Yog-sothoth (Cthulhu Mythos )

> “Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again.”
>
> H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror

## Yog-Sothoth

Artist's vision of Yog-Sothoth, during one of his invocations on the top of a mountain.

### Aliases

The Lurker at the Threshold
 The Key and the Gate
 The Beyond One
 Opener of the Way
 The All-in-One
 The One-in-All
 All-Encompassing
 Yogge-Sothothe
 Yok-Zothoth
 Yog-Sototl
 Iog-Sotôt
 Yogsoggoth

### Relatives

Azathoth (Grandfather)
 The Nameless Mist (Parent)
 Wilbur Whateley (Son)
 The Dunwich abomination (Son)
 Nug and Yeb (Offspring)
 Cthulhu (Grandson)
 Tsathoggua (Grandson)
 Hastur (Son)

## Appearances

### Appears in

"The Dunwich Horror", "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", "At the Mountains of Madness"

### Debut

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (1927, published 1941)

Yog-Sothoth is a mysterious Outer God in the Cthulhu Mythos born of the Nameless Mist who is locked outside the boundaries of our universe but sees all of space and time at once, knowing every secret, described as a mass of glowing orbs but able to take physical form and father children with humans; as the key and guardian of the gateway between dimensions, Yog-Sothoth is believed to be omnipresent and omniscient, maintaining control of passage between planes of existence and said to hold the fate of mortal lives in its glowing globular hands.

## description

Yog-Sothoth, "the all in one and one in all," dwells in the gaps or interstices that separate the various planes of existence that make up our universe. Within these gaps, it appears as a conglomeration of iridescent spheres that are always fluctuating, intersecting and breaking apart. Its diameter can reach 100 meters. It is the master of space-time and is especially the god of magicians and sorcerers. It demands in exchange for its favors that pathways to our planet be opened so it can pillage and ravage the Earth.Yog-Sothoth is seen as the "key and gate" to other dimensions, and is also their guardian. The past, present and future are said to be "one within Yog-Sothoth."

### Yog-Sothoth in Lovecraft's works

* Yog-Sothoth is first mentioned in Lovecraft's novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1927). It is invoked as part of a magical incantation.
* In the short story "The Dunwich Horror" (1928), Yog-Sothoth is somehow connected to the monstrous twins born to Lavinia Whately, who have anomalous physiology and resemble creatures described in the Necronomicon.
* Old Whately refers to Yog-Sothoth as "the key and guardian of the gate" between spheres. He says Yog-Sothoth knows where the ancient beings have broken through before and where they will again.
* In "The Whisperer in Darkness" it is mentioned that the Necronomicon describes the epochs before man, the cycles of Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu.
* In "The Dreams in the Witch House" a student sees something in the clouds over ruined city walls and mentions Yog-Sothoth.
* It is described as a "chaotic congeries of luridly iridescent spheres" in "The Horror at Museum."
* In "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" it is called the "beyond-one" and worshipped by crustacean beings on Yuggoth. It exists beyond space and time.
* Clark Ashton Smith's stories refer to it as Aphoom-Zhah, an entity of time that rules space, worshipped in secret cults.

### Yog-Sothoth in the Works of Other Writers

Kenneth Grant speculated that Lovecraft's description of Yog-Sothoth as a "conglomerate of malignant spheres" may have been inspired by the Qliphothic spheres.[1] Other Mythos writers have further explored and expanded descriptions of Yog-Sothoth in their works, drawing from Lovecraft's ancient gods.

## Yog-Sothoth avatars

**Aphra-Gnon :** In Clark Ashton Smith's stories, Aphra-Gnon is described as a god of time who exists outside the conventional dimensions of space and time. It sees all moments in eternity simultaneouslyNothing is known of Aphra-Gnon's true appearance. When it manifests or reveals itself, the sight is said to drive onlookers instantly mad. Its manifestations are accompanied by a blinding, searing light.Aphra-Gnon is treated as one of the Outer Gods in Smith's stories, hyperdimensional entities of immense power. It is the mortal enemy of another Outer God named Xexanoth. In his letters, Smith suggested Aphra-Gnon could be an aspect or manifestation of Yog-Sothoth. He wrote that Yog-Sothoth was the "all-knowing" god, equal in might only to Azathoth and surpassing even Nyarlathotep in wisdom.Like Yog-Sothoth, Aphra-Gnon is described as existing everywhere and everywhen simultaneously, outside linear time. It beholds the past, present and future as one eternal moment.Some scholars think Smith may have intended Aphra-Gnon to effectively serve as his own unique name for the entity that Lovecraft called Yog-Sothoth, preserving its essential cosmic nature while putting his own distinct spin on it. However, Aphra-Gnon is portrayed as more directly malevolent compared to some of Lovecraft's more amorphous descriptions of Yog-Sothoth. So the nature of their relationship and connections is still ambiguous.

### Lurking at the Threshold

In the August Derleth and Lovecraft collaboration "The Lurking Fear", the protagonist calls Yog-Sothoth the "Lurking One at the Threshold". He describes Yog-Sothoth as existing outside of time and space.Umrr-at-TawillIn "The Silver Key", Randolph Carter uses the names Yog-Sothoth and Umrr-at-Tawill interchangeably. In Arabic, the name should be Tawill-at-Umrr. Frank Herbert made a similar mistake with "Dar-es-Balat" (correctly Dar-el-Balat).[3] Umrr-at-Tawill, the most Ancient of the Living, the All-Container, is presumed to be an aspect of Yog-Sothoth.Yog-Sothoth is depicted as a humanoid being beneath a strange foamy veil. If it decides to lift the veil, anyone who looks upon it will go mad. Passages imply its cosmic nature.

Other Works In Ander Fager's Swedish story "Mormors resa", primal beasts resembling dogs or wolves (analogous to Lovecraft's "shoggoths") sacrifice humans to Yog-Sothoth to become "other". In Fager's "Herr Görings artefakt", Yog-Sothoth protects a pair of witches from Dagōn. In John Jakes' sword and sorcery Bracker stories, the chief evil deity is Yob-Haggoth.

## ability

* **Omnipresence**
* **Omniscience**
* **Totality Embodiment**
* **Beyond-Dimensional Physiology**

## Gallery

Yog Sothoth by TRXPICS on DeviantArtYog-Sothoth by Chivohit on devianart

## Trivia

* Yog-Sothoth is described as being "the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth." It is implied to be omniscient and sees all of time and space at once.
* It is known by many names including The Lurker at the Threshold, The Key and the Gate, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way, The All-in-One, The One-in-All, All-Encompassing, and Yogge-Sothothe.
* Yog-Sothoth visually manifests as a mass of glowing orbs, with eyes or tendrils in some versions. In the H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon, 13 of these orbs are individually named.
* Yog-Sothoth is the progenitor of many Outer Gods like Cthulhu, Hastur the Unspeakable, and the Voormi. It is also the father of Wilbur Whateley from The Dunwich Horror.
* In The Dunwich Horror, Yog-Sothoth is summoned to impregnate a human woman, Lavinia Whateley, who then gives birth to two unnatural children - the Dunwich Horror and an unnamed stillbirth.
* It is one of the few Outer Gods that has directly communicated, conversing with Randolph Carter in Through the Gates of the Silver Key.
* Rituals have involved summoning Yog-Sothoth to resurrect the dead or grant requests through invocations and sacrifices.
* In Doctor Who, it took the form of the Great Intelligence, a scheming villain seeking to conquer realities.

## Inspiration

Yog-Sothoth is a source of mystical and eldritch inspiration in H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. As an Outer God described as an "All-in-One and One-in-All", Yog-Sothoth exists outside normal space and time but sees and knows all. Its infinite and inconceivable naturedefies comprehension by mortal minds.Yet Yog-Sothoth also represents a dark font of forbidden knowledge that can inspire mystics, madmen and cultists who seek to understand the true nature of reality. By contacting or communing with Yog-Sothoth through bizarre rituals, one could potentially gain glimpses of esoteric truths that upend all accepted wisdom about the cosmos. This terrifying inspiration comes at a great psychic cost, risking madness or corruption of the soul. In Lovecraft's works, characters who learn too much about Yog-Sothoth or entities related to it are often driven to insanity by the scope of the revelations. However, their distorted insights also inspired Lovecraft himself to create his acclaimed Cthulhu Mythos, expanding the boundaries of supernatural horror in literature. So in a roundabout, nightmarish way, the maddening entities of Lovecraft's mythos—including Yog-Sothoth—continue to inspire other creatives in their turn. Their dark visions breathe new life into ancient terrors through creative reimaginings across multiple genres.