Shub-Niggurath

Shub-Niggurath (also Shupnikkurat, Ishnigarrab, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, Lord of the Wood, The All-Mother, Ram with a Thousand Ewes) is an Outer God. She is first mentioned in Lovecraft's revision story "The Last Test" (1928). Most of her development as a literary figure was carried out by other Mythos authors, including August Derleth, Robert Bloch, and Ramsey Campbell.
== Description ==
In the few times it has been summoned, Shub-Niggurath appeared as a great noxious cloud from which hoofed feet and tendrils constantly protruded and were re-absorbed. Shub-Niggurath is usually referred to as female. Lovecraft explicitly defined Shub-Niggurath as a mother goddess in The Mound, where he calls her "Shub-Niggurath, the All-Mother". One reference in the Cthaat Aquadingen says that she is both male and female. It is likely that Shub-Niggurath signifies the cosmic principle of fertility and childbearing, and attaching sex to any of the Outer Gods is problematic at best.
The residence of Shub-Niggurath remains a mystery. One location that has been hypothesized is the planet Yaddith, beneath the surface of which it resides with her dhole servitors. Others insist that the Black Goat of the Woods came to Earth, building the city Harag-Kolath in a cavern beneath southern Arabia where it awaits the coming of its mate Hastur. One source maintains that it lives beneath Mount Voormithadreth, but the description of it provided is much closer to that of Abhoth. It is also possible that Shub-Niggurath remains at the court of Azathoth or even in another dimension entirely.
== Cult of Shub-Niggurath ==
Shub-Niggurath's cults may be the most widespread of any Mythos entity. It is known to have been worshiped by the Tcho-tchos, Hyperboreans, Muvians, Greeks, Cretans, Egyptians, Druids, and the people of Sarnath, as well as by the fungi from Yuggoth, the dholes, and the Nug-Soth of Yaddith. For those who serve it, Shub-Niggurath bestows bountiful harvests and many children to its worshipers in exchange for blood sacrifices.
Shub-Niggurath may be called in any woodland with a properly consecrated altar during a new moon, especially on May-Eve.
Category:Gods
Category:Gods and god-like beings
Category:Outer Gods
Category:Characters