kaos

This seems to be Grant’s first real linking of Paterson to “Lovecraftian” matters. He
expands on this:
These theories have their roots in very ancient practices, some of which—in a distorted
form—provided the basis of the medieval Witch Cult, covens of which flourished in
New England at the time of the Salem Witch Trials at the end of the 17 th century.
[p 207]
This is very close to the end of the book, which he ends with:
When the occult significance of primal symbols is fathomed at the Draconian level, the
system of sorcery Spare evolved through contact with ‘Witch’ Paterson becomes
explicable, and all magical circles, sorceries, and cults are seen as manifestations of the
Shadow. [p 208]
In some ways the word Shadow later evolved into Mauve in Beyond the Mauve Zone. In
1980 Grant added a little to the myth in Outside the Circles of Time. Mrs Paterson gets
a first name: Yelg. He is talking about 333 Choronzon (Yog-Sut-Thoth) creating:
… the event act called The Beast, viz: the creative vortex in the Æther that gives rise to
the manifestation of phenomena via the mechanics of atavistic resurgence. As such, the
process is identical with the method of sorcery practiced by Austin Osman Spare in Zos
Kia Cultus. He had derived it from his witch-mentor, Yelg Paterson. She in turn had
been initiated by her Salem forebears who had spiritual rapport with disembodied
American Indian sorcerers, who in times long past had established a Gate for the Great
Old Ones. The number of Yelg is 48, which is that of kvkb ‘a star’, the ‘Star of Chivan’,
the Beast, from the Egyptian Kheb, ‘Typhon’, and Khabs, ‘star’, thus equating the name
Yelg with the Star of Typhon and the Typhon Current generally. [p 225]
An undercurrent here seems to imply more than a friendly relationship between Spare
and Paterson. Spare was, of course, often known for his “love” of elderly women.
Finally in 1994 we hear about the unearthed document (Syth-Ooloo…) in Outer
Gateways. This is later expanded on in the “fictional” novella, Against the Light published
by Starfire Publishing in 1997.
The following extracts are from Outer Gateways:
I propose here to treat of Spare’s sorcery, which had its origins in the Amerindian witch
cult refracted through Yelg Paterson, who claimed descent from Salem witches […]
40