Heartland

Badlander wrote:

markfiend wrote: Firstly that the runic inscriptions and the dwarf names from the Eddas are racist because of the Nazis' use of runic inscriptions and nordic folklore. OK, the Nazis used this therefore it's racist. Go figure.

Yeah and Vikings were Nazis too !
In the same vein, Nazis quoted Hegel, therefore Hegel was a Nazi. Lame.

At least one thing is sure: The Nazis still are what they were.

Never yet received a call from Cthulu, despite my phone number being available from the usual sources.
And yes, last night definately something went over me.
I think it was weather, but then, who knows?

Thought some of you might be interested in this.........

Dr Justin Woodman will be presenting the first in a series of what are sure to be enlightening talks at Treadwells books, 34 Tavistock St., Covent Garden WC2E 7PB.
H.P. Lovecraft and the Occult: A Series With Dr. Justin Woodman


Evening One: The Man, the Myth, the Magic 17th January (Wednesday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5

Treadwell’s presents Dr. Justin Woodman’s series of four talks analysing aspects of H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), the author best known for the creation of the Cthulhu mythos, a fictional mythology detailing monstrous powers “from beyond�. Tonight, Woodman casts a critical eye on the “magical� context of Lovecraft’s life and work. He then explores some of the myths surrounding the man and his fiction. This first talk also begins to examine the powerful influence that Lovecraft’s unique literary creations have exerted over the contemporary occult imagination.

Evening Two: Legends of the Necronomicon
31st January (Wednesday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5

In part two of this series, Justin Woodman explores the history of the legendary Necronomicon in fact and fiction, and ponders its continuing relevance to contemporary occult cultures. Penned by the Yemeni poet and mystic Abdul Alhazred circa 700 CE, the dreaded Necronomicon is perhaps one of the most powerful and alluring of H.P. Lovecraft’s creations: a grimoire able to rend apart the very fabric of reality and bring forth the Great Old Ones themselves. Although a work of fiction, the Necronomicon has yet achieved a social and physical reality with more than twenty versions having been published since the 1960s.

Evening Three: Chariots of the Dark Gods
14th February (Wednesday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5

Many of H.P. Lovecraft’s best known tales of the Cthulhu mythos intimate that the human species is nothing but a by-product of extraterrestrial interventions in Earth’s prehistory. His idea predates the “Ancient Astronaut� theorists and “alternative archaeologists� by over thirty years. Woodman demonstrates that Lovecraft is a pervasive (but often unacknowledged) influence upon ufology and UFO religions. In the second part of the lecture, Woodman speculates further on the relationships that have developed between imaginative fiction, Forteana and contemporary occult cultures.

Evening Four: Chaos, Cthulhu, and Contemporary Consciousness
28th February (Wednesday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5

Tonight’s talk concludes the series exploring the relationship between Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and contemporary occult cultures. Woodman here focuses on Chaos magic and other recent movements, and considers the claim that Lovecraft was a “mythographer of modernity�. It can be argued that he was a writer whose enduring vision is consonant with the claims of cutting-edge magic and theoretical physics; moreover, Woodman suggests, his work intimates something about the current trajectories of Western culture and consciousness.

Wrong country

IZ.

I refuse to hear that Tolkien is inherintly racist. His work does draw on many historic cultural sources, but having read his books in anal detail I feel safe saying that there is no in built bigotism.

Tolkien puts a strong importance on race. Elves are good (the nolder were forgiven for the kinslaying, in the end *ahem*), Orcs are Evil, Men are unpredicatable, and can be noble or evil.

I;d say the only one of those meant to represent humans are men! And he has us to a tee. Hardly a racist.

Onto Lovecraft...

I have read a selection of stories from weird takes and dreams in the witchhouse, I haven't noticed any racism, where is this evident?

i'm currently reading the "The Shunned House" story
still exciting and eldritch

Maisey wrote: I have read a selection of stories from weird takes and dreams in the witchhouse, I haven't noticed any racism, where is this evident?

Who do you think the Deep Ones are supposed to be ? Yep, you got it, strangers.
Lovecraft was living in a very poor and multicultural neighbourhood and those strangers with their wicked ways and cultures just scared him to death.
Pretty miserable when you think of it, but hey, as I said, the man was seriously deranged.

Never got into the RPG scene. I couldn't get my head round it to be honest. My mates used to play it every week especially Cthulu.
And there was a band from Leamington Spa called Call Of Cthulu.

His best story (of the small selection I've read) is The Shadow Over Innsmouth....which also inspired a Metallica song - any of you Metal pub quiz geeks will know which one.

The Thing That Should Not Boo

ormfdmrush wrote:The Thing That Should Not Boo

BOO It should have been called that. It would have been scarier.
Well done young man.

Metallica WERE avid CoC roleplay geeks as well, they tended to play hours on end in the backstage.

Which easily explains Ulrichs mental unstability and bad drumming...

IZ.

itnAklipse wrote:Lovecraft was a genius. "Occult knowledge" inaccurate?
Errh, his own highly symbolic representation of his own vision of the universe is inaccurate? How could that be? God manifests both in man and amoeba.

Errh, i don't think "his own highly symbolic representation of his own vision of the universe" could by definition be classed as "knowledge" of the occult, and so cannot be what i refer to. i'm not bothered whether he believed that the universe was kept in a jam-jar belonging to an old man in sunderland who lived under the stairs -but his use of actual passages from texts of ritual magick are misquoted and misused in his writings.. for example in one short of his (which i cannot be arsed to dig out and quote directly) the "evil" inscription daubed on the wall of some undergroud chamber used for diabolical rites is actually the tetragrammaton -the four names of the hebrew god.

by all means believe that cars have personalities and sentient consciousness, but don't try and tell me "vorsch sprung durch technik" means "herbie goes bananas".

I love CoC, it has provided some of the spookiest and excellent RPG evenings extremely regularly!

Brideoffrankenstein wrote:I love CoC, it has provided some of the spookiest and excellent RPG evenings extremely regularly!

Sista BoF!

(Iä! Iä! etc...)

IZ.

Izzy HaveMercy wrote:

Brideoffrankenstein wrote:I love CoC, it has provided some of the spookiest and excellent RPG evenings extremely regularly!

Sista BoF!

(Iä! Iä! etc...)

IZ.

Sometimes we have two teams in different rooms and we pass notes to the DM so no-one knows what the fcuk is going on. A bit sad I know but it adds to the tension and eventual madness \m/

Brideoffrankenstein wrote:

Izzy HaveMercy wrote:

Brideoffrankenstein wrote:I love CoC, it has provided some of the spookiest and excellent RPG evenings extremely regularly!

Sista BoF!

(Iä! Iä! etc...)

IZ.

Sometimes we have two teams in different rooms and we pass notes to the DM so no-one knows what the fcuk is going on. A bit sad I know but it adds to the tension and eventual madness \m/

Passin' on notes and acting out phobias is one of the main appeals of the game!

IZ.

I'd recommend reading s.t. joshi's annotated lovecraft, particularly "the colour out of space" and "at the mountains of madness." The latter is my favorite story.

I tried to write a college paper about Lovecraft but my professor wouldn't let me write about "horror literature."

eastmidswhizzkid wrote:

itnAklipse wrote:Lovecraft was a genius. "Occult knowledge" inaccurate?
Errh, his own highly symbolic representation of his own vision of the universe is inaccurate? How could that be? God manifests both in man and amoeba.

Errh, i don't think "his own highly symbolic representation of his own vision of the universe" could by definition be classed as "knowledge" of the occult, and so cannot be what i refer to. i'm not bothered whether he believed that the universe was kept in a jam-jar belonging to an old man in sunderland who lived under the stairs -but his use of actual passages from texts of ritual magick are misquoted and misused in his writings.. for example in one short of his (which i cannot be arsed to dig out and quote directly) the "evil" inscription daubed on the wall of some undergroud chamber used for diabolical rites is actually the tetragrammaton -the four names of the hebrew god.

by all means believe that cars have personalities and sentient consciousness, but don't try and tell me "vorsch sprung durch technik" means "herbie goes bananas".

at this point it might be interesting to compare HPL with AO Spare.
Both created a new 'ficitonal' occult mythos based on a grab bag of esoteric history (as did the 'serious' magical societies of the time) the difference is that HPL was writing fiction and was never a serious occutlist whereas Spare was consciously and intentionally making it up to suit him in magical works.

next there will be claims that Dan Brown [spits] is a certified bishop cos he makes stuff up about the Roman Catholic Chuurtch

...i was too busy kicking the s**t out of Elves and Trolls with my Skeleton Army to play CoC...always liked a round of Railway Rivals though

Elves always deserve a good kickin'.

BTW isn't it just sad that Games Workshop gave up on such brilliant boardgames as Space Hulk ?



I used to play this one a lot.

We have Iron Kingdoms now!



IZ.

Badlander wrote:Elves always deserve a good kickin'.

BTW isn't it just sad that Games Workshop gave up on such brilliant boardgames as Space Hulk ?



I used to play this one a lot.

I have the Playstation game - a pretty decent adaptation:

eastmidswhizzkid wrote:by all means believe that cars have personalities and sentient consciousness, but don't try and tell me "vorsch sprung durch technik" means "herbie goes bananas".

I think that might actually be the best sentence I have ever read!

Here Here
Enjoyed by all.

We should do an email CoC session one of these days

IZ.

boudicca wrote:

eastmidswhizzkid wrote:by all means believe that cars have personalities and sentient consciousness, but don't try and tell me "vorsch sprung durch technik" means "herbie goes bananas".

I think that might actually be the best sentence I have ever read!

Yupp! Lee, this quotation is worth being on a t-shirt along with a burning VW Golf!

I hope my mate Peter still has his copyshop..