The HP Lovecraftian Connection?

[Jeff Crowell]

So I downloaded and have been reading the collective works of HP Lovecraft and in the story Call of Cthulu was somewhat shocked to read the description of the ancient city of R'ley. Lovecraft describes "impossible angles", and walls and architecture that appears convex in one moment and concave in the next.

Of course what Lovecraft is describing here is a multi-dimensional realm, one that hints at least one or more of the remaining 9 dimensions that have been mathematically demonstrated. I found the link of a writer from the early 1900's scribing a city that demonstrates multi-dimensional effects fascinating, especially since M-theory/string theory (typically considered the 'birth' of the multi-dimensional universal idea) wasn't even proposed until the 1940's and didn't take any sense of credibility until the 1970's. Has anybody else read of any connection between Lovecraft's works and future high-theory physics?

 

[nameless]

good podcast;
Panel Borders – Alan Moore: The Horrors at Red Hook at Resonance FM Podcasts

It address modern day interpretations of his work based on consideration of his themes within the context of his life and culture of his time. It also addresses his racism and subsequent regret which is a chapter of his life Lovecroftian nut riders always brush away. refreshing

Panel Borders - Alan Moore: The Horrors at Red Hook : Alex Fitch : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

 

[dyingsun]

Love Lovecraft (erhm), 'The King in yellow' regarding that manufactured (?heh) pantheon is all I'd say. FTAGHN.

 

[nameless]

Love Lovecraft (erhm), 'The King in yellow' regarding that manufactured (?heh) pantheon is all I'd say. FTAGHN.

I see we have a connoisseur in our midst. The King in Yellow is definitely one of those ahead of its time books and sticks out like a shiny brass tack out the carpet of literary endeavour. I don't own a first edition or an old edition either just one of the bootlegs but check these out;
Miskatonic University Department of Literature

 

[dyingsun]

Excellent.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

HPL's work is the first place I heard the term "Non-Euclidean geometry."
Non-Euclidean geometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't know if the references are scientifically related, but HPL's The Dreams in the Witch House grooves on geometry and physics quite a bit, with the protag being a math (or physics?) major.

Frank Belknap Long's The Hounds of Tindalos also gets into room geometry.

By the way, The King in Yellow (which has little to do with physics or geometry but was mentioned above) is on LibriVox:
LibriVox » The King in Yellow Part 1 by Robert W. Chambers

 

[bonaventura]

For Lovecraft's connection to the ancient aliens meme through The Morning of the Magicians, see jasoncolavito.com and his book The Cult of Alien Gods. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

 

[TerranceQuestion]

fun! I know Micah Hanks has made the connection of BLOOP and the sunken city of Rayleh (or however it's spelled) because they're both from "furthers from land and down" which is pretty awesome. Even if BLOOP is just a nothing, it's still a cool connection.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

For Lovecraft's connection to the ancient aliens meme through The Morning of the Magicians, see jasoncolavito.com and his book The Cult of Alien Gods. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

That is a really interesting website. I like Colavito's analysis of the America Unearthed show. Just out of curiosity, I will have to read The Morning of the Magicians sometime. It seems to be one of those books that throws out unsubstantiated claims (not that this happens much in paranormal literature), and these claims just sort of wind their way into public consciousness (for instance, the material about the Thule society). HPL is an example of how fiction writers can sometimes change the perceived course of history in a way that non-fiction writers cannot.

By the way, maybe you should suggest Colavito as a Paracast guest?

 

[dyingsun]

The 'whole Lore' Aspect is thriving though, the man (racist and despicable as he was) wrote Fiction that touches a nerve. Pet Cthulhus everywhere...cosmic horror. Best kind, we've seen it all on this ball of dirt anyhow..

 

[bonaventura]

That is a really interesting website. I like Colavito's analysis of the America Unearthed show. Just out of curiosity, I will have to read The Morning of the Magicians sometime. It seems to be one of those books that throws out unsubstantiated claims (not that this happens much in paranormal literature), and these claims just sort of wind their way into public consciousness (for instance, the material about the Thule society). HPL is an example of how fiction writers can sometimes change the perceived course of history in a way that non-fiction writers cannot.

By the way, maybe you should suggest Colavito as a Paracast guest?

Yes, Morning of the Magicians is a lot of fun, but totally unreliable, a rich source of ideas, many of which have become/occult/alternative history standards (I love the one about evil Tibetan monks in Berlin during WWII). I've often wondered how these sorts of claims can be repeated in book after book, with no sourcing except other unsourced books. This constitutes "research" for many writers.

Yes, I do think Jason would be a great guest. Put him on with Joseph Farrell and/or David Childress. (Hah!)

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

Yes, Morning of the Magicians is a lot of fun, but totally unreliable, a rich source of ideas, many of which have become/occult/alternative history standards (I love the one about evil Tibetan monks in Berlin during WWII). I've often wondered how these sorts of claims can be repeated in book after book, with no sourcing except other unsourced books. This constitutes "research" for many writers.

Yes, I do think Jason would be a great guest. Put him on with Joseph Farrell and/or David Childress. (Hah!)

Two things that make something "true" in the paranormal literature:
1. How often has the claim been reported? The more often repeated, the more true it becomes. Facts are only a sufficient accumulation of rumors. "Where there's smoke, there's fire."
2. How sinister is the subject? For example, any claim regarding the CIA is automatically true because "well, I believe it because I could see them doing something like that."

I think a discussion/debate between Colavito and one of the others would be engaging. Farrell and Childress both have interesting things to say, and I am curious how they would respond. What most of those shows like Ancient Aliens lack is a counter-point.

 

[nameless]

 

[nameless]

 

[Jeff Crowell]

Thanks, nameless, for ruining my Sunday morning. I sat and watched this whole thing.

It's was pretty fascinating, really! Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Jeff Crowell]

I loved how they incorporated Arkham and Miskatonic University into the story. LOL! A fair cartoon from my childhood.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

Various cool HPL resources here:
Audios | Lovecraft eZine

 

[nameless]

Various cool HPL resources here:
Audios | Lovecraft eZine

cheers man. very cool!

 

[storge]

Has anybody else read of any connection between Lovecraft's works and future high-theory physics?

Well, you mean besides the connection between the EDOM device in The Evil Clergyman and the Men in Black series of films??? Electronic Dissolution of Memory, not Lost Kingdoms of.

Poe wrote several speculative essays of a cosmological nature which included some interesting ideas including the "light-cone" in Hawking, by another name. Lovecraft used the word "congeries" to describe extra-dimensional space, because he read about it in some magazine or newspaper being described that way. His non-Euclidean convex/concave spaces, lines, doors and architecture seem more inspired by dream imagery to me than anything else. "Dreams in the Witch-House" tries to bridge the gap between witchcraft, sorcery and the latest in science and mathematics, and, perhaps interestingly, contains the character of the Black Man, not am African, but in the old witchcraft sense, apparently (although there were West Indian blacks involved in the Salem Witchcraft, according to Peter Levenda, who makes a big deal of that fact to push the idea of some ancient revenge taking place there). Doesn't that same Black Man stand for the Devil in a Hawthorne or Irving story?

 

[LeBombette]

I think a discussion/debate between Colavito and one of the others would be engaging. Farrell and Childress both have interesting things to say, and I am curious how they would respond. What most of those shows like Ancient Aliens lack is a counter-point.

Wouldn't that be great fun! I think Colavito has some amazing points especially regarding the whole Ancient Aliens thing. I've heard he's working on a project about the Moundbuilders in America...I'm a card carrying member of the "we don't know what the heck is going on with this culture or where it came from" club when it comes to the Mississippian culture and I'm suspicious that Colavito is going to link all the current fringe theories on this topic back to the good old white guy club of 18th and 19th century America and claim that anything outside of mainstream archaeological thought is eugenics. I digress though...back to your suggestion...I think Childress is full of it and changes with whichever way the wind blows...Farrell has some interesting ideas and these three in the same show would certainly be interesting and might need to be at least a two-parter. I'd most definitely pay money to see this debate!