Hastur

A name applied to multiple beings and possibly also a celestial object or place.

A being named Hastur was the god of shepherds, who heard Haïta's prayers at his shrine and was pleased. Hastur never disclosed himself. He answered Haïta's prayer by sparing the cities from floods. [AB Haïta (online text)]

In the context of the cursed play The King in Yellow, Hastur sometimes seems to be a celestial object. We can infer this from references made by people who have read the play. Thus, in Mr. Wilde's document called "The Imperial Dynasty of America," Hastur appeared in the list "When from Carcosa, the Hyades, Hastur, and Aldebaran..." Similarly, Mr. Wilde mentioned "the establishment of the Dynasty in Carcosa, the lakes which connected Hastur, Aldebaran and the mystery of the Hyades." [RWC Repairer (online text)] And the painter Alec "saw the lake of Hali, thin and blank, without a ripple or wind to stir it, and...saw the towers of Carcosa behind the moon. Aldebaran, the Hyades, Alar, Hastur, glided through the cloud-rifts..." [RWC Mask (online text)].

Elsewhere, readers of The King in Yellow seem to refer to Hastur as a person. Hildred Castaigne seems to regard Hastur as an imperial ancestor of his: "the people should know the son of Hastur, and the whole world bow to the black stars which hang in the sky over Carcosa." Similarly, "Trembling, I put the diadem from my head and wiped my forehead, but I thought of Hastur and of my own rightful ambition." And "At last I was King, King by my right in Hastur." These passages could also be read figuratively; Castaigne could be the "son of Hastur" in the sense that we might refer to someone as "a true son of Britain." [RWC Repairer (online text)] Additionally, Mr. Scott and Tessie Reardon "spoke of Hastur and of Cassilda" [RWC Yellow (online text)]. Since Cassilda was a character in The King in Yellow, you might assume that Hastur was also a character, but it remains possible that Hastur is a place, perhaps a planet orbiting some star in the Hyades, and encompassing the Lake of Hali and the city of Carcosa where Cassilda lived.

There was a falcon handler named Hastur who served the Demoiselle Jeanne D'Ys in Brittany around 1573 AD [RWC Demoiselle (online text)].

According to the creature impersonating Henry Akeley, there is a secret cult of men linked with Hastur and the Yellow Sign, who are devoted to tracking down and injuring the Outer Ones on behalf of monstrous powers from other dimensions [HPL Whisperer (online text)].

Hastur in Derleth Stories

Of the Ancient Ones (2)

Hastur is one of the Great Old Ones (3), also known as Ancient Ones (2) or Old Ones (4) [AWD Beyond2, Dweller, Island, Keeper, Lurker, Space, Survivor (online text), Valley (online text), Whippoorwills].

Like the other Great Old Ones, Hastur and his evil followers followed their masters the Elder Gods (1) (also known as Elder Ones [5]) from Rigel and Betelgeuse, then rebelled and fought for control of the Earth [Lair]. Hastur and the other Great Old Ones were defeated and cast out by the Elder Gods, but shall rise again [Dweller, Keeper, Lurker, Seal (online text), Sky].

Unspeakable

Hastur is often referred to as Hastur the Unspeakable, He Who Is Not To Be Named, or Him Who Is Not To Be Named [Curwen, Depths, Dweller, Gorge, Hastur, Keeper, Lamp, Lurker, Middle, Sky, Space, Valley]. It is not clear in what sense he is unspeakable or unnameable, since numerous books and people refer to him by name. These epithets may be an application of the old saying "speak of the Devil and he will appear." But there is no explanation of why Hastur is any more unspeakable than the other Great Old Ones (3). One intriguing possibility is that "Hastur" is actually a euphemism for a being that has another, secret name that must never be mentioned.

Air Elemental

Hastur is an air elemental [Beyond2, Dweller], one of the leaders of the forces of air [Sandwin], one of the Lords of Air [Sky]. Father Brisbois seems to imply that Hastur is superior to other air elementals such as the Wind-Walker and Ithaqua, and subdued them to his will [Ithaqua].

Roamer of the Star Spaces

Hastur is of the interplanetary spaces [Seal (online text)]. He is Lord of the Interstellar Spaces [Gable (online text)]. Hastur is of the Beings that stalk the star-spaces [Lurker]. He roamed the interplanetary spaces before his imprisonment [Island]. Prior to Hastur's appearance near the Tuttle house, there was an ominous fumbling sound from space [Lurker].

Of Hyades and the Lake of Hali

The stars of the Orion-Taurus group are held to be the seat of Hastur [Island]. Hastur came from the Lake of Hali in the Hyades [Keeper]. After being defeated, Hastur the Unspeakable fled into outer space [Lair].

After the defeat of the Great Old Ones (3) by the Elder Gods (1), Hastur was banished to the region of the dark Lake of Hali near Aldebaran [Curwen, Island, Seal (online text), Sky, Space]. Hastur is also said to be imprisoned on a dark star near Aldebaran [Curwen, Dweller, Gorge, Keeper, Lurker, Sky, Valley (online text)]. Paul Tuttle said that Hastur "was hurled into outer space, into that place where the black stars hang, which is indicated as Aldebaran of the Hyades, which is the place mentioned by Chambers, even as he repeats the Carcosa of Bierce" [Lurker]. It seems to follow that the Lake of Hali is either the same as the dark star or is closely associated with it.

When the Stars Are Right

Hastur and his minions are not subject to the same laws of time and space which bind us [Keeper]. However, it seems that Hastur can manifest on Earth only when Aldebaran and the Hyades are above the horizon [Hastur, Lurker]. It's as if Hastur can project himself from through the interstellar spaces to Earth, but cannot penetrate the Earth itself (or even circle around it) to get to the other side.

Josiah Alwyn once remarked that "the stars aren't right for Hastur...," but it's not clear what he meant. He may have been implying that some of the manifestations near Rick's Lake occurred at times of day when Aldebaran was not above the horizon [Beyond2].

Rivalries

Hastur is half-brother of Cthulhu [Curwen]. However, the two are ancient rivals [Curwen, Keeper, Sky].

There are feuds between Hastur and Cthugha on the one hand, and Cthulhu and Ithaqua on the other. [Island]

There is tension between Hastur's followers the Byakhee and Cthulhu's followers such as the Deep Ones. The openings for Cthulhu may be stopped by the aid of those air-beings serving Hastur. [Curwen]

Appearance

There is little mention of Hastur's appearance, but in one place he is described as "bat-like" [Valley (online text)].

Spawn and Servants

Hastur is served by strange bat-like creatures (the Byakhee) [Dweller, Gorge, Sky], who can travel in time and space [Curwen].

Hastur is mentioned in the invocation to call the Byakhee. [Curwen, Gorge, Keeper, Sky, Island]

Father Brisbois referred to Hastur the Unspeakable and his loathly spawn [Ithaqua]. It is not clear if the "loathly spawn" are the Byakhee or other creatures.

Cult

There is a cult of Hastur that survives to the present day [Curwen]. Asaph Gilman was convinced that worship of Hastur was less wide-spread than that of Cthulhu. [Gorge]

Invocations

Paul Tuttle uttered a chant to Hastur: "Iä! Iä! Hastur! Ugh! Ugh! Iä Hastur cf’ayak ’vulgtmm, vugtlagln vulgtmm! Ai! Shub-Niggurath! . . . Hastur—Hastur cf’tagn! Iä! Iä! Hastur! . . .” [Hastur]

Henry Lucas spoke of Hastur in his delirium, saying Hastur, adoramus te! [Ithaqua]. According to Wikipedia, "Adoramus te (Latin, "We adore Thee") is "a stanza that is recited or sung mostly during the ritual of the Stations of the Cross" and is primarily a Catholic tradition. Henry Lucas had no training in Latin. We can only assume that Lucas was a Catholic or was influenced at some point by a Catholic person who had converted to worshipping Hastur.

The Confessions of Clithanus includes a prayer to the Elder Gods to banish unspeakable Hastur and others. [Depths (online text)]

References in Books

The Necronomicon includes the lost and terrible legend of Hastur, the Unspeakable [Depths (online text), Witches]. The Necronomicon says that Hastur shall return from a dark star in the Hyades near Aldebaran [Keeper]. The R'lyeh Text also predicts Hastur's return from that dark star [Sky].

Hastur is mentioned in one or more of these books: the Sussex Manuscript, the Celaeno Fragments, and the Cultes des Ghoules [Gorge].

Wilbur Akeley's books mentioned the unspeakable Hastur [Gable (online text)].

Other Mentions

Hastur and Cthulhu struggled for possession of Paul Tuttle's body. Hastur succeeded in briefly incarnating in Paul Tuttle's body. One of the Elder Gods (1) then cast Tuttle/Hastur into the depths of space. As Tuttle/Hastur receded into the sky, listeners heard a wailing of Tekeli-li, tekeli-li, tekeli-li. [Hastur] Since the Antarctic Old Ones (1) and their shoggoths uttered the same phrase, there might be some kind of link between them and Hastur.

The Nameless City is a domain of Hastur [Keeper].

Wilbur Akeley was concerned that Hastur might try to come through the transdimensional gable window [Gable (online text)].

Leander Alwyn left pages written in code that mentioned Hastur [Beyond2].

Letters to Septimus Bishop hailed him in the name of Hastur the Unspeakable [Middle].

Sylvan Phillips wrote of Hastur [Seal (online text)].

Ward Phillips (1) wrote of Hastur the Unspeakable in his fictions [Lamp (online text)].

Amos Tuttle wrote of Hastur the Unspeakable [Lurker].

Other Sources

Hastur was called on in prayers to bring the dead to life. The prayers also called on Nyarlathotep, suggesting that Hastur might be a synonym for Nyarlathotep or perhaps an ally [HC Death (online text), Isle (online text)].

The tiny man said that the Book includes secrets of Hastur [HH Guardian].

Boys in the late Elmer Harrod's house heard the name Hastur chanted from underground [JVS Dead].

Aka: He Who is Not to be Named; Him Who is Not to be Named; Lord of the Interstellar Spaces; Not-to-be-Named One; Prince of Evil.

Compare with: Magnum Innominandum.

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