Celestial Bodies in The Cthulhu Mythos
Celestial Bodies in The Cthulhu Mythos
by John Beal
According to L. Sprague De Camp, Lovecraft was a keen astronomer, whose first in
terest was created through the classical myths associated with the constellation
s. The stories of H. P. Lovecraft-and other writers of the Cthulhu mythos often
mention the roles of stars in connection with deities, events or rituals. -A cer
tain number of these places are fictional, for example the planet Sharnoth, home
of Nyarlathotep beyond this universe, in what might be termed Universe B. Other
s are real stars and planets, so I thought it interesting to investigate any myt
hology connected with them, and the meaning of their names.
THE PLANETS: Rather than list each individual planet and their associated myths,
here is a synopsis of a few which seem particularly of interest. In the Lovecra
ft and Sterling story In the Walls of Eryx the setting is a Venus covered by lus
h jungle, through which the narrator searches for a crystal worshipped by the Ve
nutian Man-Lizards, possibly a reference to the Serpent People and Shining Trape
zohedron of The Haunter of the Dark and other stories. Venus is also mentioned a
long with Jupiter in The Shadow out of Time in which Lovecraft writes "There was
a mind from Venus, which would live incalculable epochs to come, and one from a
n outer moon of Jupiter six million years in the past." Many of Clark Ashton Smi
ths stories are set upon planets, The Door to Saturn for example and also The Vau
lts of Yoh-Vombis which is set upon Mars. Most of Smiths works however concern Pl
anets in other star systems, for example The Planet of the Dead, the planet ment
ioned in Marooned in Andromeda, and The Flower-Women of Voltap. The final planet
I shall mention, appears to be pivotal to the astronomical ideas in Lovecrafts C
thulhu Mythos. Yuggoth synonymous with Pluto, is the abode of fungal creatures w
ho leave crab-like footprints and make inter-planetary journeys... on clumsy, pow
erful wings which have a way of resisting the ether". Kenneth Grant uses Yuggoth
as a symbol of the boundary between dimensions, an idea expressed in the poem B
eyond by Lin Carter:
"I have seen Yith, and Yuggoth on the Rim,
And black Carcosa in the Hyades."
It is interesting that Carter mentions Carcosa (the invention of Ambrose Bierce
in his story An inhabitant of Carcosa) as lying in the seven sister stars of the
Hyades, as this area of the sky is returned to again and again in the Cthulhu m
ythos.
FOMALHAUT (Alpha Pisces Australis): This name, like many others derives straight
from Arabic. Its origins are Fum al Hiiit, meaning Mouth of the Fish. It is not s
o surprising therefore that this star is located at the mouth of the drinking fi
sh, Pisces Australis. Interestingly it is the only named star in this constellat
ion and is the most southerly first-magnitude star visible from Great Britain. T
he fact that it is of first magnitude relates to the Cthulhu mythos deity Cthugg
a with which it is connected. Cthugga is described as resembling an "enormous bu
rning mass continually varying in shape." Cthugga is also served by beings calle
d Flame Vampires which again suggests an intensely hot abode.
ALDEBARAN (Alpha Tauri): Aldebaran is generally known as The Eye of the Bull, Taur
us, due to its distinct orange colouration. Originally the name was given to the
entire Hyades cluster, which it is in fact not a member of, but is some distanc
e in front of. Its name again comes from Arabic, Al Dabaran, meaning The Follower.
This was due to the Greeks belief that the star followed the Pleiades. This sta
r is linked to the Cthulhu mythos in an extremely interesting way. The original
link was through the stories of Robert William Chambers in The King in Yellow, w
here it is the bright twin star, home of Hastur.
It is regarded by August Derleth as the Star where some of the Cthulhu deities e