Paul Fricker Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 We’re back and we’re casting protective circles around our microphones, burning incense that smells like Cthulhu’s armpits and waggling our wands for all they’re worth. No matter how fevered our incantations, however, the songs always seem to break free. Some magic is too foul to be contained. Lovecraft and the Occult This is the first of a pair of episodes looking into the relationship between HP Lovecraft and the occult. The focus this time is on how much (or little) Lovecraft drew upon real occult beliefs and practices. In particular, we’ll focus on the Western occult tradition and its manifestations in the 19th and 20th centuries. Next time, we’ll explore how the relationship has been reciprocated. Things are going to get weird.Joining us in this exploration is Mike Mason. As well as being line editor for Call of Cthulhu, Mike has a keen interest in the occult and offers some personal insights. You don’t think that Call of Cthulhu has won all those ENnie awards without help from the unseen masters, do you? Links Things we mention in this episode include: Rosicrucianism John Dee Enochian Johannes Hartlieb The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Theosophy Helena Blavatsky Occultism Lovecraft’s letter to Clark Ashton Smith about the occult Nicolas Flamel The Witch-Cult in Western Europe The Case of Charles Dexter Ward The Goetia Kabbalistic tree of life Rudolf Steiner Sufism Whirling Dervishes The Abramellin Operation Necronomicon The Good Friends will be flying out to Providence for Necronomicon 2019 in just two short weeks. We hope to see many of you there. Please say hi if you spot us in the wild. Mike and a number of other folks from Chaosium will also be attending the convention, operating a stall overflowing with wonders. Scott on Fictoplasm A little overdue, but we finally mention that Scott was a guest on Ralph Lovegrove’s excellent Fictoplasm podcast. Ralph and Scott discussed what our gaming lives might be like if Robert W Chambers had been the main figure of twentieth-century horror fiction rather than Lovecraft. This makes a perfect companion piece to our own recent discussions about The King in Yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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