The history and mythos of Aether

[anonymous]

Hey all, 

Last saterday I promised @Tac that I would make a post regarding the role of the Vril-Ya and Lovecraft mythos in our Zombies lore. Understand that, currently, I am in a rush and run out of time but I planned to release this tonight. Since this concerns a long and deep subject, I thought I could release it in parts. Most of the chapters are already finished but I haven't included (1) the references and (2) the last chapters and details. Keep in mind that this is a WIP project and it isn't complete yet, but I thought you guys might appreciate some reading material this saterday evening. Therefore, enjoy, but keep an eye out for updates!

 

In the Beginning

Though it would later be referred to as the Spiritual Realm by American shamans [1] and Tibetan monks [2] and even be associated with the Afterlife, the Aether first and foremost was the Realm of Energy. In the beginning, there was no universe nor multiverse, there was solely energy. The Big Bang theory states that initially, there was only a infinitely small ‘ball’ of infinite energy, but even that isn’t true as there cannot exist a ball in a reality where there is no matter and spatial dimensions. The best way we can actually comprehend it is to imagine a void of energy (contractionary as the meaning of void means nothingness, but you get the idea). A realm without anything, a plane beneath creation. A dimensionless dimension where time nor space exist.

 

But there was something else that was roaring the Aether. Primordial forces, entities, representing the Aether and evenly incomprehensibly for our human minds. They are the Aether and the Aether is them; They are what the Keepers would later refer to as ‘Elder Gods’ [3], the most ancient entities in existence, older than the multiverse.

 

Among these Elder entities was one known as ‘the First One’, perhaps even being the first Elder One. This spirit was responsible for the Big Bang as he crafted the Summoning Key, and object that was used to convert energy into matter and thereby forging a three-dimensional multiverse following the principles of space-time.

 

"The Summoning Key is one of the oldest artifacts in all creation. It was used by the first one to mix all the dimensions with life, giving each one its unique balance. Under certain circumstances, it has the ability to form bridges between dimensions allowing the transfer of life forces back and forth"

 

The Summoning Key was also capable of transferring ethereal Life Force from the Aether to the Multiverse, allowing life to exist. But bare in mind, primordial energy was still heavily interwoven with the physical universe.

 

Ethereal Energy & Life Force

Atoms make up the majority of empty space. The tiny nucleus of an atom is dense and has a positive charge. This is made up of protons and neutrons, which are made up of quarks. The outer region of the atom is empty space containing “probability waves” which describe the wave function of the electrons. The electrons carry a negative charge. So, essentially an atom is empty space with a charge and electric field. This electric field either causes atoms to bond—not physically merge, but essentially stay close to each other, or it causes atoms to repel each other. This is ethereal energy, present in all matter, living and dead. It is the web of energy that connects the entire universe, the thread holding it all together. 

 

“Vital energy flows through all things, living or dead” – Richtofen, Die Rise

"The Lantern is a vessel for energy, the energy contained within all matter” - Maxis, Buried

 

We consider Element 115 as a physical substance, in reality it is a highly concentrated crystalline variant of this ethereal energy, these electromagnetic fields in all matter. The link between electricity and magnetism was discovered by Michael Faraday (his portrait also appears in Buried [4]). He also happened to believe that “the various forms under which the forces of matter are made manifest, have one common origin,” and in the most influential book regarding Vril, The Coming Race, that quote is used to describe Vril. The Aether, Vril, 115, the Welteis and ethereal energy, it might all be the same thing, or similar; merely in different concentrations and/or substances. This energy is omnipresent and forged the Multiverse, and it wasn't until the Elder Gods started to seed this 'space-time' in our perceivable, physical universe, that rocks and crystals of E115 were a thing.

 

"The elders will continue to seed space and time" - Shadows of Evil cipher

 

Concerning Life Force we use the pseudosciencific explanation of Aura's and Chakra's [5], you know, that spiritual energy that is believed to surround every living (and undead) person. This energy is set to be generated by the electricity in the brain, heart, and the entire nervous system. After all, neurons work via electric signals and every electric field generates a magnetic field. Think about the Avogadro, which might look like a skeleton but in reality an entire nervous system of a human - from the brains to the little toes. Zombies also feature this electromagnetic Life Force as their muscles, their heart (think about the spraying blood we see upon making a headshot) and their brain (see: the One) are still functional. When an entity containing Life Force, be it living or undead, is killed in the proximity of an artifact or apparatus yielding the said force, the energy is siphoned towards the device. [6]

Thus far about the Aether and the distinction between Ethereal Energy and Life Force. If you are interested in the matter concerning deceased souls, Leylines, mindcontrol and Earth's magnetic field, I recommend reading this thread + its comments and discussion.

 

The Elder Gods

"The blackness will swallow your pride! Something far more terrible than you can imagine lays here" - Samantha, Moon

 

In Lovecraft’s mythos, the most powerful entities in the Multiverse are the Great Old Ones, existing outside our observable physical universe [7], the realm that we call the Aether. These are the entities that the Keepers would refer to as the Elder Gods. 'Elder' as in older, more ancient, and 'Gods' as they are extremely powerful, more powerful than the Keepers self. However, their great weakness is the fact that they cannot form a stable and consistent form of matter in our space-time. This is why they have not yet dominated our universe and why they even have any dealings with humanity. We need to provide them with something within our Space-Time, we need to "open the door" on this side.

 

The Apothicons would later refer to the Elder Gods as their Overlords.

 

Ancient Astronauts

In Vril-ya mythos [8], there was a solar system named Aldebaran that had a sun revolving around two inhabited planets. Living on these inhabitable planets was a race of beings capable of great spiritual and physical feats by manipulating the ethereal energy they dubbed as 'Vril' with their rods. When employed, they could achieve great telekinetic abilities and through great acts of medicine, could live up to the age of one thousand years. However, if used the wrong way, those rods could be used for great destruction.

 

A point came where they could no longer live on their home planet and had to move elsewhere. Legend has it that they first arrived on a planet known as Mallona (also called Marduk), which existed in what is today’s asteroid belt. Then they moved inwards in the Solar System, inhabiting Mars and later Earth, landing in the Mesopotamia region. This area of Earth's surface is believed to be the cradle of human civilization. The first cities, agriculture, technology and language is said to originate from the region, and this was no coincidence. Ancient Sumerian texts reveal that the citizens of that region considered their Gods, that came from the stars, to have learned them all this. Also notice how similar the Sumerian language is compared to that of the Keepers.

From the moment the Vril-Ya landed on Earth, legend gets a bit more difficult to sift through, but the basic plot is that they splitted into two factions, populating several locations on Earth but most notably Hyperborea, the Himalayas, Atlantis and Lemuria. Hyperborea is by some thought to be Northern Siberia, which @tac linked to Call of the Dead. This would make sense, considering the vast Vril references in the map. The Himalayan location refers to Shangri-La, and it was here where the Vril-Ya taught the locals about the abilities and power of Vril. Today even, Tibetan monks still use the Vajra rod, their ritual weapon of spiritual energy based on the golden staves of the Ancient Aliens. Tibetan Buddhists also refer to Agartha as both a physical and spiritual world, bring us to the next subject.

 

Agartha

The given Vril-Ya locations were considered to be gateways to a mystical land thought to be laying in the center of the planet: Hollow Earth, or Agartha. As the center of intellectual progress and enlightenment, and is powered by the Black Sun, or Schwarze Sonne, a black star located within the Earth itself said to contain and radiate Vril energy. 

 

Now the Earth is not literally hollow, and Agartha is not located within our planet. Fact remains, Earth's core, be it due to it's electromagnetic absurdities or perhaps even a high concentration of Element 115 and ethereal energy, features a massive gateway to Agartha. Many years later, the Apothicons (coming back on them later) knew this and started bombing the Earth with meteorites containing 115.

 

"Knowing the planet had a gateway to Agartha, the Apothicons sent meteors of Element 115 to Earth" - Timeline

"The world within the world was turned upside down" - Monty

 

Additional evidence for Siberia being the Hyperborea that where once the Vril-Ya resided is the Mars Easter Egg we can do in Tag der Toten. Similar to Shangri-La, this site seems to be able to travel through space and time to the Red Planet. Is this the site's gateway to Agartha? Is this why George Romero can fully recharge it's health, due to the amount of Vril nearby? 

 

Certain high ranking Nazi's, among which Hitler and Himmler, became obsessed with the stories about Vril and Agartha. They believed the mighty Vril-Ya were the alien ancestors of their Aryan race, and thought discovering the key to Vril would reveal the most powerful weaponry. This was the main reason for the countless Nazi expeditions to the Himalayas, Antarctica and South America. The Hindu Swastika and Black Sun became symbols of their occultism. But what was the reason of the Vril-Ya's demise anyway? Why did their highly advanced civilization disappear from Earth so sudden, thousants of years ago? It was because of the Elder Gods, the ancient occupants of the Aether.

 

Great War of Agartha

The Vril-Ya were now divided in two main factions, the one living in Atlantis, in the area that is now known as the Bermuda Triangle, and the one living in Lemuria, in the middle of the Pacific. One of these factions crafted the Aether Pyramid, a device powered by Life Force that allowed manipulation and power over the ethereal field. Similar to the story of Faust, in exchange for this knowledge, the occupant had to literally sell his soul to the devil(s). 

 

We do not know exactly why, but the two factions, one of which were controlled by the Elder Gods now referred to as their 'Overlords', became engaged in war with each other, and the danger of improperly using Vril came to light. The wars were described as thermonuclear and when the dust settled, little was left besides a vast and open desert. The Sahara, the Gobi, the Australian Outback and the deserts in the Americas are but a few examples of the devastation that resulted. It is said that both the Atlantean and Lemurian homelands had been weakened by the wars, and both continents were swallowed by the oceans.

 

Yet one faction, later referred to as the Keepers, found it's victory, and subsequently retreated into "Hollow Earth" Agartha. The defeated - referred to as Apothicons - were damned to the very realm they served, the Aether. Despite being the divine inspiration for many religions and cultures, the Vril-Ya vanished, leaving few evidence of their existence behind. Traces of the Great War are still out there, such as their chariots that are now known as the pyramids of Giza, and there are rumours of their ancient cities in the Himalayas and Amazona.

 

The Origin of Men

There existed a group known as the Elder Things (not to be confused with the Elder Gods a.k.a. Apothicon Overlords), who were the first extraterrestrial beings to come to Earth. They were said to be immensely advanced, and I have therefore reason to believe they were the Vril-Ya. Same story, different perspective, different name. 

 

The ancient aliens bio-engineered a servitor race known as the Shoggoths, having great size and strength in order to labor for the Elder Things. Looking at their appearance and abilities, Shoggoths seem to have been the inspiration for Margwas, and I am not the first CoDZer noticing that. Originally, they were without a consciousness, hypnotically controlled by their creators and only capable of living in water. Some of the Shoggoths mutated, however, gaining independent minds and the ability to live on land. They subsequently rebelled against their masters and some escaped to the most remote areas of our planet. After the corruption and defeat of the Apothicon faction of the Vril-Ya, the Margwas were banished alongside their masters to the dark Aether. Blundell, in an interview with @MrRoflWaffles, said that the Margwas were controlled by the Overlords, confirming the mindless, slave-like character of the Margwa servants.

 

In the Lovecraft book that introduced the Shoggoths, archeologists discover that the ancient aliens actually (accidentally) bio-engineered a number of other organisms alongside the Shoggoths, among which were proto-humans. This is in line with a popular subtheory falling under the 'Ancient Astronauts theory', namely that aliens didn't merely taught knowledge to humans, but rather that they also created humans, possibly using their own DNA. 

 

This idea of humans and the Vril-Ya genetically being related wouldn't merely tie with the Nazi idea of their Aryan ancestry, it could also explain why the Nova Crawlers show both human and Keeper traits. In this thread we discussed about how mixing pig DNA with the parts of human DNA that translate for Keeper genetics leads to the creation of Nova Crawlers. In more extended words, our DNA holds genes that encode for features like the typical Keeper-ish jaws, though these genes are supressed in our own DNA. When mixing those parts with pig DNA leads to the translation of such genes, this might confirm that our DNA holds alien traits and thus, that we are a product of alien genetic engineering.

 

Aside from our society and even evolution being influenced by the Vril-Ya, some have noticed their presence in the present. Whilst Atlantis had sunk deep in the Bermuda Triangle, Lemuria shrunk in the island of Pohnpei, most parts being flooded and taken by the Pacific Ocean. To some, though, it’s R’lyeh, and the Great Cthulhu lies there sleeping in his prison until he is awoken. Cthulu's name is noticeably similar to the Greek word “chthonic,” meaning “subterranean” (as suggested in a Lovecraft tale itself). To me this is a metaphore for the Overlords in general, and this sunken Lemuria might be a potential gateway to their dark Aether.

 

These Overlords operate through their messenger, the Shadow Man, who’s known as Nyarlathotep by Lovecraft, serving tje Great Old Ones. This figure once was a Vril-Ya, corrupted by the ethereal Overlords and now sharing their hivemind. Therefore, he is an exception to the Overlord's inability to exist in space-time. This Shadowman was the perfect pawn for them, speaking alien languages and frequently wandering the Earth in the guise of a human being that can speak like any other human. He’s described as having numerous different forms, but is generally known for being a tall, slim, joyous man. His convincing tongue gave him the ability to gain many followers, which, according to Lovecraft, were given terrible visions of the destruction of Earth.

 

This Shadowman talked the Reporter into retrieving artifacts in the Pacific, in the region of the lost continent Lemuria. Here, he discovered among others the Cthulu statues and the all-powerfull Summoning Key, lost ever since the Great War of Agartha. In the Zetsubou intro we also see that the Summoning Key almost falls off the boat in the ocean, only to be grabbed just in time by Takeo. Maybe this whole area is still cursed, and all the ancient artifacts try to find their way back to it.

 

Ragnarok

In Old Norse mythology, Ragnarok is the set of future events where the gods will battle against the jotuns, or world-devourers, and end their nine worlds as they know them. The gods are described as “the benefactors and protectors of civilization,” while the world-devourers “are forces of destruction, entropy, and decay,” as they are “constantly trying to drag it back to primordial chaos.” I guess you can see which faction depicts the Keepers and which the Apothicons.

 

During Ragnarok, the immense World Tree Yggdrasil shuddered. The world was war-torn and a long winter had begun. However, there was a saving grace, as a male and female (called Lif and Lifprasir) had hid out in a forest (some say the World Tree) when the winters of Ragnarok hit, and “from them generations will spring". I can see the correlation with the Judeo-Christian "Adam and Eve", and perhaps even our Samantha and Eddie, the two Tabula Rasa (innocent children) our story ends with after our heroes have sacrificed themselves. After all, they are seen hiding in a frozen forest during Tag der Toten. Note that 'Tabular Rasa ex Yggdrasil' is directly mentioned in a GkNova6 document 32, and @caljitsu has considered a link with the blueish roots we see in Revelations and Tag der Toten.

"Ex Ungue Leinem. Mkultra. Blurbird. Artischocke. The past. The truth. Blome brought the evil. Someone hide it. God vs god. Believe in the Welteis and the deads start walking. Power. German knowledge. Beware of the black sun. Search the truth. It is still there. Son of the Hud. Four letters. building 87. tabular rasa ex yggdrasil ad rem cui honorem."

Next to the Nordic names and runes we encounter in Origins and the Nordic books we see in Der Eisendrache, there is another possible connection with our storyline. The Norse Underworld, Hel, is located beneath the World Tree and inhabited by the dead. Similar to the Greek Underworld Hades, Hel is guarded by a monstrous hound called Garmr (Cerberus in Greek). Since the Underworld is where the deceased go, the Aether, Garmr might be the watchdog we can invoke in Mob and Blood of the Dead. The demonic and corrupting influences of the Elder Gods might also be why Fluffy turned into a Hellhound after her teleportation through the Aether.

 

 

References:

[1] The Afterlife symbol from Mob of the Dead seems to be based on the native American 'Shaman Eye', relating to the belief that Shamans, under certain circumstances, could look in the Spirit World and spiritual realm.

[2] Wikipedia - Agartha

[3] The name 'Elder Gods' can be heard in the radios of Tag der Toten

[4] The Paralyzer and Michael Faraday (CoDZ)

[5] Reiki, Auras and Chakra's

[6] Examples are the Moon Pyramid Device, the Origins chests, the Vril Rod and the Apothicon Eggs.

[7] H. P. Lovecraft and Timetravel

[8] The Great Battle: Key to understand everything (CoDZ)

 

[caljitsu]

One point of note on "Elder Gods", is that this is seemingly a term given to the colossal Apothicons specifically by the Keepers (as illustrated by Jeb Brown's encounter) - however the Apothicons seem to refer to them as "Overlords", as hinted at in Shadows of Evil by the Shadowman, and later confirmed by him in revelations. Whilst they are very similar in meaning, I definitely think this slight difference in terminology is worth exploring.

[NaBrZHunter]

Oh my gawd. Your citations. @anonymous, ever raising the stakes on CODZ!!!!