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Occult Heroes: Lovecraftian Magic. This is Doctor Craft. (Dr. Phillip Craft, professor of Arcane Studies at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts)

Lovecraftian Magic is magic based on the work of early 20th century horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. I was hesitant to do this one at first, despite being a huge Lovecraft fan (with the necessary caveat that he was a racist piece of garbage) because I wanted to focus on systems of magic that people actually believed in. Then I started doing research and discovered that people actually do practice Lovecraftian magic. It began with a successor to Aleister Crowley in the Thelemic movement, Kenneth Grant, who claimed that the fictional books (such as the Necronomicon) and deities (such as Cthulhu) that Lovecraft wrote about were true accounts of a hidden magickal tradition. Church of Satan founder Anton laVey also included references to Lovecraft's concepts in a few prayers. Other mystics have followed suit, believing it's all either real, or that the concepts, despite being fictional, are thoughtforms that can be accessed through ritual. As a strict materialist atheist, Lovecraft himself would have been appalled at all this.

Magic in the writings of Lovecraft and his circle of friends was often connected to the Old Gods, powerful and malicious alien and/or extradimensional beings with monstrous appearances. It is also vaguely associated with mathematics and angles. In his actual books, Lovecraft used magic sparingly. It appears in stories such as the Dunwich Horror, where the Necronomicon is used as a grimoire to summon the Old God Yog-Sothoth, and is said to contain a number of magic spells; and The Thing on the Doorstop, where it can be used to gain immortality but can only be practiced by men. Other pseudo-magical powers, such as the invisibility, intangibility, and teleportation abilities of the people of the underground civilization of K'n-yan, seem to be capable of being used by anyone with enough practice. Lovecraft borrowed the idea of the Dreamlands, an alternate reality made up of the collective dreams of humanity, from Lord Dunsany, and it's a key point of magic in his mythos. The Elder Sign is said to be able to ward off Old Gods and their minions (two different versions of the symbol are represented in this picture). While most practitioners of Lovecraftian magic try to summon the Old Gods, this character seeks to prevent them from bleeding into this reality.

Artwork inspired by Steve Ditko, who co-created Doctor Strange (among many other characters) and is responsible for some of the trippiest backgrounds in comics, which I thought suited the extra dimensions Lovecraft often deals with.

Description
Occult Heroes: Lovecraftian Magic. This is Doctor Craft. (Dr. Phillip Craft, professor of Arcane Studies at Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts)

Lovecraftian Magic is magic based on the work of early 20th century horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. I was hesitant to do this one at first, despite being a huge Lovecraft fan (with the necessary caveat that he was a racist piece of garbage) because I wanted to focus on systems of magic that people actually believed in. Then I started doing research and discovered that people actually do practice Lovecraftian magic. It began with a successor to Aleister Crowley in the Thelemic movement, Kenneth Grant, who claimed that the fictional books (such as the Necronomicon) and deities (such as Cthulhu) that Lovecraft wrote about were true accounts of a hidden magickal tradition. Church of Satan founder Anton laVey also included references to Lovecraft's concepts in a few prayers. Other mystics have followed suit, believing it's all either real, or that the concepts, despite being fictional, are thoughtforms that can be accessed through ritual. As a strict materialist atheist, Lovecraft himself would have been appalled at all this.

Magic in the writings of Lovecraft and his circle of friends was often connected to the Old Gods, powerful and malicious alien and/or extradimensional beings with monstrous appearances. It is also vaguely associated with mathematics and angles. In his actual books, Lovecraft used magic sparingly. It appears in stories such as the Dunwich Horror, where the Necronomicon is used as a grimoire to summon the Old God Yog-Sothoth, and is said to contain a number of magic spells; and The Thing on the Doorstop, where it can be used to gain immortality but can only be practiced by men. Other pseudo-magical powers, such as the invisibility, intangibility, and teleportation abilities of the people of the underground civilization of K'n-yan, seem to be capable of being used by anyone with enough practice. Lovecraft borrowed the idea of the Dreamlands, an alternate reality made up of the collective dreams of humanity, from Lord Dunsany, and it's a key point of magic in his mythos. The Elder Sign is said to be able to ward off Old Gods and their minions (two different versions of the symbol are represented in this picture). While most practitioners of Lovecraftian magic try to summon the Old Gods, this character seeks to prevent them from bleeding into this reality.

Artwork inspired by Steve Ditko, who co-created Doctor Strange (among many other characters) and is responsible for some of the trippiest backgrounds in comics, which I thought suited the extra dimensions Lovecraft often deals with.