Human Cults
[August Derleth's Cthulhu Mythos]

The cults of the Great Old Ones (3) originated even before humanity:

At the end of that day I knew no more than I had known after my first conversation with the professor—that he was on the track of certain blasphemous cults of ancient, pre-human eras, whose survival to the present day in out-of-the-way places seemed to fascinate him . . . [Curwen]

He spoke of certain evil cults which had come down from pre-human eons, surviving in strange, out-of-the-way places, servants of the Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)] . . . [Keeper]

These cults took root among humanity and have survived to the present day:

. . . Wilbur had come to believe intensely in certain facets of the ancient primitive credos, particularly that there were contemporary survivals of the hellish Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)] and their worshippers and followers . . . [Gable]

The cultists tend to live far from major population centers:

. . . and of the survival of cults and servitors in isolated and remote places on our planet as well as on sister planets. [Witches]

The cultists are often of "primitive" or "inferior" stock:

. . . the “Great Old Ones,” and who were served by many primitive peoples—such as the Ponape Islanders, as an instance. [Lurker]

. . . were aided by their primitive worshippers and followers, who were for the most part of inferior physical or mental stock, and in some cases, as was shown by the Ponape Islanders, actual physiological mutations . . . [Lurker]

As a side note: I'm not sure what degree of racism Derleth was manifesting in these terms; "primitive" could mean "low technology," and "inferior stock" could refer to disabled individuals, rather than to a race as a whole. Also, it is plausible that traditional cultures might retain ancient traditions that have been forgotten by technological Western culture. Alternately, Derleth may have been manifesting some of the racial prejudice that was not uncommon then (or now), and that was certainly pronounced in Lovecraft.

Oddly, these cults include both humans and animals:

. . . and where they were served by their minions, cults of men and animals reared in their service. [Hastur]

. . . the Great Old Ones who have their minions, their secret followers among men and beasts, whose task it is to prepare the way for their second coming . . . [Sky]

It makes you wonder, do octopi worship Cthulhu? Or perhaps Derleth was using the words "animals" and "beasts" loosely, in reference to the minion races such as the Deep Ones?

These cultists work for the return of the Great Old Ones (3):

. . . all waiting upon the propitious time, and upon the activities of their secret servants among men for a return to their dominions . . . [Gorge]

There was far more—oddly disturbing paragraphs concerning the return of the Ancient Ones [Great Old Ones (3)], the devotion of the minions who served them, some in the guise of men, others in guises far stranger. [Keeper]

. . . and there are those who know the spells put upon the Great Old Ones by the Elder Gods, as there are those who shall learn how to break them, as already they know how to command the servants of those who wait beyond the door from Outside. [Curwen]

However, those who open the gates to the Great Old Ones (3) may come to a bad end:

Those who know of the gates shall be impelled to open the way for Them and shall serve Them as They desire, but those who open the way unwitting shall know but a brief while thereafter. [Lurker]

It was the other Sign they meant. They’re fools; they doan’t know what it means; they don’t keer what happens; they think they’ll get rich an’ powerful—but the Sign ain’t what they think it is. Them Outside doan’t keer abaout makin’ folks rich; all They Keers abaout is comin’ back,—comin’ back an’ slavin’ us an’ mixin’ with us an’ a-killin’ us when They’re ready, an’ then they wunt hev any use fer them what carries Their Sign ’ceptin’ may be if you’re powerful as Master [Richard Billington] is. An’ then you belong tew them. [Lurker]

This passage has reference, not to the benign Elder Sign, but to a Sign used by the cultists of the Great Old Ones. It seems the Great Old Ones are completely ruthless with regard to humanity. Ultimately the Great Old Ones will dispense with the cultists who helped them to return. Lovecraft seems to have a similarly bleak view of humanity's fate after the Old Ones (2) return; he has Wilbur Whateley write:

. . . I think I saw the inner city at the 2 magnetic poles. I shall go to those poles when the earth is cleared off, if I can’t break through with the Dho-Hna formula when I commit it. They from the air told me at Sabbat that it will be years before I can clear off the earth . . . [HPL Dunwich (online text)]

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