The pagan C S Lewis

“The Weird of Hali: Innsmouth” is a peculiar novel by John Michael Greer. It´s the first in a projected series of seven Lovecraft-themed novels. I think two volumes have been published so far. “Innsmouth” is the only one I´ve read. It´s not a horror story, nor is it a Lovecraft pastiche or ditto parody. In fact, there is very little H P Lovecraft in this story of the return of the Old Ones, the whole thing rather smacking of a certain John Michael Greer. But then, that´s the point somehow!

Greer´s blog has often criticized Lovecraft´s racism and general fear of “the biological”, and “The Weird of Hali: Innsmouth” could be seen as an extended polemic against the creator of Great Cthulhu. Notoriously, Lovecraft didn´t really believe in the occult. Greer, by contrast, does. The novel is imbued with a “pagan” perspective where the world is inhabited by countless of spirit-beings and intelligent creatures of various shapes and forms, many of whom want nothing to do with humanity, and some who are more advanced. The latter could be seen as “gods” from a human perspective. The cosmos and nature are cyclical, with alternate phases of creation and destruction, and this “crawling chaos” is something to be affirmed and embraced, not shuddered at. No transcendent personal creator-god of the Biblical type seems to exist, everything being a product of an impersonal life force, called “voor” in the novel. Humans play only the smallest part in this scenario. Greer rejects both the Christian notion that we are “the crown of creation”, the Renaissance claim that humans are the measure of all things, and the modern idea of unlimited “Progress” (usually thought of in technological terms). He uses Lovecraft´s fear of degeneracy and the biological to launch a general critique of the Western fixation with (supposed) “rationality” that ultimately leads to the annihilation of Nature and the Earth itself. (If this makes any sense as a criticism of H P Lovecraft in particular, I leave to Lovecraft scholars to decide.)

The plot of “Innsmouth” is set in an in-story universe which combines our reality with the Lovecraftian universe. The main character is one Owen Merrill, a former soldier and current down-and-out scholar at the Miskatonic University in Arkham. Unsurprisingly, he is writing a doctoral thesis on Lovecraft from a vaguely postmodern perspective. Arkham has so much local color that I had to double-check that the place really is fictitious! One day, Owen (who is vaguely based on Greer himself) discovers an unknown letter in which Lovecraft admits that the Eldritch are real, and soon thereafter the wild hunt begins. Owen is contacted by both the Old Ones and their opponents, a mysterious scientific brotherhood known as the Radiance. The twist in the story is (surprise!) that the Eldritch horror figures are the good guys…

In the novel´s universe, Innsmouth used to be a thriving community of human-fish-octopus crossbreeds (perhaps a metaphor for mixed race people?). When they tried to initiate Lovecraft in the ancient lore, the conservative racialist got cold feet and left in a hurry. Even the Orcs (called Voormis in the story) turn out to be good. Owen´s mentor is Nyarlathotep himself, who turns out to be none other than the Egyptian god Anubis. The Radiance are the bad guys. Their scientific rationalism or "noology" is a form of psychotic social engineering, perhaps even fascism, complete with long-distance mind control, paramilitary units and robotic slaves. Fear of the biological at its finest! 

Greer, who doesn´t believe in conspiracy theory, draws heavily on such lore when describing the Radiance: they were formed in Babylonia 3,000 years ago, are also known as the Illuminati, and deliberately staged industrialism, environmental destruction and so on. Despite their avowed atheism and materialism, the Radiance try to use Eldritch curses to its advantage. A curious twist is that the rationalist conspirators, but not the Old Ones, know when “the stars are right” and Cthulhu will awaken, a moment they anticipate with intense dread.

Greer has drawn inspiration from a variety of sources for “The Weird of Hali: Innsmouth”. Apart from H P Lovecraft and his colorful adjectives, also Robert W Chambers, Arthur Machen and C S Lewis, although the latter influence is unacknowledged in the author´s afterword. I think it´s obvious that the Radiance is based on NICE in “That Hideous Strength”, a novel imbued with magic and paganism, but always subordinated to the true god of Christianity. The novel also contains more humorous references to Tolkien´s “Lord of the Rings” and perhaps even to Marvel Comics superheroes – Anubis is driving some kind of Batmobile! 

However, the main source of inspiration seems to be John Michael Greer himself. The Old Ones turn out to have a pantheistic pagan mystery religion based on magic and the life force, not unlike Greer´s own combination of Druid Revival and Golden Dawn esotericism. They even meet in an old Masonic hall – Greer is a Mason. Innsmouth, despite its location near the sea, is probably based on the small town in the Appalachians where Greer lived before he moved to New England. I already mentioned the similarity between Owen and Greer – both men seem to have roughly the same pastimes. And while Greer isn´t a former soldier, he apparently did train swordsmanship when he was younger. It´s also intriguing to note that Greer now lives in Rhode Island, which I believe was the home turf of both Chambers and Lovecraft…

I liked the novel. In fact, I read it in two days. Just like Greer when writing it, I had no problem accepting the absurd plot as really real. Ironically, this could be a slight problem if you´re the author, since the reader is presumably supposed to be shocked or deeply disturbed by the revelation that the Ancient Ones are real and never really left. The characters, including some of the Eldritch-related ones, feel realistic. (Are they based on actual living people?) Many other Eldritch are perhaps too cartoonish, but then, that might be part of the comic effect. 

That being said, I nevertheless don´t vibrate with the “pagan” message of this oeuvre. This cyclical world is filled to the brim with suffering and outright evil. The Eldritch are part of this cycle. Why should we worship fallen gods of a fallen world? I´m not a Christian, but somehow, C S Lewis´ solution feels more appealing. The creation is awaiting its redemption, not “the awakening of Great Cthulhu”…