Ithaqua

An Ancient One

Ithaqua is one of the Ancient Ones (2) or Great Old Ones (3) who long ago unsuccessfully rebelled against the Elder Gods (1) and were then cast out and imprisoned by the Elder Gods' spells.[1][3][4][6][11][12][13]

It is not clear in what sense Ithaqua is "imprisoned," since he has been known to manifest in various places, including Manitoba[7][15] and Wisconsin.[1] Presumably his movements are limited in some way, or perhaps he can manifest only for short periods of time.

Air Elementals

Ithaqua is said to be a creature of the air, and an elemental force of evil.[1] Ithaqua is the god of the winds[6], ruler of the air[8], and rides the winds high above earth.[4] Marius Phillips thought Ithaqua was a "representation" of the elemental force of air.[11]

Ithaqua belongs to a subgroup of the Ancient Ones (2) who are air elementals; these also include Lloigor, Zhar, and Hastur.[1][3][8][12] They walk the winds and interstellar space.[3]

Names

Laban Shrewsbury saw parallels between Ithaqua and the Wendigo of the northwoods Indians.[2] Shrewsbury said that Ithaqua, ruler of the air, is akin to the fabled Wendigo.[8] Josiah Alwyn said that certain of the Indians refer to Ithaqua as the Wendigo.[1] On the other hand, Marius Phillips thought that Ithaqua was a "cousin" of the Wendigo.[11]

The term "Wind-Walker" is sometimes regarded as another name for Ithaqua.[1][2][8][13] However, Jonathan Bishop that the "Walker on ye Wind" is known by several names, namely Windeego (Wendigo), Ithaka (Ithaqua), or Loegar (Lloigor). Thus, he seemed to believe that these are all different names for a single entity.[9]

Ithaqua is also known as Death-Walker, Ithaka, Lord of the Winds, and Snow-Thing.

Leaders, Rivals, and Allies

David, a librarian at Miskatonic, said that Hastur, Ithaqua, and Lloigor lead the forces of air.[10] But Ithaqua seems a lesser being than Hastur: for Henry Lucas prayed for Ithaqua to take his body to the feet of that greater being, Hastur.[7]

There is a feud between Hastur and Cthugha on the one hand, and Cthulhu and Ithaqua on the other.[6]

Some of the Ancient Ones have devotees in common with Ithaqua. The beings at Sandwin house chanted to Ithaqua along with Lloigor, Shub-Niggurath, and Cthulhu[10]; and the voices outside Josiah Alwyn's house chanted to Ithaqua along with Cthulhu and Shub-Niggurath.[1]

Voices heard in the Wood of N'gai indicated that Ithaqua shall serve the "Father of the million favored ones"; that is, Nyarlathotep.[3]

The Great Race fled to the future to escape Ithaqua ("That which Walketh on y^e Winds") and the Elder Things ("y^e winds & y^e Voices"), and will do so again. [14] From this, it appears that the Elder Things are allies or servants of Ithaqua.

The Return

Ithaqua and the other Ancient Ones are planning to return and dominate the earth.[16] When they return, Ithaqua shall ride the spaces among the stars, and shall noble his servants, the Tcho-Tcho people.[2][9]

Snow and Cold

Unlike the other air-elementals, Ithaqua is strongly associated with snow and the cold generally. Ithaqua is the Snow-Thing, [5][7] god of the great white silence.[7] Henry Lucas called Ithaqua the snow-god.[7] Ithaqua's signature lay in the cold and snow of far northern places.[1]

Worshipers

The Indians around Cold Harbor, Manitoba, worship Ithaqua and offer up their children and enemies as sacrifice.[7] The residents of Stillwater, Manitoba, worshipped him until they displeased him and he swept them all into the sky.[15] Josiah Alwyn believed that Ithaqua is still worshipped in northern areas such as Mongolia, Tibet, Canada, and Alaska.[1] While Allison Wentworth was a prisoner of Ithaqua, he seems to have visited England, Italy, Africa, the Sahara, Lebanon, Baghdad, Lhassa in Tibet, the Russian Steppes, and Siberia.[15]

The Tcho-Tcho people of the Plateau of Sung in Burma are followers of Lloigor, Zhar, and Ithaqua.[9]

Allison Wentworth said that the Wind-Walker sprung from the plateau of Leng.[15] It is not clear what he meant; like other Ancient Ones (2), Ithaqua presumably originated far from earth. Possibly Leng is a major center for Ithaqua's worship, or perhaps it forms his headquarters.

Signs of His Approach

Ithaqua's approach can be heralded by unearthly music[1][7], chanting[1], or whispering that summons the listener.[7][15] There can also be the sound of wind even when no wind is actually blowing, along with intense cold, and the approaching sound of giant footsteps.[1]

Where Ithaqua has visited, he leaves a fine carpet of snow.[1]

Sacrificial Victims

Ithaqua takes human sacrifices and carries them over the far places of the earth, in time and space.[1] Ithaqua's captives become immune to cold. Later on, he drops them to the ground, where they are found wrapped in ineffably beautiful snow, like spun gauze.[7] If they are not dead already, they die soon after from exposure to normal warmth.[15] On their bodies are sometimes found mementos of the strange places that they visited with Ithaqua.[1] Some of the captives evidently become devotees of Ithaqua during the period of their abduction; thus, Allison Wentworth[15] and Henry Lucas[7] both expressed reverence for the snow-god before dying.

It is not clear why Ithaqua sometimes takes his victims with him for extended periods of travel. However, Lucas spoke as if it were a punishment he had incurred.[7]

One of Ithaqua's traveling companions was apparently not a victim. Asa Sandwin said that he had ridden with Ithaqua high over the face of the earth, over Egypt and Samarkand, Hawaii and the Pacific, and the great white silences. Sandwin said that he was not afraid of Ithaqua, and could foil him. Eventually Sandwin fell victim to a different air elemental, Lloigor.[10]

Appearance

Ithaqua is the one god of whom no totems bear sign.[7] However, Josiah Alwyn's body was found with a stone miniature of a monstrosity walking on the winds above the earth.[1]

At night, Ithaqua may appear simply as a huge dark outline against the stars, a horrible caricature of man.[1] He is similarly described as a giant man-shaped shadow with two starlike eyes.[15] He is also describe as a cloud of smoke tinted blue-green to purple, and encircled by whirling snowflakes.[7] His eyes glow like stars, and are described as green[7] or carmine (red or purplish-red).[1] He leaves giant footprints on the ground, as far as half a mile apart[1]; the footprints are webbed.[15]

None but his worshipers may look upon Ithaqua; if any one else sees him, he will pursue and kill them eventually.[7][15]

Recent Manifestations

Between Feb 25-27, 1930, the inhabitants of Stillwater, Manitoba were reluctantly preparing to sacrifice one of their own, Irene Masitte, to Ithaqua. She was rescued by two visitors, Allison Wentworth and James Macdonald. Ithaqua took vengeance by seizing all the townspeople, leaving Stillwater uninhabited. Ithaqua also seized Masitte and her rescuers. He seems to have killed Masitte quickly and traveled with her frozen body and her two, still living, rescuers for a year. A year later, Constable Robert Norris saw Ithaqua return the dead girl and her two rescuers, who died not long after. Around March 6, 1931, Norris was seized by Ithaqua, and his body was returned to the same area in October.[15]

In 1932, Ithaqua apparently took three Indian children near Cold Harbor, Manitoba. He later returned them nearby, encased in beautiful shrouds of snow soft as down; their bodies were colder than ice, even though two of them were still alive, only to die shortly after being found. On February 21, 1933, Ithaqua took Henry Lucas from a spot near Cold Harbor; Lucas was returned February 27 and died shortly afterward. Constable Constable James French went to investigate, only to disappear himself shortly after March; his frozen body was found on March 7. Division Chief John Dalhousie in turn went to investigate, only to meet the same fate, vanishing and then being found frozen three days later.[7]

Leander Alwyn established contact with Ithaqua at a cave in northern Wisconsin that had many entrances. Alwyn built a house to cover one of the cave entrances. His nephew Josiah Alwyn later was taken by Ithaqua, who apparently entered the house through the cave.[1] It seems a little odd that a cave should be used to summon an air elemental; you might expect it to be used for earth elementals instead. But perhaps the virtue of the cave was simply that it provided secrecy.

Upton Gardner speculated that Ithaqua might be one of the beings manifesting at Rick's Lake.[3]

His Altars

Along the old Olassie trail in Manitoba, there were three stone circles used in Ithaqua's worship. The circles were seventy feet in diameter, made of a white glazed rock that gave a severe shock when touched. John Dalhousie used dynamite to destroy these stone circles shortly before his disappearance.[7]

Protection

Laban Shrewsbury said the star stones would not protect against Ithaqua.[8] This is in keeping with his statements that the star stones are only effective against the lesser races that serve the Ancient Ones (2).

But Asa Sandwin believed he had sufficient protection against Ithaqua.[10] He had placed star stones at his windows, but possibly he had other protections as well.

1. AWD Beyond2.
2. AWD Curwen.
3. AWD Dweller.
4. AWD Gorge.
5. AWD Hastur.
6. AWD Island.
7. AWD Ithaqua.
8. AWD Keeper.
9. AWD Lurker.
10. AWD Sandwin.
11. AWD Seal (online text).
12. AWD Sky.
13. AWD Valley (online text).
14. AWD Whippoorwills.
15. AWD Wind (online text).
16. AWD Witches.

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