ASHTAROTH

ASHTAROTH

"Satan here held his Babylonish court, and in the blood of stainless childhood the leprous limbs of phosphorescent Lilith were laved. Incubi and succubae howled praise to Hecate, and headless moon-calves bleated to the Magna Mater. Goats leaped to the sound of thin accursed flutes, and aegipans chased endlessly after misshapen fauns over rocks twisted like swollen toads. Moloch and Ashtaroth were not absent; for in this quintessence of all damnation the bounds of consciousness were let down, and man’s fancy lay open to vistas of every realm of horror and every forbidden dimension that evil had power to mould."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

"The Twenty-ninth Spirit is Astaroth. He is a Mighty, Strong Duke, and appeareth in the Form of an hurtful Angel riding on an Infernal Beast like a Dragon, and carrying in his right hand a Viper. Thou must in no wise let him approach too near unto thee, lest he do thee damage by his Noisome Breath."
Clavicula Salomonis Regis, Lemegeton, Book I:The Goetia

"Astaroth is cited as one of the seven princes of hell who visited Faust, appearing as a serpent with a colored tail, two small feet, a chestnut neck, and spines similar to a hedgehog that can grow up to a finger’s length."
Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal

SAMAËL

 SAMAËL

"He had been growing shabbier and shabbier with the years, and now prowled about like a veritable mendicant; seen occasionally by humiliated friends in subway stations, or loitering on the benches around Borough Hall in conversation with groups of swarthy, evil-looking strangers. When he spoke it was to babble of unlimited powers almost within his grasp, and to repeat with knowing leers such mystical words or names as “Sephiroth”, “Ashmodai”, and “Samaël."'
H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

"And when she saw (the consequences of) her desire, it changed into a form of a lion-faced serpent. And its eyes were like lightning fires which flash. She cast it away from her, outside that place, that no one of the immortal ones might see it, for she had created it in ignorance. And she surrounded it with a luminous cloud, and she placed a throne in the middle of the cloud that no one might see it except the holy Spirit who is called the mother of the living. And she called his name Yaltabaoth."

"Now the archon who is weak has three names. The first name is Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas, and the third is Samael. And he is impious in his arrogance which is in him. For he said, 'I am God and there is no other God beside me,' for he is ignorant of his strength, the place from which he had come."
The Apocryphon Of John, The Secret Book Of John

"There was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it, and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded with glaring eyes, at the sight of which the beholder fell prostrate in awe. "This one," said Metatron, addressing Moses, "is Samael, who takes the soul away from man."
Louis Ginzberg, The Ascension Of Moses
 
"Red Samael, who was then a seraph, led Lilith away from the warm sunlit paths of Eden, into the refreshing shade of a huge tree which thrived in the midst of this garden, and away from the paths of virtue also."  
James Branch Cabell, The Devil's Own Dear Son

 

THE BLACK PHARAOH (NYARLATHOTEP)

THE BLACK PHARAOH (NYARLATHOTEP)

"Then down the wide lane betwixt the two columns a lone figure strode; a tall, slim figure with the young face of an antique Pharaoh, gay with prismatic robes and crowned with a golden pshent that glowed with inherent light."

“Hei! Aa-shanta ’nygh! You are off! Send back earth’s gods to their haunts on unknown Kadath, and pray to all space that you may never meet me in my thousand other forms. Farewell, Randolph Carter, and beware; for I am Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos!” 
H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

 "And it was then that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt. Who he was, none could tell, but he was of the old native blood and looked like a Pharaoh. The fellahin knelt when they saw him, yet could not say why. He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet. Into the lands of civilisation came Nyarlathotep, swarthy, slender, and sinister, always buying strange instruments of glass and metal and combining them into instruments yet stranger."
H.P. Lovecraft, Nyarlathotep

"But I was not far behind, for there was no doubt after another second. It was the eldritch scurrying of those fiend-born rats, always questing for new horrors, and determined to lead me on even unto those grinning caverns of earth’s centre where Nyarlathotep, the mad faceless god, howls blindly to the piping of two amorphous idiot flute-players."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Rats In the Walls 

"But the worst and by far the most hideous feature was the lack of a face upon the ghastly thing. It was a faceless god; Nyarlathotep, Mighty Messenger, Stalker among the Stars, and Lord of the Desert."

"When the Day arrived at last, Nyarlathotep would come out of the desert, and then woe unto Egypt! For the pyramids would shatter into dust, and temple crumble to ruin. Sunken cities of the sea would rise, and there would be famine and pestilence throughout the land. The stars would change in a most peculiar way, so that the Great Ones could come pulsing form the outer gulf."

"Behind him strode the Faceless God, urging him onward with a staff of serpents."
Robert Bloch, The Faceless God

THE BLACK MAN (NYARLATHOTEP)

THE BLACK MAN (NYARLATHOTEP) 
"Now he was praying because the Witches’ Sabbath was drawing near. May-Eve was Walpurgis-Night, when hell’s blackest evil roamed the earth and all the slaves of Satan gathered for nameless rites and deeds."

"He must meet the Black Man, and go with them all to the throne of Azathoth at the centre of ultimate Chaos. That was what she said. He must sign in his own blood the book of Azathoth and take a new secret name now that his independent delvings had gone so far. "
"The evilly grinning beldame still clutched him, and beyond the table stood a figure he had never seen before—a tall, lean man of dead black colouration but without the slightest sign of negroid features; wholly devoid of either hair or beard, and wearing as his only garment a shapeless robe of some heavy black fabric. His feet were indistinguishable because of the table and bench, but he must have been shod, since there was a clicking whenever he changed position."

"There was the immemorial figure of the deputy or messenger of hidden and terrible powers—the “Black Man” of the witch-cult, and the “Nyarlathotep” of the Necronomicon."

"Presently he realised what he was listening for—the hellish chant of the celebrants in the distant black valley. How did he know so much about what they expected? How did he know the time when Nahab and her acolyte were due to bear the brimming bowl which would follow the black cock and the black goat?"
H.P. Lovecraft, Dreams In the Witch-House

"Such in its essence, was the fable of Nyarlathotep. It was older than secret Egypt, more hoary than sea-doomed Atlantis, more ancient than time-forgotten Mu. But it has never been forgotten. In the medieval times this story and its prophecy were carried across Europe by returning crusaders. Thus the Mighty Messenger became the Black Man of the witch-covens; emissary of Asmodeus and dark gods."
Robert Bloch, The Faceless God

"But these early Christians did not always conceive a devil in human form. For example, in the Life Of St. Anthony, attributed to Athanasius, devils appear in many guises in addition to a black boy and a huge man. They come as 'a beast like to man having legs and feet like those of an ass,' and as leopards, bears horses, wolves and scorpions."
Rossell Hope Robbins, The Encyclopedia Of Witchcraft and Demonology

"In later accounts, the Devil took the guise of a black man or a handsome youth wearing striking clothes or possessing some notable physical characteristic. When he appeared in this form, he occasionally revealed his true nature by exposing a cloven hoof."
Darren Oldridge, The Devil In Tudor and Stuart England 

"Often called “Le Grand Negre” (The Black Man), Leonard is demon of the first order, grand master of the sabbaths, chief of the subaltern demons, and inspector general of sorcery, black magic and witchcraft. From the waist up, Leonard has a goat’s body with 3 horns on his head, a goat’s beard, hair-like bristles, 2 ears like foxes, and inflamed eyes."
Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal

THE KING IN YELLOW (HASTUR)

THE KING IN YELLOW (HASTUR)

"At the farther end was a high stone dais reached by five steps; and there on a golden throne sat a lumpish figure robed in yellow silk figured with red and having a yellow silken
mask over its face.To this being the slant-eyed man made certain signs with his hands, and the lurker in the dark replied by raising a disgustingly carven flute of ivory in silk-covered paws and blowing certain loathsome sounds from beneath its flowing yellow mask."

"Then the figured silk slipped a trifle from one of the greyish-white paws, and Carter knew what the noisome high-priest was. And in that hideous second stark fear drove him to something his reason would never have dared to attempt, for in all his shaken consciousness there was room only for one frantic will to escape from what squatted on that golden throne."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

"Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa."
Robert W. Chambers, The Yellow Sign

"'The ambitions of Caesar and Napoleon pales before that which could not rest until it has seized the minds of men and controlled even their unborn thoughts,' said Mr. Wilde.
'You are speaking of the King in Yellow', I groaned with a shudder.
'He is a king whom Emperors have served.'"
Robert W. Chambers, The Repairer Of Reputations

Then I sank into the depths, and I heard the King in Yellow whispering to my soul: 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"'
Robert W. Chambers, In the Court Of the Dragon

News...

I don't usually post on weekends, but this was too cool to pass up. My friend Mike shot an email over to the dudes at the Miskatonic University podcast about my blog. They loved it and mention it about 3 minutes into the episode! Thanks so much Mike and M.U. podcast. You guys should definitely check it out if you're running or playing Call Of Cthulhu. Here's the link to episode 10 where they mention Yog-Blogsoth.

The zine is fully laid out, the covers are designed I just need to screen print them. So it looks like I'll be a month behind schedule. But don't worry! They're definitely happening.

PS-This coming week will be my last week of posting for a bit while I catch up on the zine and some freelance work. However, it's a big, big week. Possibly, just possibly some avatars of some Great Old Ones and maybe some biblical demons?

QUETZALCOATL

QUETZALCOATL 
"Not a hearing—nobody knows—I alone have the secret—that’s why I and Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopotchli will rule the world alone—I and they, if I choose to let them. . . . But I must have experimental subjects—subjects—do you know whom I’ve chosen for the first?”'

"'Thou too, Ipalnemoan, By Whom We Live! I hear, I hear! I see, I see! Serpent-bearing Eagle, hail! A message! A message!"'
H.P. Lovecraft & Adolphe de Castro, The Electric Executioner

"One of the great gods of ancient Mesoamerica, Quetzalcoatl is a miraculous synthesis of serpent and bird.The Postclassic Nahuatl name Quetzalcoatl derives from the Nahuatl terms for the emerald plumed quetzal and the serpent, or coatl. Thus the term could be glossed as "quetzal serpent", although the serpent is specifically a rattlesnake." "...bicephalic serpents covering the body..." "During the Late Postclassic period, Quetzalcoatl usually appears in human form, often with a conical cap."
Mary Miller & Karl Taube, An Illustrated Ditionary Of the Gods and Symbols Of Ancient Mexico and the Maya

"Eventually Quetzalcoatl was transformed into one of the 
gods of the creation (Ipalnemohuani)."
Webster's Dictionary

Visual reference.  
The British Musuem, London, Lintel 15, Structure 23, Yaxchilan

HUITZILOPOTCHLI

HUITZILOPOTCHLI

"'Not a hearing—nobody knows—I alone have the secret—that’s why I and Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopotchli will rule the world alone—I and they, if I choose to let them. . . . But I must have experimental subjects—subjects—do you know whom I’ve chosen for the first?”'
H.P. Lovecraft & Adolphe de Castro, The Electric Executioner

"Huitzilopochtli was the supreme deity of the Aztecs, their chief cult god."

"In some sources he is also identified as the Blue Tezcatlipoca."

"The Spaniards called him Huichilobos and saw him as the devil incarnate, the cause of heart sacrifice, the source of perversion in the New World." "According to most accounts and to an early post-Conquest illustration, he wore on his head a blue-green hummingbird headdress, a golden tiara, white heron feathers, and the smoking mirror more commonly associated with Tezcatlipoca and probably adopted from him." "His face often bears yellow and blue striped paint, and a black mask dotted with stars surrounds the eyes. Frequently adorned with paper banners....he usually carries Xiuhcoatl or fire serpent."
Mary Miller and Karl Taube, An Illustrated Dictionary Of the Gods and Symbols Of Ancient Mexico and the Maya

HORUS

HORUS
"It occurred to me that judging from the elaborateness of this worship, the concealed deity must be one of considerable importance. Was it Osiris or Isis, Horus or Anubis, or some vast unknown God of the Dead still more central and supreme?"
H.P. Lovecraft & Harry Houdini, Under the Pyramids

"Horus was often portrayed as a falcon perched on a rectangular frame 
known as a serekh."   
\Charles Freeman, The Legacy Of Ancient Egypt

"Yet, it is in the combined zoo-anthropomorphic form of a falcon-headed man that the god most frequently appears, often wearing the Double Crown signifying his kingship 
over all Egypt."
Jimmy Dunn, Horus, the God Of Kings

Visual reference.
Temple Of Edfu, Edfu, Egypt

ANUBIS

 ANUBIS
"It occurred to me that judging from the elaborateness of this worship, the concealed deity must be one of considerable importance. Was it Osiris or Isis, Horus or Anubis, or some vast unknown God of the Dead still more central and supreme?"
H.P. Lovecraft & Harry Houdini, Under the Pyramids

"His distinctive black coloring did not have to do with the jackal but with the color of rotting flesh and with the black soil of the Nile valley."
Charles Freeman, The Legacy Of Ancient Egypt

"Anubis was the terrifying canine god who presided over the mummification of bodies and guarded burials. He was usually shown as a seated black jackal or as a man with the head of jackal or wild dog."

"The Jackals and wild dogs who lived on the edge of the desert were carrion eaters who might dig up shallowly buried corpses. To avert this horrible end for their dead, the early Egyptians tried to placate Anubis, 'the dog who swallows millions.' "

"A story recorded in the first millennium BCE tells how the wicked go Seth disguised himself as a leopard to approach the body of Osiris. He was seized by Anubis and branded all over with a hot iron. This, according to Egyptian myth, is how the leopard got its spots. Anubis then flayed Seth and wore his bloody skin as a warning to evil doers. By this era, Anubis was said to command an army of demon messengers who inflicted suffering and death."

"Anubis remained and important funerary god in the Roman Period, but his cult was singled out for abuse by Roman writers. This may have been partly 
because of his popularity with necromancers."
 Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide To the Gods, Goddesses and Tradition Of Ancient Egypt

CTHUGHA

CTHUGHA
"Lloigor, Zhar and Ithaqua shall ride the spaces among the stars and shall ennoble those who are their followers, who are the Tcho-Tcho; Cthugha shall encompass his dominion from Fomalhaut; Tzathoggua shall come from N'kai..."
H.P. Lovecraft & August Derleth, The Lurker At the Threshold

"Thereupon he launched into a south-shaking account of incredible, ancient evil, of Great Old Ones akin to the elemental forces-The Fire-Being, Cthugha;"
August Derleth, The Watcher From the Sky

"Then shall Cthugha come in fire and flame to claim that which has rightfully been His from the beginning of time."

"He hung motionless in a black, forbidding sky and at first thought he was suspended somewhere in the intrasolar deeps much closer to the Sun than on Earth. But then he realized that the dully gleaming orb which floated before his dreaming vision was not the Sun."
John Glasby, The Black Mirror

Sketches 8

Sorry to break the streak but I need some time to work on some freelance stuff as well as the column I started doing over at Blow the Scene (In my defense it was a 6 week uninterrupted posting spree!). So, I thought I'd give you a new version of the "sketches" posts to hold you over until next week. This one is a progression shot.

We have Wilbur Whateley in thumbnail form, then inked but not cleaned up (I forgot to scan him when he was just a pencil drawing, so we're actually missing one step), then cleaned up, then with just the flat color on him and lastly all rendered.

It should give you a good idea of the process I go through with each of these little buggers. And I hope it'll keep you sated until the 9th when I have a two week streak of Gods In Human Form....enjoy!