann. Alan Moore 's limited comic series Neonomicon (2010–2011) utilizes Nyarlathotep in

11648-1036: The head of the pantheon, with Asherah as his divine consort and the "sons of El" as his offspring. During the later years of the Kingdom of Judah , a monolatristic faction rose to power insisting that only Yahweh was fit to be worshipped by the people of Judah. Monolatry became enforced during the reforms of King Josiah in 621 BCE. Finally, during the national crisis of the Babylonian captivity , some Judahites began to teach that deities aside from Yahweh were not just unfit to be worshipped, but did not exist. The "sons of El" were demoted from deities to angels . Ancient Mesopotamian culture in southern Iraq had numerous dingir (deities, gods and goddesses). Mesopotamian deities were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. They were generally immortal, but

11776-511: The illusionary Martian she-vampires of lust. The Hydra dwells in an alternate dimension, and appears as a vast sea of gray ooze. A multitude of living heads, some human and some alien, sprout from the ooze, sobbing and grimacing as if in great agony. The Hydra's worshipers trick others into sending the god sacrifices through a pamphlet known as On the Sending Out of the Soul . The last page contains

11904-504: The imposition of Christianity during Spanish colonialism , the Inca people retained their original beliefs in deities through syncretism , where they overlay the Christian God and teachings over their original beliefs and practices. The male deity Inti became accepted as the Christian God, but the Andean rituals centered around Inca deities have been retained and continued thereafter into

12032-463: The letter, I seemed to recall that Nyarlathotep was already in Providence.... I seemed to remember that persons had whispered to me in awe of his horrors, and warned me not to go near him. But Loveman's dream letter decided me.... As I left the house I saw throngs of men plodding through the night, all whispering affrightedly and bound in one direction. I fell in with them, afraid yet eager to see and hear

12160-586: The mindless Azathoth , his master. The 21st sonnet of Lovecraft's poem-cycle Fungi from Yuggoth (1929/30) is essentially a retelling of the original prose poem. In " The Dreams in the Witch House " (1933), Nyarlathotep appears to Walter Gilman and witch Keziah Mason (who has made a pact with the entity) in the form of "the 'Black Man' of the witch-cult", a black-skinned avatar of the Devil described by witch hunters . Although inhuman, some characters mistake him as

12288-640: The modern era by the Inca people. In Maya culture , Kukulkan has been the supreme creator deity , also revered as the god of reincarnation , water, fertility and wind. The Maya people built step pyramid temples to honor Kukulkan , aligning them to the Sun 's position on the spring equinox . Other deities found at Maya archaeological sites include Xib Chac —the benevolent male rain deity, and Ixchel —the benevolent female earth, weaving and pregnancy goddess. The Maya calendar had 18 months, each with 20 days (and five unlucky days of Uayeb ); each month had

12416-452: The mythologies and the 2nd millennium CE European arts, have been the anthropomorphic deities syncretized with the Greek deities. These include the six gods and six goddesses: Venus, Apollo, Mars, Diana, Minerva, Ceres, Vulcan, Juno, Mercury, Vesta, Neptune, Jupiter (Jove, Zeus); as well Bacchus, Pluto and Hercules. The non-Greek major deities include Janus, Fortuna, Vesta, Quirinus and Tellus (mother goddess, probably most ancient). Some of

12544-409: The name NYARLATHOTEP before, but seemed to understand the allusion. Nyarlathotep was a kind of itinerant showman or lecturer who held forth in public halls and aroused widespread fear and discussion with his exhibitions. These exhibitions consisted of two parts—first, a horrible—possibly prophetic—cinema reel; and later some extraordinary experiments with scientific and electrical apparatus. As I received

12672-526: The name of the monotheistic god of Islam as Allah ( al-Lāh ). which literally means "the god" in Arabic. Islam is strictly monotheistic and the first statement of the shahada , or Muslim confession of faith, is that "there is no ʾilāh (deity) but Allah (God)", who is perfectly unified and utterly indivisible. The term Allah is used by Muslims for God. The Persian word Khuda ( Persian : خدا ) can be translated as god, lord or king, and

12800-641: The natural account created by the philosophers. The best state is, adds Varro, where the civil theology combines the poetic mythical account with the philosopher's. The Roman deities continued to be revered in Europe through the era of Constantine, and past 313 CE when he issued the Edict of Toleration. The Inca culture has believed in Viracocha (also called Pachacutec ) as the creator deity . Viracocha has been an abstract deity to Inca culture, one who existed before he created space and time. All other deities of

12928-502: The nature of existence, guardians in daily lives as well as during wars, natural phenomena, good and evil spirits, priestly rituals, as well as linked to the journey of the souls of the dead. Christianity is a monotheistic religion in which most mainstream congregations and denominations accept the concept of the Holy Trinity . Modern orthodox Christians believe that the Trinity is composed of three equal, cosubstantial persons: God

13056-574: The non-Greek deities had likely origins in more ancient European culture such as the ancient Germanic religion, while others may have been borrowed, for political reasons, from neighboring trade centers such as those in the Minoan or ancient Egyptian civilization. The Roman deities, in a manner similar to the ancient Greeks, inspired community festivals, rituals and sacrifices led by flamines (priests, pontifs), but priestesses (Vestal Virgins) were also held in high esteem for maintaining sacred fire used in

13184-475: The old Hashashin cult as well). Tru'nembra ( The Angel of Music ) is the name given in the Malleus Monstrorum Call of Cthulhu roleplay game guide to the entity described in H. P. Lovecraft 's novel " The Music of Erich Zann ". It has no shape but manifests as haunting music. Tulzscha ( The Green Flame ) is the name given in the Malleus Monstrorum Call of Cthulhu roleplay game guide to

13312-499: The original uncreated creator, with power of life, with nothing outside or beyond him. Other deities in the Polynesian pantheon include Tangaloa (god who created men), La'a Maomao (god of winds), Tu-Matauenga or Ku (god of war), Tu-Metua (mother goddess), Kane (god of procreation) and Rangi (sky god father). The Polynesian deities have been part of a sophisticated theology, addressing questions of creation,

13440-467: The past, the Great Ones often married human women, so many human inhabitants of the Dreamlands have Great One blood in them. Lobon, also known as Lobon of the Sacred Spear is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as an ivy-crowned youth bearing a spear. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath"; H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, John Fultz's "Wizards of Hyperborea") Nath-Horthath

13568-407: The people, and let there be food, and let all things be fruitful. Inca people have revered many male and female deities. Among the feminine deities have been Mama Kuka (goddess of joy), Mama Ch'aska (goddess of dawn), Mama Allpa (goddess of harvest and earth, sometimes called Mama Pacha or Pachamama ), Mama Killa ( moon goddess ) and Mama Sara (goddess of grain). During and after

13696-525: The plot, the entity has clear features of an Outer God rather than a Great Old One as well as an appearance vaguely resembling that of Yog-Sothoth , and is invoked by a deranged prophet with words in Naacal or R'lyehan language almost coinciding with those featured in Cthulhu's invocation, with R'lyeh replaced with Z'lyeh . Azathoth , sometimes referred to as the "Blind Idiot God", is a dreaming monster who rules

13824-569: The principal group of gods, while the term ásynjur (singular ásynja ) refers specifically to the female Æsir . These terms, states John Lindow, may be ultimately rooted in the Indo-European root for "breath" (as in "life giving force"), and are cognate with Old English : os (a heathen god) and Gothic : anses . Another group of deities found in Norse mythology are termed as Vanir , and are associated with fertility. The Æsir and

13952-464: The protagonist that she has been impregnated and will soon give birth to Cthulhu. Carcosa takes a more active role in Moore's follow-up volume Providence , "rewarding" the protagonist, Robert Black, for his work as the "herald" of H. P. Lovecraft's effects on the world and later overseeing the birth of Cthulhu. In the video game Dusk , Nyarlathotep appears as the final enemy encounter. Instead of taking

14080-407: The same divine principle. Nontheistic religions deny any supreme eternal creator deity , but may accept a pantheon of deities which live, die and may be reborn like any other being. Although most monotheistic religions traditionally envision their god as omnipotent , omnipresent , omniscient , omnibenevolent , and eternal , none of these qualities are essential to the definition of

14208-538: The same idea. There are great deities found across the Pacific Ocean. Some deities are found widely, and there are many local deities whose worship is limited to one or a few islands or sometimes to isolated villages on the same island. The Māori people , of what is now New Zealand, called the supreme being as Io , who is also referred elsewhere as Iho-Iho , Io-Mataaho , Io Nui , Te Io Ora , Io Matua Te Kora among other names. The Io deity has been revered as

14336-416: The similarity of the title to the character's epithet. Lovecraft wrote to a correspondent that he reused the phrase because he "liked the sound of it". Nyarlathotep has also appeared outside of Lovecraft's own writings. The light novel and anime series Haiyore! Nyaruko-san (2009) is based on the Cthulhu mythos, with the main character Nyaruko directly referring to Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep appears in

14464-634: The sphere of everyday life. Egyptian deities typically had an associated cult, role and mythologies. Around 200 deities are prominent in the Pyramid texts and ancient temples of Egypt, many zoomorphic . Among these, were Min (fertility god), Neith (creator goddess), Anubis , Atum , Bes , Horus , Isis , Ra , Meretseger , Nut , Osiris , Shu , Sia and Thoth . Most Egyptian deities represented natural phenomenon, physical objects or social aspects of life, as hidden immanent forces within these phenomena. The deity Shu , for example represented air;

14592-446: The spread of humanity until they had to leave Earth entirely, leaving only a mark on Mount Ngranek. The Great Ones now rule from their hidden fortress of Kadath, whose location in time and space is unknown. As well as occasionally returning to white capped Thurai, Lerion and Hatheg-Kla on cloud ships under the cover of a light mist, they abandoned Kadath for a brief period for the "sunset city" that Randolph Carter conjured in his dreams. In

14720-407: The temple of every living being's body, as sensory organs and mind. Deities are envisioned as a form of existence ( Saṃsāra ) after rebirth , for human beings who gain merit through an ethical life, where they become guardian deities and live blissfully in heaven , but are also subject to death when their merit is lost. The English language word deity derives from Old French deité ,

14848-613: The time god Aforgomon and, because of Aforgomon likely being an avatar of the Outer God Yog-Sothoth , is probably an Elder or Outer God. Ycnàgnnisssz is a black, festering, amorphous mass that constantly blasts and erupts violently, spewing out bits of churning lava-like material. She spawned the Great Old One Zstylzhemgni . Deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over

14976-575: The title "The Chaos". She is a dark skinned woman, with the lower half of the eye of Horus below her right eye. Nyarlathotep is featured in several of the Shin Megami Tensei video games, as well as the Persona spin-offs, including Revelations: Persona and also the Persona 2 duology, in which he is the main antagonist. He showcases shape shifting abilities there, by donning several characters' appearances and when fought as "himself", changes to

15104-519: The union of the natures being such that they can neither be divided nor confused". Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament , is the self-disclosure of the one, true God, both in his teaching and in his person; Christ, in Christian faith, is considered the incarnation of God. Ilah , ʾIlāh ( Arabic : إله ; plural: آلهة ʾālihah ), is an Arabic word meaning "god". It appears in

15232-591: The universe" (God), to a "finite entity or experience, with special significance or which evokes a special feeling" (god), to "a concept in religious or philosophical context that relates to nature or magnified beings or a supra-mundane realm", to "numerous other usages". A deity is typically conceptualized as a supernatural or divine concept, manifesting in ideas and knowledge, in a form that combines excellence in some or all aspects, wrestling with weakness and questions in other aspects, heroic in outlook and actions, yet tied up with emotions and desires. In other cases,

15360-574: The universe's mockery of man's attempts to understand it; a negative view of the commercial world, represented by Nyarlathotep's self-promotion and contemptuous attitude; and man's self-destructive rationality. Nyarlathotep subsequently appears as a major character in The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926/27), in which he again manifests in the form of an Egyptian pharaoh when he confronts protagonist Randolph Carter . Leiber describes Nyarlathotep as "evilly intelligent" in this story, in contrast to

15488-434: The universe, but does not usually intervene in the resulting world. Deism was particularly popular among western intellectuals during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Pantheism is the belief that the universe itself is God or that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent deity. Pandeism is an intermediate position between these, proposing that the creator became a pantheistic universe. Panentheism

15616-746: The universe, nature or human life. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines deity as a god or goddess , or anything revered as divine . C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new levels of consciousness , beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life". Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship. Monotheistic religions accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as " God "), whereas polytheistic religions accept multiple deities. Henotheistic religions accept one supreme deity without denying other deities, considering them as aspects of

15744-539: The votive rituals for deities. Deities were also maintained in home shrines ( lararium ), such as Hestia honored in homes as the goddess of fire hearth. This Roman religion held reverence for sacred fire, and this is also found in Hebrew culture (Leviticus 6), Vedic culture's Homa, ancient Greeks and other cultures. Ancient Roman scholars such as Varro and Cicero wrote treatises on the nature of gods of their times. Varro stated, in his Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum , that it

15872-694: The world, while the third has been genetically passed on for eons through prehuman, and now human races of Earth, mostly in the Middle East. The carriers of the Outer God's powers are said to have done great acts of magic and/or to have been insane. If these three parts are ever to be combined, Suc'Naath will be freed. This entity is served by a small Middle-Eastern cult known as the Golden Hands of Suc'Naath , who collect deranged intellectuals and trained assassins who wish to set Suc'Naath free (they may have connections to

16000-592: Was a favour of Aiueb Gnshal. Aletheia ( The End of the Darkness ) is a god-like entity symbolizing or incarnating the truth . Named after the Greek goddess of truth , it manifests as a vast spiral of manifold titanic hands with a single cycloptic eye in each palm as in the Hamsa , and kilometric wire-like protrusions able to ensnare living beings, replacing their spinal bone in puppet-like fashion. Introduced in Dylan Dog issue 374, In

16128-403: Was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers, to the point of often being considered the main antagonist of the Cthulhu Mythos as a whole. Later, writers describe him as one of the Other Gods, an alien pantheon. In his first appearance in " Nyarlathotep " (1920), he is described as a "tall, swarthy man" who resembles an ancient Egyptian pharaoh . In this story he wanders

16256-414: Was polytheistic, but had no centralized church, nor any sacred texts. The deities were largely associated with myths and they represented natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior. Several Greek deities probably trace back to more ancient Indo-European traditions, since the gods and goddesses found in distant cultures are mythologically comparable and are cognates . Eos , the Greek goddess of

16384-602: Was superior to the Son and the Son superior to the Holy Spirit, this belief was condemned as heretical by the First Council of Nicaea in the fourth century, which declared that all three persons of the Trinity are equal. Christians regard the universe as an element in God's actualization and the Holy Spirit is seen as the divine essence that is "the unity and relation of the Father and

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