Great Old Ones: Blasphemous 'Masters' from the Stars
The core of the Cthulhu Mythos is the existence of the Great Old Ones .
They are fundamentally different from “gods” or “demons” in traditional religions. They reside beyond the horizon of good and evil, possessing high civilizations and immense magical (or scientific) power, yet their mental structure has zero compatibility with humans. To them, humanity is not even an object of rule, but mere insects crawling at the edge of their vision.
1. Lineage of the Stars: Outer Gods and Great Old Ones
As the organization of the myth progressed, these existences came to be classified by their hierarchy and attributes. *Outer Gods : The most powerful and unknowable existences embodying the physical laws of the universe. This includes “Azathoth,” the Sultan of All, and “Yog-Sothoth,” the Gate and the Key. To them, the life or death of individual species is not even within the scope of recognition. *Great Old Ones : Existences that once ruled Earth or nearby stars but are now sealed or in an eternal slumber. The representative “Cthulhu” waits for the time of awakening in the sunken city of R’lyeh beneath the Pacific. While they have physical bodies, their composition consists of alien materials incomprehensible to humans.
2. Sealed Dominion: When the Stars are Right
There is an eerie common prophecy in the stories of the Great Old Ones: “When the stars are right (in the correct position), they will return.” *Eternal Slumber : Currently, their activities are restricted by cosmic cycles or seals placed by the “Elder Gods.” But they have not died. In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. *Role of the Cultists : Among humans, there are secret societies like the “Cthulhu Cult” that seek to hasten their return. They engage in hideous rituals seeking a fragment of mercy from the returned god, or perhaps the “right to be killed first without suffering.”
3. Mental Encroachment: Telepathy and Madness
Even if they are not physically awake, the Great Old Ones can send fragments of their minds into the dreams of humans. *The Price of Sensitivity : Artists, poets, and the mentally sensitive receive the “thought waves” emitted by the Great Old Ones as nightmares whenever the stars align. This is one of the direct causes of “insanity” in the Cthulhu Mythos. *Non-Euclidean Geometry : The cities they once built and the forms of their bodies ignore the 3-dimensional geometry humans recognize (Euclidean geometry). “Visual contradictions”—such as corners appearing obtuse when they should be sharp, or stairs that descend while going up—physically destroy the brain.
4. Cultural Context: Gods as Absolute “Others”
Why are we so fascinated by these “hideous deities,” the Great Old Ones?
It is because they are symbols of the “Absolute Other.” Overwhelmingly massive and irrational existences with whom our values do not work at all. When facing them, humans first realize the fragility of the “common sense” barrier we share. The Great Old Ones are the cold truths of the universe itself, mirroring the brittleness of the civilization we take pride in.
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