Very Early Stirrings
Back in the 1940s, decades before the Internet boom, decades before Xerox machines making copying easier, those working within the Mythos or feeling the Call of Cthulhu were an odd lot, even when it came to science fiction fandome. They were finding others of like mind when they could, either by personally knowing them locally, or through irregularly published occult "zines" and Lovecraft literary journals or Cthulhu Mythos fanzines, communicating among themselves via postal mail and phone calls. Some of these people wrote stories and some were published in books or in what became known as early Mythos Fanzines.
There is no way to know all of what was going on in those days unless someone comes forth. Likewise, there is no way to know of all the groups that may have formed, unless they come forth. Many occultists are still, to this day, very private people or no longer involved in the occult at all. Of course, there are also many theories about Lovecraft's original inner-circle, too, but without any hard proof.
In the early 1950s and 1960s small groups of people formed and met at each other's homes to discuss occult, science fiction, and creative matters. Wayne C, (Brother Zond Malek) and other students at Pennsylvania State University had the Solectus Societus in the mid 1960s, and Lin Carter (The Mysterious Mr. N. aka Count Zarnak) had business cards made up for this group presumably before Wayne C. had it. However, Wayne C. and Lin Carter knew each other. He may have gotten the cards from Carter in the first place.
Tani J. also knew Lin Carter by phone in the late 1960s and through the early 1970s and then lost touch. It is Tani J.'s opinion that Lin had the business cards as a semi-joke, for fun, for shock value, but that Lin was definitely very strict about what "is" or "is not" Mythos back then. Lin definitely knew Wayne C. because Lin mentioned him a few times.
Lin obviously changed later on when he was ill, though Tani J. did not know Lin when he was ill. This assessment is based on what stories Lin wrote and published when he was ill. At that time, quite a few people not involved in any esoteric groups at all, but writers and/or publishers hated Lin Carter's guts for various reasons. In the mid to late 1970s, Tani J. and Philip M. met Wayne C. and affirm that he was a serious occultist and Lovecraftian Magickian.
From what can clearly be seen on hindsight, Lin Carter used all of this to get material, material gathered by researchers and also material that was creative, written/invented by others, to put into stories that he wrote or that he "wrote" and published. He didn't give anyone credit, nor was any credit promised, even though some did expect some form of credit when he used their research and/or ideas, especially without telling them! The problem is, there was quite a stretch of time between research done and stories written or "written" by Lin.
Some that knew Lin Carter in those early days insist that he was, indeed, a practicing occultist. One old time publisher and Lovecraft scholar stated that Lin Carter was a Satanist. This impression could have easily been gotten from those business cards. However, those that knew him in his later days, when he was ill, notably the Christian Reverend Robert M. Price who knew him well at that time, claim he was extensively knowledgable about the occult, but not a believer or practitioner. Perhaps he used to be and then changed his mind.
Of note: Lin can not be taken at his word, just because he stated something to an Evangelical Christian Reverend taking care of him during his illness! When Lin was alive and under Rev. Price's care, Rev. Price was asked to ask Lin if he knew that Sirius used to be called Sothis, since Lin claimed his Xoth, Xothic Cycle, originated around a twin star. Sirius, Sothis, is a double star. Lin claimed to be unaware of that! After Lin died, Rev. Price, his executor, found a story Lin wrote in the early 1950s and in that story, he makes it very clear that he did know that Sirius used to be called Sothis. Rev. Price published the story, The Curse of the Black Pharaoh. Why would Lin lie? Who knows.
Regardless, while Lin Carter’s own work is generally not well-reviewed, he did much for the genre by reintroducing dozens of early fantasy classics to the general public via Ballantine Books, which had an enormous impact on the acceptance of fantasy in the 1970s, leading the way for much better authors to follow. Due to the efforts of Lin Carter and August Derleth, and later Reverend Robert M. Price, all of the formerly hard-to-find stories were made available in reprints. And thanks to the Fanzine publishers for making new tales and new ideas available to us all.
Later Early Stirrings
In the early-1960s, Steven M and Juni McA had the Starry Wisdom Sect in New Jersey. In the mid to late 1960s, Zoltan K and his two cousins had the Esoteric Order of Dagon in Massachusettes. Then, later in New Jersey, where they moved during the early 1970s, they ran into members of the Starry Wisdom Sect with whom they hooked up. Both Zoltan K. and Steven M. knew Tani J. who was also in the EOD in a very limited capacity and in the SWS in a more serious capacity.
Next, in the early to mid 1970s, Robert K. and his wife Flora and others, including Tani J., Philip M., Wayne H., Eugene "Jackson-11" B., Robert L., Gerard G, and quite a few others that came and went at various times over the next decade, formed the Kishite group, an offshoot of the Starry Wisdom Sect with a little Esoteric Order of Dagon mixed in.
Most of these groups were involved in serious research of mythemes from around the world, specifically mythemes that the Mythos writers said they read about themselves and were familiar with, even if what they read has since been proven to be faulty (such as Egyptian history - the point was, this faulty version was what these authors did read and did have access to). These people in these groups also wrote quite a few stories that were circulated among themselves. Only a few were ever sent in to anyone for publication.
These groups were usually kept small since they met at each other's homes. If they got too big, another group would form with a new name: The Dholes, the Shantaks, The Sarnathians, etc. Above all, these people were primarily friends with this subject in common, even if they had nothing else in common. These people hung out, they had fun and everything they did was a joy.
What these particular groups formulated from the Mythos was summarized by T. Jantsang in a very short, concise article. This summary can be read here: Beyond Mythos. This article was published in an occult magazine in an even shorter form and may have been published in a Cthulhu Mythos fanzine as well.
It was the Kishites that made the "Trip to Innsmouth" that is documented with photos of every site found: here. These people found Innmsmouth. They were the first. This took many trips back there to finish, all done in the 1970s. All of it was fun.
As you can see from the introduction, which explains the Trip, this information was seen personally by Crispin Burnham, publisher of "Eldritch Tales Magazine," in 1976. He wanted to publish it. However, it was never published by him because most of the piece consisted of color photographs, which Crispin was unable to duplicate for his Fanzine. Doing them in Black and White with what was available back then, just wouldn't do. The photos and the details of the trip were also seen by a great many others and anyone that ever read the notorious "EOD apa" material.
A collection of Lovecraftian photographs is also the work of the Kishite group and shows where Lovecraft lived, the places he wrote about in his tales and other Lovecraftian items. It may be possible to date these photographs by the appearances of the sites and foliage shown. This work was done in the mid 1970s. The photos can be seen here: Lovecraft Was Here. This too, was fun.
Notably, and very importantly, none of these early groups used anything from what is commonly known as Western Occultism or "neo-occultism" including Crowley's material. They actively avoided that. Lovecraft stated quite clearly where his inspiration came from and/or what he borrowed from when it came to mythology. So did other early writers.
There was no "format" to what these people did, no pageantry to it, no titles or leaders or anything like that.
The Birth of Another E.O.D.
Separate from all the above activity, in the early 1980s, a gentleman in Oregon going by the pseudonym "Randolph Carter" envisioned a means of uniting these dreamers via "an association of initiates" exploring the connections between the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft and other occult concepts. His effort was also known as the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Slowly, that E.O.D. began to form via direct invitations at first, and then through announcements in various Occult and related literary journals and zines. Obviously, not everyone that was doing these types of things heard of each other or read each other's work. In the 1980s, through the Mythos fiction genre, some word of this did get to some of these earlier groups and they chose non-affiliation due to the mixture they saw of Lovecraftian ideas and Western occultism that, they felt, had nothing to do with the Cthulhu Mythos.
By 1983, "Randolph Carter" began presenting himself as "Steven Greenwood," taking on the magical name Frater Zkauba. A network of primarily autonomous Lodges was beginning to form and that Order began to seek fraternal affiliation with other magical organizations, particularly the Typhonian OTO, which became a point of strong contention among some members in later years who felt too much emphasis was being placed on these affiliations.
For reasons too complex to detail, in 1987 "Greenwood" assumed a new pseudo-identity, "Nina Crummett", with the magical name of Soror Azenath, and announced the appointment of this person as a "new Director." While portrayed as a separate person, both within and outside the Order, they were in fact one in the same.
Under this "new" leadership that E.O.D. began to elaborate upon its esoteric origins, presenting itself as a modern manifestation of the same current that has manifested throughout history, reflected in various cult practices, and most notably within the fictional mythos of HP Lovecraft, who drew inspiration from his horrific nightmares.
A true shift in leadership within that E.O.D. occurred in 1990 when Frater Nephren-Ka, was appointed Director and, as was customary with such an appointment, the order was further restructured to meet the vision of its new Director. That new direction included further associations with OTO-related materials. Some of the people in the still-existent Kishite group did see some of this material and, as before, wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.
A short while later, due to a mix of personal and political problems both within the order and in England where Nephren-Ka resided, this E.O.D. disbanded in 1992, encouraging its members to continue to work among themselves. Wishing to maintain an esoteric feel and hoping that one day the order would be salvaged, it was decided to consider that closing to be merely the beginning of a “Period of Silence”.
A New Call
Fortunately in 1997, a member of that former E.O.D., Frater Bokrug, petitioned the previous directors for permission to open a new lodge and on August 20, 1997 the E.O.D. emerged from the ashes anew. Since the order had been disbanded in 1992, known former members were contacted of the Order's "return" and Frater Bokrug took on a new magical name, Frater Eibon, as he accepted the role as new the Director of the Order.
As with many organizations, while some remain true to its vision and nature, others get lost in petty politics, forgetting that the authenticity of a group lies not in its hierarchy and structure but in the spirit and participation of its active membership.
In 1999, tired of the games, Eibon elected to retire, and per the authority granted him in the document circulated to and signed by the former directors after the last Period of Silence, he chose to select Ghorl Nigral as his successor.
This did not go well with those seeking to use the Order for their own gain. With this came a much needed clearing of the negative elements within the order. Since then the line of Directors has continued unbroken through Frater Yog-Shadotep, Frater H.P.Ghoule (who, without realizing it, had had dealings with Kishites since the early 1990s), and Frater N'kai Ekwaynalkul.
One might notice the stark difference between the earlier SWS, EOD and Kishites, and this later group formed along OTO lines. Almost nothing was long-distance with the earlier groups. It was all at someone's home.
This history is their means of clarifying many long-held misunderstandings of the history of the E.O.D., including the very early E.O.D.
While this present E.O.D. is probably the most well known it is not the only E.O.D. or related group. None of the above doings, for example, had any effect or impact on the Esoteric Order of Dagon that dates from the 1960s, run by Zoltan. Zoltan's group,which did not incorporate western occultism into its practices, was not even known to this other E.O.D. Neither is this E.O.D. affiliated with the very well-known "EOD apa," though some people might be members of both. There is some affiliation with these older groups now via the Leng Lodge, which is part of the Vadyan Lodge.
None of this had any effect or impact on the Starry Wisdom Sect, or its offshoot, the Kishites, whose "Doctrine" transformed into something quite standard, but completely unrelated to the Mythos.
Moving Forward
While more could be said about the past, it is the Will of this Esoteric Order of Dagon and its current membership is to release its problematic past and strive to remove itself from the unpleasant politics that has plagued it. While there are groups and pseudo-groups who claim to be the only "true" E.O.D., some even making good arguments to justify their legitimacy (if one is willing to accept their version of history at face value), we have chosen not to partake in the business of debunking them. All of us got the name of the group of H. P. Lovecraft.
We know ultimately the legitimacy of a magical order rests not in revising history and in making great claims, but in the work of its Initiates. If such groups can "walk the walk" then more power to them by whatever name they wish to call themselves. Instead we seek to encourage communication among the many groups and individuals “out there” working with the mythos, offering only a shared point of contact for these diverse practitioners and students.
This E.O.D. has no desire to rekindle its connections with those who would use the Order as a tool in their delusions of grandeur. We prefer to consider ourselves a loosely bound collection of individuals and groups who share a similar calling and who each have found their own unique way to answer.
With this, the E.O.D. steps out of the past and into the future...
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