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view the enactments of ruin
Sep. 12th, 2002 11:42 pmSometimes I feel that I am reinventing the philosophical wheel. I make some discovery which feels immense, to me -- and then I realise that it's been said/thought/written before. (It's the sort of moment when you realise that duh, perhaps your parents aren't quite so stupid after all.)
I realise that some of these things you have to come to yourself, rather than simply reading them in someone else's writing. One just feels that there should be a more efficient way of managing it.
This is gorgeous. http://www.jtw.zaq.ne.jp/cfaso605/index.html It's a set of photos of ruins, by a Japanese photographer, all in black and white. Enough to nurture all sorts of interesting ideas.
I'm also rereading Michael Scott Rohan's book Chase the Morning. It soars.
---
Ah, here are some notes of mine for a Call of Cthulhu campaign that never happened. Pity. It might have been interesting.
It is partly to do with that novel you mentioned -- Hawksmoor, was it? The one with human sacrifices at the founding of cathedrals, and geomantic webs across the land. And, apparently, to summon Hastur, one needs "nine enchanted blocks of stone in a v-pattern. The stones need not be of regular shape, but each must have a volume of at least nine cubic yards". (The spell may only be cast on clear nights when Aldebaran is above the horizon -- say, between October and March.) I'm thinking masonic secret societies. Creators of the "Perfect City". Sanctifying foundation stones in nine cathedrals or churches with human blood, centuries ago. I'm seeing a major ritual to invoke Hastur at the centre of these nine stones. On ley lines . (I'm also seeing a lot of work with maps. ;)) I'm not sure whether this fits the 1890s, the 1920s, or the current day best -- I think the 1890s. I'm also seeing a strange perversion of Christianity, identification of the King in Yellow with the Holy Spirit, twisted images of saints, and other fun stuff. I'm seeing degenerate artists and opium dens. I'm seeing a "mystery play" on Christmas Eve which will be a production of the King in Yellow.'.
I realise that some of these things you have to come to yourself, rather than simply reading them in someone else's writing. One just feels that there should be a more efficient way of managing it.
This is gorgeous. http://www.jtw.zaq.ne.jp/cfaso605/index.html It's a set of photos of ruins, by a Japanese photographer, all in black and white. Enough to nurture all sorts of interesting ideas.
I'm also rereading Michael Scott Rohan's book Chase the Morning. It soars.
---
Ah, here are some notes of mine for a Call of Cthulhu campaign that never happened. Pity. It might have been interesting.
It is partly to do with that novel you mentioned -- Hawksmoor, was it? The one with human sacrifices at the founding of cathedrals, and geomantic webs across the land. And, apparently, to summon Hastur, one needs "nine enchanted blocks of stone in a v-pattern. The stones need not be of regular shape, but each must have a volume of at least nine cubic yards". (The spell may only be cast on clear nights when Aldebaran is above the horizon -- say, between October and March.) I'm thinking masonic secret societies. Creators of the "Perfect City". Sanctifying foundation stones in nine cathedrals or churches with human blood, centuries ago. I'm seeing a major ritual to invoke Hastur at the centre of these nine stones. On ley lines . (I'm also seeing a lot of work with maps. ;)) I'm not sure whether this fits the 1890s, the 1920s, or the current day best -- I think the 1890s. I'm also seeing a strange perversion of Christianity, identification of the King in Yellow with the Holy Spirit, twisted images of saints, and other fun stuff. I'm seeing degenerate artists and opium dens. I'm seeing a "mystery play" on Christmas Eve which will be a production of the King in Yellow.'.
