The crazy minds behind @crowdmind have launched a contest called HOW TO INTRODUCE THE CULT OF CTHULHU TO YOUR WORKPLACE?.
This is my concise submission.
First of all, it's necessary that you know that I am actually introducing the cult of Cthulhu in my workplace for some months already.
The reasons why I'm doing this are the usual: boredom, frustration, a way to express dissent spreading chaos.
To explain my method, I have to start from the basics of Lovecraftian horror.
In H.P. Lovecraft works, horror comes from the UNKNOWN, expecially otherwordly. Incredibly ancient and inhuman beings, that should be forever forgotten and unknown, come to the attention of some unfortunate WITNESS, driving them to MADNESS.
There's no way of salvation, except for very rare cases, and the awareness that humankind is not the dominant culture in the world, but only the last, fragile, patina of rationality over an abyss of infinite depth, both in time and space, where insensitive and obtuse deities act according to instincts that are completely alien to human thought, even they completely ignore human rationality and they could erase it without even realizing it.
So... I believe the best way to introduce the Cult to my workplace should be inspiring a feeling of ANXIETY for the unknown and the meaningless.
Since I work in several schools, I started to let here and there GREAT OLD ONES SYMBOLS on black and white boards.
My goal is to make people feel uncomfortable and ask themselves the meaning of these mysterious drawings that seem to appear here and there, persecuting them.
This is actually very small, yet in plain sight; some people can notice it where others not; that's good, as those who noticed it could doubt whether to talk to others about it and look a little crazy, or conceal their discovery.
Eventually, someone may read up on this symbol, discovering its correlation with the Cthulhu Myths, and this, besides spreading excellent horror literature, will only lead to further CONFUSION:
- Why the symbol of the Great Old Ones appears on the blackboards of several schools?
- Do kids of 6-12 years know Lovecraft? If so, do we have to call social services?
- Is English teacher definetly gone nuts?
- Are all the janitors Dagonians?
- Is someone or something trying to leave a message to someone, or something?
- What's the point with all this?
I love this one in particular because it's green. Cthulhu loves green! I tried to get a "color out of space" chalk, but I think I could find it only in the worse kindergarten's bathrooms...
When anxiety and chaos will have spread, it is as if a Cult had already been established in a completely spontaneous way, there is no need for much else (even if using the school switchboard to call random numbers and whisper "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" could be a nice integration).
The symbol of the Great Old Ones is a roughly designed star, which it's very useful as I have to act quickly and I have the artistic skills of a shoggoth.
At a certain moment, to spread even more confusion, I started to create bizarre alternative symbols.
This makes me very proud: it has lasted for three weeks hidden behind the calendar, from where it continues to spread its nefarious influence. It could be discovered in years! This says a lot about school hygiene, among other things...
Well! That's all! I'm going to sleep, since I have to be at work in four hours and I'm still here at the PC, writing crap...
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! to all of you and families, not to mention your goats with a thousand young!
P.S.: Beware of seafood, if you're allergic like Uncle Howard ....



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