The Dimensionality of Cthulhu

Cthulhu at R’lyeh by Steve Maschuck

H.P. Lovecraft has cited a number of times that Cthulhu and its associated spawn are not residents of our space-time as are Elder Ones, shoggoths, the Great Race and humans.  For example, in “The Call of Cthulhu” one of the captured cultists states that the Great Old Ones [referring to Cthulhu and its spawn] are not flesh and blood and that while they have shape, there were not made of matter.

In “At the Mountains of Madness” it is stated that , “…both the Cthulhu spawn and the Mi-Go seem to have been composed of matter more widely different from that which we know than was the substance of the Old Ones [here the term Old Ones is being used to refer to the Elder Things or Elder Ones].  They were able to undergo transformations and reintegrations impossible for their adversaries, and seem therefore to have originally come from even remoter gulfs of the cosmic space.”

R’lyeh by Jonny Hex (www.deviantart.org)

Based on these citations as well as other references made by HPL, Cthulhu and its spawn are not from our space-time continuum.  This explains how these entities can function beyond the confines of our physical laws, such as its fluid movement and apparent plasma-like structure.  Indeed, further study of Cthulhu and its spawn may provide the evidence needed to support the M-theory.

Based on M-theory, which is actually a network of theories, each component or individual theory describes certain physical phenomenon within a given range of scale.  When these scales overlap, different theories agree.  However, when the scales do not overlap, different theories describe certain phenomenon (e.g. Newtonian mechanics describing the influence of gravity on a planetary scale vs. quantum mechanics describing sub-atomic interactions).   Given this proposed network of theories, M-theory allows for the existence of different universes with different laws of nature (e.g. the charge of the electron, the actual strength of gravity ).  All of this is dependent on how internal space is actually shaped and curled (The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow; 2010).  As shown below, and previously described in the earlier articles on “The Music of Eric Zann”, more than one universe is possible but the one we live in obviously has the highest probability of existing.

Demonstration of Hawking’s wave function of the Universe (from universe-review.ca)

However, M-theory describes a reality of vibrating strings, point particles, two-dimensional membranes, three-dimensional blobs and other multi-dimensional objects we can not perceive (Hawking and Mlodinow; 2010).  In fact, M-theory allows for many different internal spaces – as many as 10⁵⁰⁰ different universes, each one with their own particular set of laws of nature.  Is Cthulhu and its spawn from one of these universes?  Did this entity find a means of exuding itself into our universe, bringing with it R’yleh, with some of its native laws of nature seeping into our universe?  This would explain the disorientation and confusion when experiencing Cthulhu and R’lyeh.  If Cthulhu does originate from another universe the question then is how is this accomplished.

Cthulhu and its spawn more than likely do not originate from a higher dimension, but instead from another universe with laws of nature very different from our own.  However, it is possible that they have utilized these higher, yet folded or curled in, dimensions to get to our space-time.  To be able to travel through these higher dimensions to get to another universe would require extremely high amounts of energy.

Some Ancient Horror by Morriperkele (www.deivantart.org)

Conventional chemical explosives convert only one part out of a billion of matter into energy, in processes that involve the electrons in the outer reaches of atoms.  In contrast, nuclear reactions can release about 1% of the trapped energy from matter.  Antimatter reactions with matter would release a far greater amount of energy.  However, the problem for us is there is no stable amount of antimatter left in our universe.  This means we would need to make antiparticles as a source of antimatter, which is an extremely inefficient process (Antimatter by Frank Close, 2010).  While the utilization of antimatter as a source of energy is not feasible for us in our universe, it may be possible for entities from outside of our space-time continuum, particularly if they have the ability to travel from one universe to another through the higher, unseen dimensions.

In conclusion, the strange biology of Cthulhu may be the result of it being from another universe where the laws of nature are slightly different than ours.  However, the presence of these outside entities in our universe may be the result of their ability to harness and utilize antimatter from another universe as a source of power to create a path through the higher dimensions.  From a theoretical standpoint such inter-dimensional travel to other universes may be feasible but the limitation to this is the amount of energy needed to accomplish this.  While this is a huge obstacle to us, maybe Cthulhu and its spawn can harvest the energy from antimatter and travel to other universes – and one of those universes may be ours.  But such travel to other universes with different physical laws of nature may pose some limitations onto these inter-universal travelers.  It is these potential limitations on entities from outside of our space-time continuum we will be discussing in the next article.  Thank you – Fred.

Cthulhu Rising by Jason Juta (www.jasonjuta.com)