Azathoth - The Blind Idiotic God of Entropy

In the merciless Universe of the Cthulhu Mythos there are forces and entities capable to unbalance the equilibrium of the cosmic powers to a dangerous level. They are entities so incredibly powerful and so inconceivably influential that a mere movement could annihilate realities, break dimensions, and destroy existence as we know it.

They are beings of so much power and capacity that their existence brings together principles of Nature itself. They are what we have learned to accept as guiding notions of what actually exists - Life, Time, Space, Gravity...

But even above them, above these incomprehensible Entities, there is something else ... there is Azathoth.

To call Azathoth a Outer God is oversimplify the concept.

He is greater than any other Outer Gods, perhaps he is greater than the sum of all the other Gods gathered together.For some philosophers who dare to discuss the role of Azathoth in the cosmic context, he is the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of everything in the Universe. Everything that existed was already part of Azathoth, everything that exists is a fragment of it, everything that will exist will be generated by it. And one day, the Primordial Chaos will consume everything in a conflagration of annihilation that will end up with the Universe as we know it. For Azathoth is the end of all things, just as it was the beginning.

It is not by chance that the Mythos theorists call him, in absolute awe, "The Daemon Sultan", and in striking fear "The Primordial Chaos" . The term Sultan, was probably used for the first time by the celebrated mad Arab Abdul Al Hazred. It comes from his transcendental compendium, the Al Azif, later called the Necronomicom the first mention of It. In his tome, Hazred highlights the preponderance of Azathoth as the Sovereign of All Cosmic Forces. He occupies the Throne, in what is conventionally called the Cosmic Court, a place in the Center of the Universe. Anointed, Glorious and Imposing, the Outer Gods revolves around Azathoth in a kind of planetary orbit. They never get close enough that Ultimate Chaos does not reach them with their tentacles. The touch of Azathoth is the eradication of all that exists, and not even the Gods can afford to approach it. Immaculate in the center of the court, the sultan presides over his infinite host, with his entourage of deities evolving, spinning, approaching and retreating into an endless dance. Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Nigurath, Nyarlathotep and all the other cosmic gods pay homage to him in this Cosmic Ballet. Neither of them equals Azathoth.

A procession of laborious satraps, tentacular batrachian beings known only as Servants of the Outer Gods are the only ones allowed to approach. They carry large metal flutes blown in monotonous notes that make up the Song of the Spheres - the "lullabies" of the Gods. Its monochordic sound can not be recorded by human perception without causing madness and damnation. Maybe it will calm Him down and contain Him. Sound propagates through the Court, even through the space vacuum. Conventional laws of time and space mean nothing there. Nature is just a raw material to be perverted by these beings.

Azathoth rarely abandons his Throne, except on the few occasions when it is invoked by complex rituals that open dimensional portals linking the Center of the Universe to some other point. The temples of the Insects of Shagghai allow such evocation, as well as the rites of some beings prone to venerate the ultimate Entropic Priciple. But even in such a vast universe, there are few species willing to worship this entity. Azathoth is too powerful, too unpredictable... there are rumors that entire planets have been incinerated by his intentional or accidental invocation. In the blink of an eye, whole Planetary Systems were fulminated by the mere presence of Azathoth. 

For this reason, the higher, more enlightened races of the cosmos avoid any contact with the Primordial Chaos, such practice being blasphemous. The Mi-Go, the Great Race, the Elder Things, all know Him and fear, no one feel compelled to venerate it, for nothing good can come from Him. The reason for this widespread fear among the preponderant species, is that Azathoth is unaware of his real power. Not by chance is he called the Blind and Stupid God, since he is unable to interact with anything intelligently. Azathoth is only reaction, there is not even instinct guiding his actions. The notion of a being so powerful, incapable of the most modest thought is terrifyingly frightening, a proof of the indifferent nature of the universe in the face of the forms of life that inhabit it. The cosmic irony that the most powerful entity in the cosmos possesses an empty mind has led more than one civilization to complete ruin through hopelessness.

Unable to do anything on his own, Azathoth uses his entourage of flautists servants for the pedestrial duties and the One who performs both functions of Herald and Messenger, none other than Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. He who is called the Heart and Soul of the Outer Gods, is charged with performing missions in the name of the Sultan, fulfilling his needs and executing his lesser purposes. It is said that only Nyarlathotep is able to interpret the obtuse wills of Azathoth and act immediately, thus preventing the Demonic Sultan's cholera. If Nyarlathotep did not fulfill this important role, some believe, the universe would have already been annihilated by the maddened agitation of Azathoth displeased at the slightest situation.

Legends say, it was Azathoth who gave birth to the Universe. In his nuclear spasms, he would have been the one who set off the spark of the Beginning of Time, the detonating force that physicists call the Big Bang whose deafening din can be heard to this day. How and why Azathoth would have done this, nobody knows. Thinkers and philosophers relate Myths of some civilizations with the notion that Creation had started with the will of Azathoth. The Greeks and the Norse believed that the universe was created from Primordial Chaos. The Hindus also have an understanding of the role of Azathoth and relate it to Shiva the destroyer. It is paralleled in the Judeo-Christian belief that says that at the beginning there was nothing but the Darkness and that these were banished by the phrase "Let there be light" spoken by God. To Calling Azathoth "God" can be feasible? Many people see the creation as a immense explosion and the brilliance of a purifying light in the beginning of time, and they may well be right.

Some academics drew a connection between Azathoth and the Gnostic God Achamoth, the mother of the Demiurge who spawned the Universe. Similarly, the Egyptian Cult of Aten that reveres the Disc of Light may be a representation of Azathoth. However, worship to the God are practically incipient on Earth and have always been like that. Raging madmen and hermits seem to be the only ones who turn to Azathoth as their redeemer. This is due to the fact that Azathoth does not guarantee any benefit or protection to any cultists. It is a mystery what could led the Insects of Shaggai to praise Him in their pyramidal temples where He takes the form of a bivalve avatar called Xada-Hgla. The rites devoted to Azathoth presided over by the Insects are regarded as abominable.

Some apocryphal texts state that Azathoth was not always a mentally incapable God. He would have lost his consciousness the moment the Universe was born. Contemplating the extent of his Creation, the Primordial Chaos would have been obliterated. This interpretation is found in a few books, but the repercussion of it is terrifying. The texts state that when Azathoth regain a fraction of his consciousness, which can happen at any moment, he will put an end to his creation by throwing it back into a wave of annihilation, sweeping the cosmos from corner to corner. If such thing implicates in the rise a new universe, and what form will have, no one is able to say. Such precept seems to find echo in innumerable metaphysical works that affirm categorically that the End of the Times will be triggered by Azathoth.

During human history it is presumed that Azathoth has been dangerously invoked on some occasions. For some scholars, this invocation would have been the cause of great disasters recorded as mysterious occurrences in our mythical past - the Great Biblical Flood and the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, for example. The Cataclysm that ended the Hyborian Era may also have been caused by the summoning of Azathoth. In recent times the mysterious Tunguska Explosion, which occurred in Russia in 1908 may have been the effect of a brief appearance of Azathoth, although many scientists reckon this destructive event to the impact of an asteroid. Some Seers and Prophets who foretold the destruction of the Earth may have actually had a glimpse of Azathoth.

The emergence of the Outer God, even though for a few seconds, is enough to trigger all kinds of side effects. Large areas are devastated from the epicenter where it touches the ground.

Azathoth represents the embodiment of Entropy and his visit leaves deep scars on nature revolted by his touch. Mountains are cracked and pulverized, earthquakes are felt, rivers change course, entire forests are transformed into clearings with dead branches, shattered and calcined, ponds are reduced to pools of alkaline water.

The Daemon Sultan is related to radioactivity and mere exposure to its dread light is sufficient to cause poisoning in biological tissues, blindness and an endless variety of cancers in living beings. In addition, the heat of Azathoth's body is comparable to a nuclear furnace, capable of melting rocks and turning sand into glass. The nuclear breath radiated by the form of Azathoth ignites and melts everything that comes in contact with it.

It is reasonable to suppose that the mere aparition of Him, for just seconds, represents a concrete threat of ecological annihilation in a considerable area. Prolonged exposure can result in a hecatomb: with the destruction of the Ozone Layer, melting of the ice poles and other planetary consequences. There is a theory that the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter was formed when Azathoth destroyed the planet that previously existed in this orbit.

When the Primordial Chaos manifests itself through an invocation, it emerges accompanied by a legion of its servants who surround it by playing its music and evolving like a living cloud. Minor Outer Gods can also be dragged through the dimensional portals responsible for the materialization of Azathoth.

The Sultan reacts irritatedly when transported from his Throne in the Center of the Universe. Its size varies at the moment of its arrival, in general it is a few meters in diameter, but every second the mass expands geometrically, being able to reach incredible dimensions in a few instants. With enough time, especially if he is furious, the Sultan can grow without stopping, to the point of swallowing a whole planet and more. It is not known what the rate of progression and the limit of its growth, and even if such limitation applies to an entity like this. In any case, in the opportunities in which it was invoked, it continued to grow until it was dispersed and returned to its original place.

It is not easy to perceive Azathoth amid the conflagration of radiation and heat emanating from his body. Those who try to do so usually die or become permanently blind. Many who have a glimpse of it, mentions the so-called Eye of Azathoth a huge floating disk of white light. This is perhaps their most benign and comparatively less lethal form of God. It is after all just a way for him to observe our reality, without being here in person.

On occasions when the Demon Sultan manifests himself in all his profane glory, the vision is simply indescribable, something that causes madness in the most rational minds. Azathoth is an amorphous entity, a chaotic mass of nuclear fury in eternal fission. It expands immense tentacles made of pulsating plasma and heat that melts and reforms your own body at all times. These pseudopods are always stretching, increasing in size and reach, reached several yards in moments. Their touch is lethal to all that exists in the universe, living beings disintegrate with their atoms dispersed by entropic corrosion. Nothing is safe from them.

The main mass that makes up its "body" has an immaculate white coloration and is in constant transformation, irradiating myriads of light and blinding radiation that ripple like mirages or burst like bubbles. There is no flesh, bones, fluids or matter to focus on, it is just light and nothing more. The inability to conceive the form of Azathoth makes his vision even more shocking. Contemplating it is like contemplating the face of the Sun, of God, of Creation and Destruction. All this in a same way crackling with a vortex of cosmic savagery.

Great in all, imponderable in every detail, there is no way to explain what Azathoth is, no matter how many adjectives are used and how many sentences are uttered. It would be necessary to invent words to describe something like Primordial Chaos. There is nothing remotely similar in human experience to establish a comparative basis.

In the Center of the Universe, impassive, contemplating the cosmic dance of His court, Azathoth waits, and the cosmos holds his breath each time he adjusts.