I don’t think I’ve ever come across a mythos with more raw energy available from it than the Cthulhu Mythos. Rituals - specifically invocations involving Cthulhu type entities consistently produce the best results. Though strong enough belief in any egregore will produce good results in any paradigm (as the primary energy driving that success is rooted in the magician). I believe that there is a good argument in stating that the Cthulhu mythos might be better when it comes to tapping the raw energy of chaos for several reasons.

First and foremost is the nature of the entities themselves. To say that they are lacking in anthropomorphic characteristics would be a gross understatement. With the exception of Nyarlathotep, none of the beings worthy of the title ‘egregore’ have anything that might link them to humanity in any fashion. Beyond simply being non-human in character they are even, for the most part, missing anything that would be considered theriomorphic as well - though vague associations with various animals have been proffered to try and relate unto them in some fashion.¹

Atavistic resurgence is a powerful magical technique, in regressing or tapping into an animal type consciousness the magician moves ‘closer’ to the source of chaos within the human psyche. How much closer do we come when we pass beyond even that pale? How much closer to raw chaos are the beings of the Cthulhu mythos? I am specifically reminded of such phrases as “worse than formless”² when discussing these entities. It is an interesting turn of phrase; after all, if something is completely without form it can’t stir any association within the human mind to something with form. If an egregore is beyond form it might indicate that to behold or interact with such an entity forces the mind to form new associations or pathways of thought and reasoning. A shockingly sudden or brutal exposure to such a being would then produce the characteristic insanity so common within the myth cycle. Not only are new channels of thought created but also they are created in such a way as to invalidate the previously held ways of thinking.

Tapping into this forced reorganization of thought and reasoning as a deliberate act is the second underlying reason why this pantheon is so potentially useful. The magician willfully upsets the status quo within her own mind. In doing so she rebels against the very nature of this universe. Kenneth Grant and others have postulated that the egregores of the Cthulhu mythos are so terrifying because they originate in an alternate universe.³

From the perspective of a being from that universe the Cthulhu type godforms would be easy to relate to and not in the least bit frightening. This pat explanation makes sense, in fact it makes too much sense. For he is arguing that the Greek gods would be horrifically terrifying and ineffably unspeakable to beings from the alternate universe. And what of other universes? For if there are two, a and b, there might be a c, d, e, f, g, …, etc. ad infinitum. Would they all be equally irreconcilable with each other in terms of conceptualizing egregores? I think not.

Simply postulating the existence of another universe as the root cause of the horrible nature of the mythos is fine well and good but unnecessary. I would counter this argument by saying that all of the potential multiverses can be considered as a whole sum of the possible outcomes of every set of circumstances. In other words, they exist like a cluster of universes within a larger sea of chaos. So we don’t even have to go there, we can live happily within one universe (or multiverse) and understand that underlying this reality is the potential into which it moves, evolves, whatever. Unless someone would like to provide a universe hopping machine in the next couple of years I think we’re stuck in this one.

Rather than hopping down the rabbit hole of “Just how many universes are there really?” magicians may wish to consider more practical matters when it comes to dealing with egregores in general and with the Cthulhu mythos in particular. The third reason the Cthulhu mythos has so much to offer is that the entities themselves have a built in source of renewable energy; the consistent high level of fear which many practitioners hold the paradigm. So real is this fear for some people that the very idea of actually working with these forbidden entities throws them into a panic. That which is “taboo” or “forbidden” has power by the virtue of being outside of the acceptable or normal. I have run into white-lighters that are so terrified of the Cthulhu mythos that they don’t even say their names out loud. Now there’s a source of power if you ask me.

The fourth reason is the concept of malign purpose and risk. Magic without risk may as well be religious ritual. A shadowy pantomime that once had purpose. In approaching this paradigm the magician should consider the argument that the Cthulhu Mythos exchanges power and resources for the potential havoc they can wreck by widening the cracks around the edges of the universe and letting in more chaos. The idea being that their final goal is to come screaming out of the abyss and rearrange everyone’s sanity during the process of enslaving the entire planet, wiping it clean of life and then doingwhatever it is they do do when they’ve done that.

If you can realistically convince yourself that the next time you work with an egregore from this paradigm it might be the last time humanity is allowed free reign on the planet, the resulting nervous fear can actually become a gnostic experience. Alternatively the prospect of permanently loosing your sanity and running naked down the street devouring little old ladies and their shopping carts might also provide the edge of fear that is required. Not nice entities should be considered dangerous, but only from the perspective that it makes us want to work with them more.

1 For example “Shub-Niggurath: Black Goat with a thousand Young”/“The frog like Tsathagoggua” etc.

2 “The doom that came to Sarnath”

3 Which they call Universe B