{"id":3421,"date":"2016-12-15T14:20:02","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T14:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2017-08-22T12:09:45","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T12:09:45","slug":"h-p-lovecraft-lords-venus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/h-p-lovecraft-lords-venus\/","title":{"rendered":"H P Lovecraft and the Lords of Venus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did H P Lovecraft<\/strong> receive his concept of cosmic horror via astral transmission from the late Helena Blavatsky<\/strong>? Were E Hoffman Price<\/strong> and Talbot Mundy<\/strong> the reincarnations of Atlantean mystics? And what has this to do with an English plumber or with Edward Douglas Fawcett<\/strong>, one of the founding fathers of the Devon County Chess Association?<\/p>\n

It’s the Fawcett Saga Part Two<\/em>, dear listener, with lots of H P Lovecraft, some other writers of the weird and the Book of Dzyan <\/em>again. <\/em>And we have a rather nice slice of fiction, courtesy of today’s guest, Bobby Derie<\/strong><\/span>. Theosophy is once again our cue, and, by an odd coincidence, we are reminded of a piece of local history. Did you know that the world’s first Science Fiction Convention was held in 1937, Yorkshire? In our own city of Leeds, in fact – at the Theosophical Hall (hence the passing thought). We’ll tell you more about that some other time.<\/p>\n

\"typical<\/a>
typical convention attendees in their bizarre costumes, 1937<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everybody loves books of forbidden knowledge and lost cities of the ancients. A week or so ago we began our latest saga, concerning the lives of two late Victorian\/Edwardian brothers, Edward and Percy Fawcett<\/strong>. One of our many interests in the pair was Edward’s serious involvement in theosophy, which led us to the Book of Dzyan<\/em>, mentioned in a couple of H P Lovecraft’s stories. We rattled on about this in Part One, so we won’t repeat ourselves ( the fawcett saga 1<\/a> ). What we didn’t provide is a definition of the linking school of beliefs, so we’ll amend that now:<\/p>\n

\u201cTheosophy is a collection of mystical and occultist philosophies concerning, or seeking direct knowledge of, the presumed mysteries of life and nature, particularly of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the universe. Theosophy is considered part of Western esotericism, which believes that hidden knowledge or wisdom from the ancient past offers a path to enlightenment and salvation.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after writing Part One, we were talking about the whole caboodle to scholar and historian of weird literature, Bobby Derie<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"mr<\/a>
mr derie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The knowledgeable Mr Derie has often assisted greydogtales<\/em> with quotes and curiosities related to some of those classic old-time writers \u2013 H P Lovecraft himself, Henry S Whitehead, Robert E Howard<\/strong> and Clark Ashton Smith<\/strong>, for example. Most usefully, this time he kindly supplied some quotes on HPL’s familiarity with theosophical tomes. We’ll explain…<\/p>\n

The world of Edwardian Arcane is littered with theosophists, and there’s no doubt that their works influenced weird fiction. Strong among theosophy themes were the concepts of ancient civilisations and phases of human development which you didn’t find in the history books, and these were rich material for writers throughout the first half of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n

We should briefly mention the largely forgotten British adventure story writer Talbot Mundy<\/strong> (1879-1940), a fairly prolific writer who was once quite well-regarded \u2013 and certainly sold well. He was, yes, an active theosophist, a convert from Christian Science.<\/p>\n

\"trosofsamothrace-c1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

He deserves a nod not only because his Tros of Samothrace<\/em> (1925) is a fond memory from our teens, but also because Robert E Howard, E Hoffman Price and Fritz Leiber<\/strong> all acknowledged that he had an influence on their writing. Amongst his many works are a couple of books, concerning The Most Reverend Lobsang Pun, known to all as ‘Old Ugly Face,’ a mystical monk of venerable age, who lives in Tibet, a magical land of forbidden places and secret mountain fastnesses. The Thunder Dragon’s Gate<\/em> and Old Ugly Face<\/em> are the books in question.<\/p>\n

One of the repeated themes in theosophical writing is that much of their knowledge was supposedly dictated over the astral plane by various Hindu and Tibetan mystics. Which reminds us of another teenage influence, the works of Tuesday Lobsang Rampa<\/strong>, wherein we learned of life in a Tibetan monastery and the secrets of the Third Eye. Excepting the fact that T Lobsang Rampa was actually an English plumber called Cyril Henry Hoskin<\/strong>. Cyril claimed that his body was inhabited by the spirit of the Tibetan lama, and that was how he received detailed information on growing up in a lamasery. Unlike Talbot Mundy, who had travelled extensively and been to the Orient, Hoskin never bothered to leave England for his own ‘Lobsang’ material.<\/p>\n

\"rampa_thirdeye1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to H P Lovecraft, whilst we doubt the direct link to any particular theosophical author, he certainly had access at various points to copies of their wilder tales. So what we will do is to give you a flavour of some of the connections, including quotes supplied by Mr Derie from relevant letters (quotes in order of date of letter)<\/em>. This is, of necessity, a skim over the material, our own main interest being the Edwardian Arcane<\/em> side of the British connection, but it’s nice to see the inter-linkages.<\/p>\n

One of the certainties is that HPL read William Scott-Elliot<\/strong>. An active theosophist, Scott-Eliot wrote two very pertinent books entitled The Story of Atlantis<\/em> (1896) and The Lost Lemuria<\/em> (1904), which were combined into a single volume in 1925.<\/p>\n

\"47bea576e64b5bccc16afdfde546f317\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been digesting something of vast interest as background or source material\u2014which has belatedly introduced me to a cycle of myth with which I have reason to believe you are particularly familiar\u2014i.e., the Atlantis-Lemuria tales, as developed by modern occultists & the sophical charlatans. Really, some of these hints about the lost \u201cCity of the Golden Gates\u201d & the shapeless monsters of archaic Lemuria are ineffably pregnant with fantastic suggestion; & I only wish I could get hold of more of the stuff. What I have read is <\/em>The Story of Atlantis & the <\/em>Lost Lemuria, by W. Scott-Elliot.<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to CAS, 17 Jun 1926<\/em><\/p>\n

Scott-Elliot expanded on ideas from Helena Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine<\/em> (1888), which, you’ll remember, was prepared for publication with the assistance of the older Fawcett brother, Henry Fawcett. Scott-Eliot drew on information which had come to a fellow-theosophist, Charles Webster Leadbeater<\/strong>, via astral transmission.<\/p>\n

A Lord of Venus<\/h2>\n
\"charles_webster_leadbeater-007\"<\/a>
c w leadbeater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leadbeater (1854-1934) returned from India in 1889 to live in England, and eventually lived at the London headquarters, and Scott-Elliot was an active member of the London Lodge. There seems little doubt that these two and Fawcett encountered each other.<\/p>\n

Charles Leadbeater and later adherents of Theosophy such as Alice A. Bailey<\/strong> believed that a Lord of Venus, Sanat Kumara<\/em>, descended from the etheric plane of the planet Venus to Earth 18,500,000 years ago. To many theosophists Venus, The ‘Planet of Love’, is the most spiritually advanced planet in the solar system. The beings living on the etheric plane of Venus are said to be hundreds of millions of years ahead of us in their spiritual evolution.<\/p>\n

(We’re not here to knock anyone’s beliefs, only to explore weird literature. You can easily read more about Sanat Kumara from the point of followers online.)<\/em><\/p>\n

And speaking of astral transmission or clairvoyance:<\/p>\n

It is good to know that you liked this last story. As to that problem of transmission\u2014well, it seems to me that the author has to be omniscient or nothing: though one might get the story out of the \u201castral records\u201d (preserved somewhere in the ether, and accessible to adepts) which are mentioned in the literature of esoteric Buddhism! The tradition of Hyperborea, Mu and Atlantis were supposedly preserved in these records! […] I have never seen The Riddle of the Pacific, nor the book by Scott-Elliot either, and must find out if they are locally procurable.<\/em><\/p>\n

CAS to HPL, 16 Nov 1930<\/em><\/p>\n

Reference to the Book of Dzyan<\/em> crops up later in the correspondence:<\/p>\n

What you say of your new tale, and of the Pushkara-Plaksha-Kusha-Sh\u00e2lmali-Mt. Wern-Senzar-Dzyan-Shamballah myth-cycle which you have dug up, interests me to fever heat; and I am tempted to overwhelm you with questions as to the source, provenance, general bearings, and bibliography of all this unknown legendry. Where did you find it? How can one get hold of it? What nation or region developed it? Why isn\u2019t it mentioned in ordinary works on comparative folklore? What\u2014if any\u2014special cult (like the theosophist, who have concocted a picturesque tradition of Atlanteo-Lemurian elder world stuff, well summarised in a book by W. Scott-Elliott) cherishes it? <\/em><\/p>\n

For gawd\u2019s sake, yes\u2014send along those notes, and I\u2019m sure that Klarkash-Ton, High-Priest of Tsathoggua, would (unless he knows about the cycle in question, appreciate them as keenly as I. Incidentally\u2014Klarkash-Ton tells me that his Semitic oracle de Casseres never heard of Zemargad. Tough luck! But the hint so strongly appeals to HIgh-Priest Klarkash that he is going to use the name Zemargad\u2014in conjunction with more synthetic nomenclature\u2014in his new and hellish conception, The Infernal Star. Meanwhile, as I said before, I\u2019m quite on edge about that Dzyan-Shamballah stuff. The cosmic scope of it\u2014Lords of Venus, and all that\u2014sounds so especially and emphatically in my line!<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to E. Hoffmann Price, 15 Feb 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

Please return the epistle, since I want to save those references to the Dzyan-Shamballah myth-cycle which Price has just uncovered. As you\u2019ll see, this stuff looks decidedly interesting!<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to August Derleth, 16 Feb 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

The Book of Dzyan<\/em> was supposedly the source of sections of Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine<\/em>. We noted last time the mention of Dzyan in The Diary of Alonzo Typer<\/em>, by Lovecraft and William Lumley<\/strong>, and here again there is a nice reference in the letters:<\/p>\n

Lumley is naturally in touch with all sorts of freak cults from Rosicrucians to Theosophists.<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to REH, 8 Jun 1932<\/em><\/p>\n

The Soup of the Ancients<\/h2>\n
\"weird<\/a>
weird tales 1938, courtesy of will hart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The author E Hoffman Price (1898-1988) was certainly fascinated by Eastern mysticism, though he became a Buddhist rather than a theosophist.<\/p>\n

Price has lately come upon some genuine folklore closely resembling my pre-terrestrial Yog-Sothoth stuff\u2014he promises particulars later.<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to Donald Wandrei, 17 Feb 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

In the context of our trail, note that these latter quotes are from 1933, which is nearly seven years after H P Lovecraft wrote Call of Cthulhu<\/em>, and five years after The Dunwich Horror<\/em>. Lovecraft was already well along the road of his Yog-Sothery.\u00a0 It appears that HPL’s ideas fermented as part of a soup made from many different sources. We can see no direct ‘steal’ from theosophy, despite superficial connections. Theosophy has so many mystic strands that it would be hard not to bump against them at some point.<\/p>\n

Price has dug up another cycle of actual folklore involving an allegedly primordial thing called The Book of Dzyan, which is supposed to contain all sorts of secrets of the Elder World before the sinking of Kusha (Atlantis) and Sh\u00e2lmali (Lemuria). It is kept at the Holy City of Shamballah, and is regarded as the oldest book in the world\u2014its language being Senzar (ancestor of Sanscrit), which was brought to earth 18,000,000 years ago by the Lords of Venus. I don\u2019t know where E. Hoffmann got hold of this stuff, but it sounds damn good…<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to CAS, 18 Feb 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

By the way\u2014it turns out that Price\u2019s mystical legendry was, after all, only the stuff promulgated by the theosophists\u2014Besant, Leadbeater, &c. I thought it sounded like that. Do you know anything of the origin of that stuff? It pretends to be real folklore\u2014at least in part (of India, I suppose)\u2014but I have a certain sneaking suspicion that the theosophists themselves have interpolated a lot of dope. There are things which suggest a knowledge of certain 19th century conceptions.<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to August Derleth, c. 27 Feb 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

A few days after, Clark Ashton Smith wrote to express his interest:<\/p>\n

The Book of Dzyan is new to me\u2014I haven\u2019t read any great amount of theosophical literature. I\u2019d be vastly interested in any dope you or Price can pass on to me. Theosophy, as far as I can gather, is a version of esoteric Yoga prepared for western consumption, so I dare say its legendry must have some sort of basis in ancient Oriental records. One can disregard the theosophy, and make good use of the stuff about elder continents, etc. I got my own ideas about Hyperborea, Poseidonis, etc., from such sources, and then turned my imagination loose.<\/em><\/p>\n

CAS to HPL, 1 Mar 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

That Besant, Leadbeater stuff originates undoubtedly from Indian folklore, though as you suspect, the English have unquestionably interpolated much material.<\/em><\/p>\n

HPL to August Derleth, 6 Mar 1933<\/em><\/p>\n

Leadbeater you know. Annie Besant<\/strong> (1847-1933) took over the Theosophical Society after Blavatsky’s death in 1891.<\/p>\n

\"annie<\/a>
annie besant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And here are the same theosophical folk again:<\/p>\n

Another cycle of impressive-sounding folklore or pseudo-folklore is that sponsored by the modern theosophists. Some of this is undoubtedly genuine Hindoo myth, but I suspect that the cult of theosophists has mixed with it a great deal of synthetic fakery of 19th century origin. The best books of this sort of thing to read are the following:<\/em><\/p>\n