Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
OF THE
VISHANTI
A Companion to
the Dr. Strange Comic Books
CONTENTS
PROLEPSIS
Credits
INTROIT
Prologue
Dedication
Contents
Amulets
Orb of Agamotto
Other Orbs and Orb-like Artifacts
Books
Wands, Scepters, and Rods
Enchanted Jewels
Candles
Dolls, Models, and Effigies
Miscellaneous Weapons
Magical Miscellany
Spells from:
StrangeTales(vol.1) 110-111, 114-168 (1963-1968)
Spider-ManAnnual2 (1965)
Dr. Strange(vol.1) 169-183 (1968-1969)
Avengers61 (1969)(x-over betweenD.S. 178/179)
Sub-Mariner22 (1970)(x-over after D.S. 183)
IncredibleHulk 126 (1970)(x-over after SUB.22)
MarvelPremiere3-14 (1972-1974)
Dr. Strange(vol.2 ) 1-81 (1974-1987)
Tombof Dracula44 (1976)(x-over betweenD.S. 13/14
UnpublishedSpells
Giant-Size Dr. Strange1 (1975)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. StrangeAnnual1 (1976)
Nightmare:MarvelNovelSeries7 [XXXdate?](prose)
Dr. Strange/SilverDagger(1983)(reprint;not re-indexed)
Dr. StrangeClassics(1984)(reprint;not re-indexed)
MarvelGraphicNovel23 : Dr. Strange:Into Shambhala(1986)
StrangeTales(vol.2 )1-19 (1987-1988)
Dr. StrangeSorcererSupreme1-90 (1988-1996)
Dr. Strange/Dr.DoomTriumphandTorment(1989)(GN)
GhostRidervol.2 (1991)12 (X-over betweenDr.S.S.S.27/28)
Dr. Strange/GhostRider(1991)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. StrangeSorcererSupremeAnnual(1992-1994) 2-4
Dr. StrangeSorcererSupremeSpecial(1992)
MarvelSelect:StrangeTales(GN)
Spider-Man/Dr.StrangeThe Wayto DustyDeath(1992)
Dr. Strangevs. Dracula(1994)1 (reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. Strange:WhatIs It That DisturbsYou, Stephen?(1997)(GN)
MarvelKnights(2000-20001)7-9
Amalgam:DoctorStrangefate(1996)
UntoldTalesof Spider-ManStrangeEncounter(1998)
Dr. Strangevol.3 (1999)
EssentialDr. Strange(2002)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. Strange:A SeparateReality(2002)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Objective Dimensions
Subjective Dimensions
Footnotes
APPENDICES
The Once and Future Dr. Strange by cat yronwode (from Instant
Gratification #1)
PROLEPSIS
The History and Format of This Manuscript
Credits
How tiny was the house? It had four rooms and was built in 1910 by a man
of normal height whose wife was a dwarf. Althaea, then 5 years old, could
stand at the kitchen sink and wash the dishes; i had to crouch to do so. We
had no telephone and no indoor toilet, and we heated the house and cooked
on a wood stove, but for the first time since arriving in Missouri five years
earlier, we had electric lights. There was no running water -- greywater
from the kitchen sink simply drained outside into a downhill trench -- but
there was a stone-lined hand-dug well of sweet water outside, and Little
Creek, which was of fairly good size despite the name, ran through the back
of the property. The water was always cold in Little Creek, and we swam
naked, so to avoid cringing with shock, we would jump in quickly and as we
did so, we would shout, "No Steve Gerbers!" in reference to a comic book
writer who didn't look as if he swam naked very often.
Althaea and i were living at Little Creek because my partnership with her
father Peter had just broken up and we had left our former home, a
commune in Birch Tree, Missouri called the Garden of Joy Blues. Peter had
gone off to Lousiana to work on an oil rig, and was not paying child support,
so i was temporarily on welfare. I was 30 years old. I could not drive and the
nearest town was ten miles away. My major contacts with human beings
aside from Althaea (who had started school and was gone most of the day)
came through the mails in the form of comic books and comic book fanzines.
The "dwarf house" was owned by a dairy farmer named Jim Scott, whose
home was up the hill, about half a mile away. He didn't charge me any rent,
and in exchange i kept an eye on his stock as they wandered my portion of
his acreage. The hill up out of Little Creek was so steep that the school bus
could not navigate it; every morning i walked Althaea a mile up the hill to
wait for it; in the afternoons she walked downhill alone, terrified of the
Holstein cows.
Little Creek was so isolated that in the winter, while Althaea was at Peter's
during her holiday school break, a heavy blizzard hit the region and cut off
all contact with the outside world for two weeks. I caught pneumonia and
almost died. My two cats did die. I was saved when my friends Nick Spaeder
and Ulrich Arrow Ross -- former residents at the Garden of Joy Blues --
decided on a hunch to check up on me. By that time i had a fever of 105
degrees and was delerious. I did learn one thing from that experience --
those Victorian novels i had read as a child in which a female character
catches a fever and then suffers the loss of her hair were based on fact: my
hair came out in bunches about two weeks after my fever spiked. The hair
grew back immediately, but my lungs have never been the same since.
Although we were on welfare during that year at Little Creek, i did not want
to be a drain on society. I decided that the two hundred dollars per month i
received was "pay" for a job of my choice -- and what i chose to do was to
pick up litter along the roadsides and to create a topical index to the entirety
of my favourite comic book series, Strange Tales and Dr. Strange. Within
the fictional world of these comic books, there was a grimoire or spell-book
called The Book of the Vishanti, and so, in homage to two famous real-world
grimoires, the Key of Solomon and the Lesser Key of Solomon, i called my
project The Lesser Book of the Vishanti.
In 1978, shortly after completing the index, i met a man named Denis
McFarling, the brother of Peter's new lover (now his wife) Paula McFarling.
Denis worked as a printer in Kansas City and he was also a comic book fan.
We teamed up for a while in the Ozarks, living in a big log cabin deep in the
forest near Willow Springs, Mssouri, where i began work on The Spirit
Checklist. While indexing The Spirit, i also began publishing thermographic
reproductions of some of the hand-lettered pages from the Lesser Book of
the Vishanti in a zine called Return from Reality, which was distributed
through APA-I, the amateur Press Alliance of [comic book] Indexers. In
1979, Denis and i briefly moved to Kansas City, where the two of us hired on
at his father's print shop, Blue Valley McLitho. That got me started as a
typesetter, a career i have held off and on ever since.
The first thing i did with my free time in the print shop was typeset one
chapter of The Lesser Book of the Vishanti: "Deities, Powers, and Forces."
Denis drew a lovely cover for it and we printed 177 copies with purple ink
on cream vellum paper and bound it in lavender leatherette index stock
imprinted with a bronzed image of the Eye of Agamotto that Denis had
drawn. On the front cover the publisher was listed as Alibeck the Egyptian,
Memphis, 1577, in double-reference to the Grimorium Verum, which is self
described as having been published by Alibeck the Egyptian in 1517, and to
my own manuscript's creation in 1977. Because the paper and ink were
"liberated" from Blue Valley McLitho, the printer listed on the back cover
was Fly By Nite Grafiks ("Our Motto: Integrity"), with an image of a bat
flying over a bag of money. I sent copies to everyone i knew in the comics
business and to all my friends in fandom. This gave rise to some additions
and comments by other fans, notably Lou Mougin and David Cuccio.
Returning to the Ozarks after my Kansas City adventure, i continued to
publish further sections of The Lesser Book of the Vishanti in APA-I under
the zine name Return from Reality. By that time Althaea and i were living in
comparative urbanity on the outskirts of the small town of Willow Springs,
in another four-room house, this one with electricity and running cold water
in the kitchen sink, but no other indoor plumbing. Peter had begun to share
in Althaea's financial support and i had picked up sufficient freelance
writing gigs to allow us to leave the welfare rolls. The local library had one
of those newfangled photocopying machines, so i just ran off sections of my
original Vishanti manuscript without bothering to typeset it. During this
period i also wrote two fanzine articles about Dr. Strange -- "Evolution of an
Enchantress", an article on Dr. Strange's female companion Clea that
appeared in Steven R. Johnson's zine The Heroine Showcase #15 in 1978,
and The One and Future Dr. Strange, a rant comparing the atrocious Dr.
Strange TV movie of 1979 with the comic book version that was published in
Instant Gratification #1.
The Lesser Book in its present form draws upon both my original 25-year-
old hand-lettered version and the cleaned-up chapter that i typeset in
Kansas City. The antique ledger book in which i wrote the original
manuscript was one of those artifacts that have an unexpected effect upon
their users: The pages were sequentially numbered from 1 through 64,
followed by a section of alphabetically tabbed A - Z index pages for
addresses, and then another 64-page run of numbered pages -- and this led
to the present format of two internal "Volumes" (The Art and The Science)
plus a section called "Intermezzo" (The Religion). The page numbers --
htmlized here in large font size -- are those that were printed at top right or
left of the original pages of the ledger book. They are meaningless in the
world of html and active links -- but i have retained them here as a visual
reminder of the book's past history, when Althaea and i listened to the
rooster crow on the radio at six a.m., followed by the hog report, and i
scribbled away the long hours in a cabin built for a dwarf.
-- catherine yronwode
forestville, california, 2002
Credits
Dr. Strange was created by Steve Ditko and is a trademark of Marvel
Comics. The artwork for the published second chapter of the Lesser Book of
the Vishanti, reproduced here, is by Denis McFarling. Artwork in the
original ledger book was drawn by me.
This online version of the Lesser Book of the Vishanti was key input and
htmlized by my husband nagasiva yronwode in 2001-2002, a labour of love
that astounds me. He too is a fan of Dr. Strange and he not only typed out
my index, he compared every line of it against the comic books themselves --
and he plans to bring the indexing project past the date that i left off. His
editing of my text appears in {{double-brackets}}; any text within [square
brackets] represents my original hand-lettered notes or notes i have added
in subsequent years.
SEARCH THIS SITE: a local search engine and a named link to each Lucky Mojo page
INTROIT
THE LESSER BOOK OF THE VISHANTI
Prologue
Dedication
Contents
1
THE
LESSER BOOK
OF THE
VISHANTI
2
copied right 1577 by Erzilie Redwing
-- Memphis --
3
PROLOGUE
The Book of the Vishanti, that storehouse of occult wisdom, said to contain
every counter-spell known to the mystic arts [ST 116] exists in but one copy,
that being at present in the library of Stephen Strange. Far be it from the
intent of this humble compilator to presume to duplicate the immense
wealth of knowledge said volume contains -- but greater would be my shame
should i let pass into unending oblivion those lesser spells & enchantments
which the deathless Vishanti have seen fit to allow Dr. Strange to reveal, if
not to the world at large, then at least some small, select portion thereof.
There have been throughout the years several questions raised by students
of the theurgic arts as to whether the magic of the Vishanti (and thus of
Stephen Strange) is "good" or "evil" -- indeed, it has even been stated that
the Book contains only spells of defense, not offence [ST 148] -- in manifest
contradiction to the evidence. The root of the problem lies in the fact that
human beings, limited as they are in outlook, have presumed to cast the
Vishanti in their own strictured mold, and this being a fruitless task, no end
of "moral" confusion results.
4
The Vishanti are most often referred to as eternal, blessed and deathless, but
in at least one instance [ST 120] their fury is also invoked. Rather than
attempt to sift the shifting sands of morality's Maya, i shall let the words of
the noted occultist Arthur Edward Waite speak for my translation of the
Vishanti texts as they did for his own work on the Clavicula Solomonensis:
"I have ruled out, as will be seen, the distinctions which have subsisted
between the good and evil side of the arts and processes ... because the
two aspects dissolve into one another and belong one to another in the
root that is common to both ... [but] it should be observed that
experiments which have for their object an interference with the free
will of another person ... are essentially evil experiments."
Let this warning be a word to the wise. and let it serve as notice that i have
included in this volume, for the sake of completeness only, the spells
used by Baron Mordo, the dread Dormammu, and the unspeakable
Umar (as well as those invoking such dubious entities as the supreme
Satannish). Any spells not of Stephen Strange's utterance are marked
as such in the margin. [like this.]
5
In addition to incantations, this volume also contains a complete list of
spirits, forces and sacred spaces, with references to their use as invocatory
aids; a catalogue of ritual and power objects; a short treatise on magical
time travel; and a list of other dimensions, their landscapes, the nature of
their inhabitants, and other needful knowledge for those who would travel to
them.
6
"No slaves wrought the City of Marvel, but artists toiling at the work they
loved."
-- Lord Dunsany
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the following fellow-travellers -- Walter Vincent &
Jimmy Rodgers & Charlie Poole & Leroy Carr & Frances Blackwell &
Barry & Anna Carroll & Willie McTell & Willie Johnson & William
Saroyan & Walter Roland & Charley Jordan & Harvey Hull & Charlie
Patton & Grace & Carl Moon & Elvis Presley & Ernest Stoneman & Walter
Lewis & Gertrude Rainey & Kurt Vonnegut Jr. & Russ Nobbs & Susan
Anthony & A. P., Sarah & Maybelle Carter & Don & Phil Everly & Roger
Stern & Mark Gruenwald & Winsor McCay & George Herriman & Jim
and Bob (the Genial Hawaiians) & Arthur Edward Waite & Amelia Earhart
& Fred Noonan & Don McGregor & P. Craig Russell & Kenneth Patchen &
Nicola Tesla & the white dove & Gus Cannon & Charles Davenport &
Esther Averill & Noah Lewis & Ben Ramey & Ben E. King & Steve
Englehart & Frank Brunner & Liselotte Erlanger & Will Shade & Jennie
Mae Clayton & John Estes & Yank Rachel & Lonnie Chatman & Armentier
Chatman & Sam Chatman & Robert Zimmerman & Joe Hill & Marie
Laveau & John Hurt & Elizabeth Cotton & Steve Gerber & Lucille Bogan
& Robt. Anton Wilson & Jimmy and Estelle Yancey {{flower drawn}} &
Mary Skrenes & Jorge Luis Borges & Carl Sandburg & Hudson Whittaker
& Tom Dorsey & Leola B. & Wesley Wilson & Huddie Ledbetter & Chuck
Berry & Richard Penniman & John Fahey & Wilhelm Reich & Letitia
Glozer & Talbot Mundy & Arthur Ward & Stan Lee & Steve Ditko {{flower
drawn}} & Robert Graves & Fritz Leiber & J. R. R. Tolkien & James
Arnold & Arther Blake & Bob Wills & Alice Stockham & Leo Tolstoy &
Bob Johnson & Willie Brown & Kitty Wells & Minnie Douglas McCoy &
Pamela Colman Smith & {{flower drawn}} Roy Acuff & Gene Vincent &
Antoine Domino II & Michael Wm. Kaluta & Wm. Moore & Walter Gibson
& Peter & Althaea Yronwode & Herman Hesse & Carl Jung & Richard
Starkey & Gene Stratton Porter & Rene Daumal & Buddy Holley & James
Moore & George Harrison & John Lennon & Paul McCartney & Henry
Thomas & Tommy McClennan & Marie Severin & Woody Guthrie & Pete
Seeger & Gene Colan & Roy Thomas & Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel &
Theodore Sturgeon & Richard and Mimi Farina & Barry Smith
7
CONTENTS
ITEM PAGE
Prologue----------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Volume One
Intermezzo
Deities, Powers, and Forces -------------------------------- A-Z
Volume Two
outline of Dimensional Types ----------------------------------- 10
8
ABBREVIATIONS
Many Beings and Concepts re-occur with regularity in this work. Therefore,
in order to shorten the task of copying, abbreviations have been resorted to.
C. --- Clea, daughter of Umar & Orini, lover & disciple of Dr. Strange
C.Y. --- Catherine [sign] Yronwode -- author
9
L.W. --- Len Wein -- author
N.M. --- Nightmare -- Dr. Strange's "Ancient Foe", ruler of the Dream
World
Amulets
Orb of Agamotto
Other Orbs and Orb-like Artifacts
Books
Wands, Scepters, and Rods
Enchanted Jewels
Candles
Dolls, Models, and Effigies
Miscellaneous Weapons
Magical Miscellany
Spells from:
StrangeTales(vol.1) 110-111, 114-168 (1963-1968)
Spider-ManAnnual2 (1965)
Dr. Strange(vol.1) 169-183 (1968-1969)
Avengers61 (1969)(x-over betweenD.S. 178/179)
Sub-Mariner22 (1970)(x-over after D.S. 183)
IncredibleHulk 126 (1970)(x-over after SUB.22)
MarvelPremiere3-14 (1972-1974)
Dr. Strange(vol.2 ) 1-81 (1974-1987)
Tombof Dracula44 (1976)(x-over betweenD.S. 13/14
UnpublishedSpells
Giant-Size Dr. Strange1 (1975)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. StrangeAnnual1 (1976)
Nightmare:MarvelNovelSeries7 [XXXdate?](prose)
Dr. Strange/SilverDagger(1983)(reprint;not re-indexed)
Dr. StrangeClassics(1984)(reprint;not re-indexed)
MarvelGraphicNovel23 : Dr. Strange:Into Shambhala(1986)
StrangeTales(vol.2 )1-19 (1987-1988)
Dr. StrangeSorcererSupreme1-90 (1988-1996)
Dr. Strange/Dr.DoomTriumphandTorment(1989)(GN)
GhostRidervol.2 (1991)12 (X-over betweenDr.S.S.S.27/28)
Dr. Strange/GhostRider(1991)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. StrangeSorcererSupremeAnnual(1992-1994) 2-4
Dr. StrangeSorcererSupremeSpecial(1992)
MarvelSelect:StrangeTales(GN)
Spider-Man/Dr.StrangeThe Wayto DustyDeath(1992)
Dr. Strangevs. Dracula(1994)1 (reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. Strange:WhatIs It That DisturbsYou, Stephen?(1997)(GN)
MarvelKnights(2000-20001)7-9
Amalgam:DoctorStrangefate(1996)
UntoldTalesof Spider-ManStrangeEncounter(1998)
Dr. Strangevol.3 (1999)
EssentialDr. Strange(2002)(reprint; not re-indexed)
Dr. Strange:A SeparateReality(2002)(reprint; not re-indexed)
10
RITUAL ARTIFACTS & POWERS OF THE ART
AMULETS -- Doctor Strange has possessed 2 amulets of Light and Truth
ORB OF AGAMOTTO
ST 118 --- Originally it was a world globe which could be used to pinpoint
outbreaks of evil magic -- it was called The Earthly Scanner
ST 125 --- While still a world globe, it was called the Eye of Agamotto
ST 132 --- also the Eternal Eye and the Orb of Agamotto.
ST 141 --- one other name was the Mystic Globe
ST 147 --- It was called the Crystal of Agamotto & from that time on it has
been a crystal ball
MP 3 --- Dr. Strange broke it once in the realm of N.M.
MP 5 --- but Clea restored it
DS 1 --- It acquired a new holder of twisted metal
DS 28 --- and later appeared on a pedestal of stone without a holder
DS 1 --- There is an "unreal" subjective dimension inside the Orb
TOD 44, DS 14 --- and it can be used to store bodies in also.
11
ORBS are common ritual objects -- several other famous ones are:
ST 116 --- The Book of the Vishanti contains "every counter-spell known to
the
mystic arts"
ST 148 --- "It may never be used to attack, but only in defence."
ST 148 --- The book itself is enchanted and can reflect evil spells.
DS 175 --- It is guarded with a spell called "the Shield of Not-Seeing"
12
There are numerous WANDS, SCEPTORS, and RODS --
[A note on the real-world origins of this amulet: Steve Ditko may have
gotten the idea for the visual look of the Wand of Watoomb from a popular
regious tool found in Nepal and Tibet. Called a dorje (or vajra in Hindi), it
represents a thunderbolt from heaven and symbolized spiritual power. It is
handled and carried by priests of the indigenous Bon religion and by lamas
of Tibetan Buddhism (a religion that blendsIndian Buddhism with Bon)
during worship services. ] .
ST 162 --- The Staff of Polar Power, owned by Nebulos, was captured by the
Living
Tribunal.
DS 175 --- The S.of.S possess sceptors --
DS 176, Av 61 --- as well as the scepter-like Crystals of Conquest.
H 126 --- The Sceptre of Shadow owned by Nightcrawler, created darkness,
until it was broken by Barbara Dentin Norris.
MP 14 --- The priests of death at Sodom (or Gomorrah) possess magical
scepters.
13
The "Voodoo"-like use of DOLLS or MODELS is not uncommon --
ST129 --- The Screaming Idol, effigy of Tiboro found in Peru, transports
people to
the 6th dimension.
ST 115 --- Mordo conjures the Vapours of Valtorr around a statue of the
A.O.
DS 169 --- Note: in another version of this story, the doll does not appear &
the vapors have been replaced by the Flames of the Faltine. This later
version is corrupt however, as the Faltine were not mentioned until
ST 142! This error is attributable to the scribe R.T.'s having misplaced
his spectacles.
ST 117 --- Mordo also enchants Dr.S.' house (& self) into another dimension
by means of a model.
DS 19 --- Stygyro uses a model of the earth to produce an earthquake.
SS 183, SUB 22 --- The Undying Ones seek to enter Earth via a statue of the
Nameless One.
DS 32 --- N.M.'s dream-images of sleeping mortals can be crushed to gain
control
over said mortals.
ST 140 --- the Pincers of Power owned by the Dread Dormammu, & used for
hand-to-hand mystic combat.
DS 1 --- Silver Dagger's Silver Dagger, which can pierces auras. it is
"enchanted."
DS 31 --- the Sword of Kamuu, an Atlantean artifact, wielded by Alaric until
his defeat
DS 32 --- due to the sword's curse on those who injure Atlanteans. Namor I
gains
possession of it. (see JEWELS -- Eye of Zartra)
MAGICAL MISCELLANY --
ST 127 --- The Cloak of Levitation, owned by Dr.S., was a gift from the A.O.
ST 136 --- it is controlled "by the will alone"
DS 172 --- and has "powers independent of" its owner.
ST 117 --- The Ring of the Ancient One can be used to allow Dr.S.' E.F. do
everything his P.B. can do -- as well as to take on the form of the
A.O. himself.
ST 149 --- The Serum of the Seraphim is "the most potent medicine known
to the
occult"
ST 159 --- The Mystic Shield, engraved with strange runes reveals the source
of evil.
ST 158 --- The Glass of Doom a.k.a. the Sands of Death is an oversized
hourglass
owned by The Living Tribunal.
DS 32 --- two mirrors are needed for a "radical spell" used to renew the
shield around
Dr.S's sanctum.
The Creators use the Cosmic Wheel of Change to become stars.
14
{{this page was left blank to accomodate future additions to the list of Ritual
Objects. }}
15
ENCHANTMENTS, SPELLS &
INVOCATIONS OF THE VISHANTI
The task of indexing the rhymed & unrhymed spells given in The Book of
the Vishanti & collected from other sources is beyond the reach of the
present author. A more or less chronological order is therefore followed and
marginal notes establish whether the incantation falls into one of the
following rather broad categories:
Conjurations
Banishments
Control over the Minds or Bodies of Others
Time -- Distortion and Travel
Space -- Dimensional Travel, Teleportation, Levitation
Miscellaneous
Unless the incantation was made by Dr. Strange the speaker is also indicated
by a marginal note.
Initials appearing in conjunction with title and issue numbers are those of
the scripter.
Rhymed = R / Unrhymed = U
========================
ST
110 -- S.L. -- 0
111 -- S.L. -- 0
114 -- S.L. -- 0
115 -- S.L. -- 2U
116 -- S.L. -- 1U
117 -- S.L. -- 1U
118 -- S.L. -- 1U
119 -- S.L. -- 0
120 -- S.L. -- 2U
121 -- S.L. -- 1U
122 -- S.L. -- 1U
123 -- S.L. -- 1U, 1R
124 -- S.L. -- 1U, 2R
125 -- S.L. -- 0
126 -- S.L. -- 1U
127 -- S.L. -- 2U
128 -- S.L. -- 0
129 -- S.L. -- 0
XXX somewhere in here (check Lou's Chronology)
Sp. Ann.
2 -- S.L. -- 1U, 1R
ST
130 -- S.L. -- 1R
131 -- S.L. -- 1U, 1R
132 -- S.L. -- 2U
133 -- S.L. -- 0
134 -- S.L. -- 0
135 -- S.L. -- 1R
136 -- S.L. -- 1U, 1R
137 -- S.L. -- 0
138 -- S.L. -- 1U
139 -- S.L. -- 0
140 -- S.L. -- 0
141 -- S.L. -- 1U
142 -- S.L. -- 1R
143 -- R.T. -- 1R
144 -- R.T. -- 0
145 -- D.O. -- 0
146 -- S.L. -- 1U
147 -- S.L./D.O. -- 2U
148 -- D.O. -- 1U
149 -- D.O. -- 3U
150 -- R.T. -- 1U
151 -- S.L. -- 3R
152 -- S.L. -- 3R
153 -- S.L. -- 2U, 2R
154 -- S.L. -- 2R
155 -- S.L. -- 2U, 2R
156 -- S.L. -- 2R
157 -- S.L. -- 1U, 2R
158 -- R.T. -- 2R
159 -- R.T. -- 4R
160 -- R.M. -- 3R
161 -- R.M. -- 0
162 -- J.L. -- 1U, 5R
163 -- J.L. -- 2R
164 -- J.L. -- 1U
165 -- J.L. -- 1U, 4R
166 -- J.L./D.A. -- 1R
167 -- D.O. -- 1U, 1R
168 -- D.O. -- 2U, 1R
DS
169 -- R.T. -- 3U
170 -- R.T. -- 1R
171 -- R.T. -- 1R
172 -- R.T. -- 1U, 1R
173 -- R.T. -- 2U, 1R
174 -- R.T. -- 1R
175 -- R.T. -- 1U, 2R
176 -- R.T. -- 2U, 1R
177 -- R.T. -- 3U, 2R
178 -- R.T. -- 2R
AV
61 -- R.T. -- 1R
DS
179 -- REPRINT Sp. Ann. 2
180 -- R.T. -- 1R
181 -- R.T. -- 1U, 2R
182 -- R.T. -- 1R
183 -- R.T. -- 2R
SUB
22 -- R.T. -- 1R
H
126 -- R.T. -- 2R
MP
3 -- S.L. -- 4U, 2R
4 -- A.G. -- 0
5 -- G.F. -- 1U, 1R
6 -- G.F. -- 1U
7 -- G.F. -- 1R
8 -- G.F. -- 2U, 1R
9 -- S.E. -- 1R
10 -- S.E. -- 1R
11 -- REPRINT ST 115
12 -- S.E. -- 1U, 1R
13 -- S.E. -- 1R
14 -- S.E. -- 0
DS
1 -- R
2 -- S.E. --0
3 -- REPRINT ST 125
4 -- S.E. -- 1R
5 -- S.E. -- 0
6 -- S.E. -- 2R
7 -- S.E. -- 2U
8 -- S.E. -- 0
9 -- S.E. -- 3R
10 -- S.E. -- 1R
11 -- S.E. -- 1R
12 -- S.E. -- 1R
13 -- S.E. -- 1R
TOD
44 -- M.W. -- 1U
DS
14 -- S.E. -- 1U
15 -- S.E. -- 1U, 2R
16 -- S.E. -- 1U, 1R
17 -- S.E. -- 0
18 -- S.E. -- 2R
19 -- M.W. -- 1U
20 -- M.W. -- 3U, 1R
DS ANN
1 -- M.W. -- 2U
DS
21 -- REPRINT DS 169
22 -- M.W. -- 2U, 2R
23 -- M.W. -- 1R
24 -- J.S. -- 0
25 -- J.S. -- 0
26 -- J.S. -- 0
27 -- R.S. -- 0
28 -- R.S. -- 1U
29 -- R.S. -- 1R
30 -- R.S. -- 2R
31 -- D.Mc./R.S. -- 1R
32 -- R.S. -- 1U, 2R
33 -- R.Mc. -- 3U, 2R
34 -- R.Mc. -- 2U
35 -- R.Mc. -- 1U
36 -- R.Mc. -- 0
16
=(SPELLS FROM (FIRST SERIES) STRANGE TALES )=
[A.O.]
[M.]
ST 116 (S.L.) Conjure: the Mists of Hoggoth & the Path of Hoggoth
which leads to N.M.'s world (dimension #1, vol. 2, page 13)
ST 121 (S.L.) Banish: Beings From Whence They Came (Whence Spell)
(1st Whence Spell)
[Note: this is a fake spell as the Gulgol was actually a hypnotic illusion
created by Dr.S.]
18
ST 123 (S.L) Conjure: a Giant Hand from a Shadowy Dimension
(dimension #7, possible home of Hoggoth's Hosts)
(see dimension #7, vol. 2, page 15)
[A.O.]
[D.]
19
ST 127 (S.L.) Misc: Strengthen Another
[A.O.]
M.
Minion of M.
Minion of M.
20
ST 135 (S.L.) Control: To Teleport Another
ST 136 (S.L.) Banish: Beings From Whence They Came (Whence Spell)
In the name of the eternal Vishanti,
may the light of the all-seeing Eye of
Agamotto send them back from whence
they came! Begone, helpless ones!
You are free!
the Demon
21
ST 143 (R.T.) Conjure: Cloak or Amulet
A.O.
22
ST 149 (D.O.) Banish: Mystic Bonds
A.O.
U.
U.
[Note: used with the Lamp of Lucifer]
U.
23
ST 152 (S.L.) Banish: Hostile Demons
{{U.}}
[Note: this spell doesn't work because the M.O.'s possess powers of sorcery
too.]
[More fine-tuning of the html coding to be done; what follows is raw, but
readable. This sub-site is under construction!]
24
ST 153 (S.L.) -- Banish: Control Over Others (Sat-Van Spell)
U.
Venerated Vishanti,
I do supplicate thee!
Everlasting Vishanti,
let fair Clea be free!
ST 155 (S.L.) Space: Rapid Dimensional Travel (to V.B.L. #23 -- see vol. 2, p.
27)
U.
26
ST 157 (S.L.) Space: Levitation Without a Cloak
Anon. occultist
ST 158 (R.T.) Conjure: Rings of Raggadorr
27
ST 159 (R.T.) Conjure: a Vision
M.
ST 162 (J.L.) Conjure: Black Lightning
M.
28
ST 162 (J.L.) Banish: "The Spell of Cosmic Banishment" (Dimensional
Travel to V.B.L. #23, vol. 2, page 17)
29
ST 165 (J.L.) Misc.: 2nd Attempt at Opening Doors
Bolts burn brightly -- fiercely swell --
as I strengthen now my spell!
DS & A.O.
30
=(SPELLS FROM (FIRST SERIES) DOCTOR STRANGE)=
Accept my offering of incense, O Dread Dormammu! Let the old fool feel your
touch of death -- the sting of your hatred! Thus pleads Mordo -- he who is your
most faithful disciple!
[Note: this is another translation from Mordo's spell from ST 115 (page 16,
2nd spell in this volume) -- the "Thomas version", a corrupt variation. the
earlier "Lee version" is preferable.]
M.
DS 169 (R.T.; cf. ST 115 (S.L.)) Conjure: Vapors of Valtorr and Form an
"Iron Clamp" of Them
A.O.
31
DS 170 (R.T.) Control: Awaken an Enchanted Sleeper
DS 171 (R.T.) Conjure: the Herald of Satannish -- This Spell is Called "the
Parable of Power (Sat-Van Spell)
D.
In the name of the All-seeing -- In the name of the All-freeing -- Let the
Flames of the Faltine Now free me from this maddening merciless vertigo!
32
DS 173 (R.T.) Conjure: Cloud Conjealment
DS 173 (R.T.) Banish: Beings From Whence They Came (Whence Spell)
Let the whirling winds of Watoomb rise from the nether regions ---- to carry
you back from whence you came!
In the name of the ever watchful Vishanti -- Let waves of mystic force now
waft the girl back to earth!
S.of S.
33
DS 175 (R.T.) Banish: Rings of
May the Images of Ikonn dispell the haze which surrounds thee -- May the
Omnipotent Oshtur restore thee to the land of the living!
Let the awesome Eye of Agamotto be as one with its bearer -- that its sacred
light may illumine the skulking evil which cloaks itself in darkness!
Hear me, O ye powers of Darkness -- Show me whither has gone the Book of
the Vishanti -- that book on which supreme Asmodeus has laid his thrice-
cursed hand!
Asmodeus
34
DS 177 (R.T.) Misc.: "The Trance of Transferral"
S.of S.
[Note: to be spoken with the right hand on the Book of the Vishanti]
Asmodeus
35
DS 179 (SP Ann. 2; S.L.) Banish:Webslingers (Sat-Van Spell) [1st use of Sat-
Van]
Demons of darkness!
In the name of Satannish!
By the Flames of the Faltine
Let Spiderman vanish!
DS 179 (SP Ann. 2; S.L.) Control: Involuntary Telepathy
By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, I order you to unlock your brain, so that I
may learn all that exists within your past!
DS 180 (R.T.) Banish: Vikings and Savages Who Intrude into the Present
Awaken, O Mystic Eye of Agamotto! Let the Dark One again feel your sting of
Truth and Light!
36
DS 182 (R.T.) Misc.: Cloak and Amulet Control
37
H 126 (R.T.) Banish: Someone to the Realm of Night-Crawler (no. #37)
By the seven Rings of Raggadorr, Let my portal close -- and let it open to
none till the spell be ended!
MP 3 (S.L.) Misc.: Release the E.F. From the P.B. (Ing Spell)
I summon forth the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto! Now let my amulet open!
There have been mystic words -- enchanted thoughts unleashed here this night
-- By the Shield of the Seraphim, let them be banished from your brain!
I call upon the Vapors of Valtorr to surround us! Let their hidden lightnings
serve my will!
Clea
By the Sacred Vishanti -- Let my Cloak of Levitation rise -- and pull that
trident from her grasp!
Let the Flames of the Faltine blaze forth -- to quell this unholy usurpation of
inanimate matter! Back to your former shapes, let that frightful spirit that is
within you -- begone!
39
MP 8 (G.F.) Conjure: a Spiral of Demon-Destroying Energy Now do I name
Raggadorr and Cyttorak as well! Let Ikonn & Watoomb join their ranks
and thus shall the growing spiral swell! 'Round and about me let it whip
gathering matter in its grip! Stab out, spiral, lash out force!
Demons of darkness, hear my plea: let the servants of Kaa-U fall before me!
Let the arcane Eye of Agamotto rise from my Amulet -- and focus all my
sorcerous strengths within myself!
40
MP 12 (S.E.) --- Conjure: Illusion of Normality
M.
=( SPELLS FROM (NEW SERIES) DOCTOR STRANGE )=
Agamotto O crystal --
where bound'ries decay --
I know the will to live --
grant me the way!
DS 4 (S.E.) --- Misc.: Spell Against Death Which Was "Not Permitted"
In the name of the Eternal Vishanti, through the hands of omnipotent Oshtur
-- Aaargh!{{sic}}
By the Shades of the Shadowy Demons -- let his mind collapse before mine!
U.
41
DS 9 (S.E.) Conjure: Crimson Bands of Cyttorak
Imprisoned in amphora
sleeps the dim and monstrous Zom --
he never shall escape again
his barricades are strong --
but not all prisons are so cold --
for them there is a key --
a goddess in her paradise,
great Oshtur must pluck free!
C.
Vapors of Valtorr --
swirl 'round thy brow!
may the Moon's Mists of Morpheus
envelop thee now!
Demons of darkness --
in the name of Satannish --
by the Flames of the Faltine --
let Clea's mind vanish!
M.
42
DS 13 (S.E.) Banish: Night-Gaunts
By the power of the Undead and the power of hte All-Life -- I abjure the spell
of Darkness from thy brow -- and now -- myself!
Vaapors of Valtorr --
swirl 'round thy brow!
May the Moon's Mists of Morpheus
envelop thee now!
[Note: this one doesn't work for magic is "a fickle ally"]
By enchantments Satannic,
by evil Tyrannic --
no spell shall they wield
to shatter Seraphim's shield!
44
DS 20 (M.W.) Conjure: Power
Illusions of Ikonn -- reveal the truth to your master! Unveil the lies I see
before me! Reveal what I've come here to find!
In the name of the Eternal Vishanti -- let the Winds of Watoomb cease!
I command the storms to cease -- Calmness to your seas! Calmness along the
pathways which lead to Allandra! The Empress of Phaseworld thus
commands!
'Lectra
ANN 1 (M.W.) Control: Power Over Others "An Enchantment that None
Can Resist."
C.
DS 22 (M.W.) Conjure: Hurricane
C.
C.
45
DS 22 (M.W.) Control: Teleport Others to an Assumed VBL
C.
46
DS 30 (R.S.) Banish: Despair Through Light
Dr.S. & C.
C.
DS 32 (R.S.) Space: Teleportation to Nightmare's World (no. #1).
Arise, you sulfurous mists! Heed the power of Fear! Carry me now to The
Realm Unreal -- carry me to -- The Dimension of Dreams!
D.i.D.
Dr.S. & C.
Back to 46
DS 33 (R.S.) Banish: Mirror Images (Whence Spell)
47
DS 33 (R.Mc.) Banish: Evil Entity
I call upon the Flames of the Faltine to dissolve this frigid prison as the Shield
of the Seraphim surrounds my love with its warming glow.
Cease your fury, O thundrous tempest. Your master bids you -- abate!
Let the unquenchable Flames of the Faltine consume you in their emerald
embrace.
Let the All-seeing Eye come forth -- and reverse the flow of time. As Agamotto
grants this request and bids you statue arise. Arise!
C.
C.
D.C. p. 2
DS 40 (C.C.) Conjure: Constraining Rings
Demons of darkness
in the name of Satannish
by the Flames of the Faltine --
let yon weapon now vanish!
Come ye, Vapors of Valtorr, ye billows of enchantment, and waft away these
combatants 'upon your wind of sorrow and silence!
HTD
[A note on these spells: In 1978, while indexing all the spells published to
date in the Strange Tales / Dr. Strange mythos, i believed that recent writers
had fallen far from the high quality of rhymed spells that had once
distinguished the series, especially under the scripting aegis of Stan Lee and
Roy Thomas. When i spoke to a couple of Marvel writers about this, they
told me that they felt rhymed spells were difficult to create. In response, i
wrote a selection of samples to demonstrate to them that rhymed spells in
various meters are easy and fun to concoct. Several of the demonstraion
spells i wrote contained references to facets of actual occultism or to fantasy,
horror, and science fiction stories outside the comic book series, which i
thought might be worthwhile for the scripters to read for inspiration. In
preparing this material for the web, i have appended pointers to some of
those references as notes.]
CY Conjure: Power
CY Banish: Darkness
CY Conjure: Light
CY Conjure: Winds
By the Shadow Out of Time
by the Colour Out of Space --
by Ningauble's Seven Eyes --
and by Sheelba's eyeless face --
by the whisperer in darkness --
and the awesome nameless race --
we shall ride upon the winds --
Watoomb, lift us from this place!
A Companion to
the Dr. Strange Comic Books
Page 2
you chauvinists) are so similar in other ways, it is natural
to assume that many our religious and philosophical
systems are analogous to each other. The data found in
comic books bears this out -- not only are Christians,
Jews, Hindus, Moslems and Buddhists encountered in the
Marvel world, but present-day people there recall ancient
Norse and Greek religions (whose gods and goddesses
bear an uncanny resemblance to the living extra-
dimensional Asgardian and Olympian peoples or "gods"
-- which in turn raises some interesting insoluable
questions as to what exactly constitutes "godhood" in the
Omniverse). Virtually every religious system on Earth-
Real has its counterpart on Earth-M, from Aztec to
Voodoo, and even recent pseudo-philosophies such as
Silva Mind Control and the Unification Church and the
Yucchies.
Page 3
while it is unlikely that this planet ever possessed a
sunken city called R'lyeh or a hidden Himalayan
kingdom called Kamar-Taj, these possibilities cannot be
conclusively disproven, given the current state of
archaeological knowledge. However, it is extremely
unlikely that the cult of Cthulhu or the Order of the
Vishanti were known on Earth-Real prior to the time
when the first stories about them were published, and the
fact that both of these magical religions now exist on our
world is more likely to be an example of cross-
dimensional drift than a recrudescense from our own dim
past. The Cthulhoid cult in particular has been found to
have spread to a number of worlds for, in addition to its
ancient existence on Earth-M and its recent (circa 1927)
appearance on Earth-Real, i have also run into references
to it in stories set on Earth-DC-I, Earth-REH, Earth-
Charlton, Earth-Warren and Earth-HPL, the latter
continuum beings its probable point of origin.
Page 4
inherent in any cosmological belief system cannot be
judged by counting the number of its adherents and thus,
since no metaphysical theories have ever been proven
unequivocally true or false, Vishantism is potentially as
valid as any other schema in the eye of the
philosophically-detached beholder, and further, if said
eye belongs to a poetically-inclined beholder, Vishantism,
its demoniac dozens of deities described by strange
strings of alliterative adjectives and its doggeral
enchantments breaking every known rule of versification,
can be seen to possess a quaint and powerful charm not
found in the stuffy orthodox canons with which an
ignorant populace contents itself.
The term "Vishantism" is of course unknown on Earth-
M. Even on Earth-Real it is merely a convenient
misnomer for a whole complex of myths, conjurations,
prayers and practises. The affirmation of belief in the
existence of a group of omnipotent beings known as the
Vishanti is but one facet of this pantheistic metaphysical
conglomerate and, while adherents of the system on
Earth-M refer to it as "The Mystic Arts" or "Our Occult
Order", it could as readily be called Hoggothism or The
Faltinian Faith by outsiders, for the Vishanti are not
considered supreme deities but are simply the most
consistently-benevolent and powerful of a whole host of
super-human entities and cosmic forces. A complete
catalogue of all the forces, powers and deities invoked
during typical Vishantist conjurations would fill almost
as many pages as a Catholic hagiography. For the
purposes of this short introduction to the subject, i
propose to present a brief annotated history of the sect,
its major articles of faith and some speculations as to the
nature of its gods & goddesses. Every deity or cosmic
force is followed by a reference to the comic book in
which it first appeared, and subsequent important
references are also noted when necessary. Abbreviations
are as follows:
ST - STRANGE TALES
DS - DR. STRANGE
MP - MARVEL PREMIERE
Page 5
DEF - DEFENDERS
Page 6
So much for the historical and mundane aspects of the
Vishantist Order -- for the most part it appears to be a
lose anarchic confederation of wizards, magicians,
sorcerers and enchanters, not a Church in the usual sense
of the word. What follows is a partial list of the deities
and places deemed sacred by members of the Vishantist
faith. Much of the data given here is speculative, but that
is a property common to all philosophies and religions
and should pose no problem to the prospective student of
the subject.
Page 7
Vishantism has its share of paradoxes and contradictions
-- no religion is immune from inconsistency -- and one of
its worst cases of illogic centers around the deity known
as the Omnipotent Oshtur (first for having "hurled a
lance" (ST162) and for having a "fearsome isage"
(ST170). In addition to Oshtur's fierceness, the "wisdom"
of the deity is also mentioned ([[ST]]177) as is "Oshtur's
mystic prayer" (ST168). Rather than being a prayer to
Oshtur, this invocatin is more likely one of the many
ascribed to the hand of the deity and collected in The
Book of Oshtur (ST145). The confusion surrounding
Oshtur is a question of gender -- in one passage
("Omnipotent Oshtur, Lord of the Skies" -- ST167) it is
indubitably male, but in several other references Oshtur
is unquestionably addressed as "Goddess" (DEF55).
Since "Oshtur" is obviously a cognate of Ishtar, Oestara
and Astarte, various names applied to the Middle Eastern
and European fertility goddess, it is my contention that
the title "Lord of the Skies" was a translator's error and
should read "Lady of the Skies". Oshtur may well be the
green starry-eyed Vishanta seen in MP5, green
representing her fertility and the star-eyes linking her to
the skies by reference to the symbolically "green" planet
Venus, which was similarly consecrated to Ishtar on
Earth-Real.
Page 8
in addition to their several other functions, both can be
used for scrying. (See figure 2.) Within the Orb of
Agamotto there is a subjective and "unreal" dimension
(DS1-5) and it is here that Dr. Strange meets Death and
dies. When he is born again, an ankh, the symbol of Life,
blazes on his forehead -- in the same position that the
Amulet-Eye is placed when in use. I believe this points to
the conclusion that Agamotto is one of the Vishanti
("Preservers of Life") -- the flame-eyed leonine Vishanta
with an ankh on his forehead!
Page 12
swears oaths in Umar's name (DS15).
Page 13
Simply knowing the names and attributes of a pantheon
of goddesses and gods tells the reader very little about the
religious practises devoted to them. Basically, Vishantist
magicians do not worship, they conjure. Although
countless magically-oriented cultures, from the Assyrians
on down to the Assinboine, have independently originated
similar methods, only Vishantism and European
Ceremonial Magic have developed such rigidly exact
formulas for the production of supernatural egvents. The
best Vishantist conjurations are spoken in rhyme. A
classic and oft-used spell of banishment may run as
follows:
DEMONS OF DARKNESS
IN THE NAME OF SATANNISH
BY THE FLAMES OF THE FALTINE
LET [---] NOW VANISH!
[SP.ANN2 -- STAN LEE]
Page 14
are bound is rendered virtually ineffective (ST143). By
far the most ubiquitous gesture is one known in Sanskrit
as the Karana Mudra (see figure 3). There is hardly an
issue of STRANGE TALES or DR. STRANGE which
doesn't depict some Vishantist making what Steve Ditko
once called "The Sign" [in BLUE BEETLE comics, of all
places!]. The Sign seems to have the same degree of
importance to Vishantists that crossing oneself does to
members of the Catholic cult, although the former is
magically-aggressive, while the latter is religiously-
protective.
Page 15
turn away. To even ask would be to reveal oneself as a
cowan, an outsider. Actually, to the subjectivist-magician,
the question, as phrased, is utterly meaningless. It
matters not at all whether the deities were or were not at
one time "made up" because they are now in
Dormammu's words, "a shared belief" and, as such, they
have become the goddesses and gods of a cult as ancient
and as "real" as its collective adherents believe it to be.
Furthermore, the zen-Vishantist might chuckle -- you too
are only the composite of your own self-conceptions and
what others think you are: what we believe is what we
get, and a "magician" is simply one whose powers of
belief are adamantine and unswerveable in the face of
danger.
All-Life --- (The Power of the __) DS 14, DS 16. [Note: this may
be Eternity.]
All-Mind --- (The Omniscience of the __) DS 11.
B
Balthakk --- (__'s Bolts) DS 32.
Belial --- (The Twin Horns of __) ST 164. See also Satan.
Bromagdon --- (__'s Ruby Rain) DS 19.
C
Chaos --- DS 28. See also Order.
Cinnibus --- (The Seven Suns of __) DS 34.
Cone --- (Conjurer's __) ST 127.
Creators --- The Creators are a group of evil sorcerers from all times
who
banded together to control several dimensions by becoming sentient
stars.
(The Almighty __) DS 26 (demonic hag).
Crystal --- (The Living __) DS 27. [Note: this is not to be confused
with the
Crystal (Orb) of Agamotto, which is a Power Object]
D
Danak --- See Denak.
Daranthon --- (__'s Lost Lore) DS 30.
Dark --- (The __) DS 177 (S.ofS.), MP 13.
ST 115 Darkness ---
[Note: there is also a place called the Dimension of Demons (ST 141) which
has never been seen. It may be identical with the Dimension of Denak.]
ST 149 Denak --- First mentioned in ST 149, where it was spelled Danak, this
presumed dimension is known only for the fact that it is the home of
Demons.
These Demons can be conjured up, appearing in the form of grotesque
and
colourful flying entities. All entries for Denak are listed under
Demons, since
the word has never appeared in any other connection.
Dormammu --- A flame-headed entity, sometimes called a
ST 115
"demi-god", who
E
Elder Ones --- (__ of the Universe) MP 7. See also Gods, eldritch. For
a further
discussion of these entities, the reader is advised to consult the works
of Lovecraft,
Derleth, Von Juntz, et al.
Elementals --- (Low Level __) DS 26.
Eternal ---
(The __) ST 156 [Note: this is probably the Vishanti.]
(Eye of the __) ST 160 [Note: if Agamotto is indeed one of the
"Eternal" Vishanti, this may be another way of saying "The
Eye of Agamotto."]
the Ancient One, is never invoked under his own name, but is always
referred to
as Adam Qadmon, the All-Being, {{and?}} the Universe when called
upon in
mystic rituals. The Ancient One, upon his death in MP 10, became
"one with
the Universe", that is, one with Eternity. DS 13, 15, 26 (A.O.)
Evil --- ST 158
(__ Eternal) ST 154 (U.)
(__ Tyrannic) DS 20
Eye --- (Mystic __) ST 137. See also Eternal, Eye of the , and
Agamotto, All Seeing Eye of.
F
Faltine --- First mentioned in ST 142, The Faltine seem to be a group
of
"conceptual entities" or gods. They dwell in a "bitter blazing land"
(DS 181) and are
parents of Dormammu and the half-human Umar (DS 9). They are
often referred
to as "flawless" by both those who worship them and by the enemies
of their
worshippers. DS 181.
(Faltinian Flames) DS 31 (Alaric)
(The Flames of the __) ST 145, 151, (U.), 155 (U.), 158, 160, 161,
163, 164{{?}}, 165, 166, DS 169, 172, 176, 177, 178, SP ANN 2 (=
DS 179), SUB 22, MP 4, 5, 8, DS 8, 12, (M.), 19, 23, 27, GR 30,
DS 33, 34
(The Flames of the Flawless __) ST 142, 165 (Demon)
G
God --- DS 17 (J. Mandarin), 22 (innocent bystander), DS 29.
See also Gods, JHVH and Lord.
Gods ---
(Eldritch __) DS 2, 26 See also Elder Ones.
([All] the __) MP 13 (M.), DS 1, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
Good ---
(The Forces of __) ST 117
(The powers of __) MP 8
H
Hannah --- A Jewish prophetess.
(Holy __) ST 129 (T.V. Man).
from the fact that he "aids not the wicked" (ST 125) and commands a
host of
"hoary" followers. The word "hoary" may either refer to the fact that
the HOSTS
are aged, or to their greyish white or ice-like hue. When the "Hoary
Hand of
Hoggoth" was conjured up in ST 123, it was seen to be grey,
humanoid, and of
monstrous proportions. Hoggoth may be one of the Vishanti. ST 131,
DS 28, 33,
34, 35. See also Hosts.
(__'s Grim Clan) DS 180
(__'s Hoary Legions) DS 170
Hosts --- (The __) GR 29 (D. disguised as Dr.S.), 30. These Hosts are
more than
likely the Hosts of Hoggoth, and knowing that "Hoggoth aids not the
wicked",
Dormammu attempted to invoke them while disguised as Dr. Strange,
carefully
not mentioning Hoggoth's name.
I
Ikonn --- Virtually nothing is known about the being called
ST 145
Ikonn., aside from the
(Images of __)
J
JHVH --- Jehovah Tetragrammaton is the principle Judeo-Christian
deity.
See also God, Gods, and Lord, etc.
(__! O Great Unmanifest) DS 14 {{16?}}
K
King --- (The __) DS 16.
Krakkan --- (The Chains of __) MP 7 (Blondine).
L
Light --- There are many forms of Light invoked by practitioners of
the Mystic
Arts. See also Agamotto, whose "Eye" is, among other things, a source
of Light,
and Nirvalon, who is called upon for Light.
(Mystic __) DS 35 (Dweller) [Note: this is probably identical
with the Mystic Light of Nirvalon.]
(Untainted __) DS 24 (Apalla)
Lord ---
(Good __) DS 5 (S. Dagger)
(The __) DS 15 (innocent bystander)
M
Madness ---
(The Mystic Maze of __) ST 157, MP 3, DS 16, 22, 24. See also
Munnopar, the Mystic Maze of as these may be identical.
Morpheus --- The Greek God of Dreams, son of Hypnos, God of Sleep.
(The Mists of __) DS 1
(The Moon's Mists of __) DS 10, 15
N
Nameless --- The Nameless are said to dwell in The Vapors of Valtorr.
They
may be identical with the Nameless Race. They are not to be confused
with
The Nameless One, leader of the other-dimensional Undying Ones See
also,
The Awesome Nameless Race and Valtorr. ST 155.
Night and Day ---
(Demons of __) ST 142 (Demon). See Demons.
Nihility ---
(Ribbons of __) DS 176 (S.ofS.)
Nirvalon --- DS 30
(Mystic Light of __) DS 35. See also Light, Mystic.
O
Order --- DS 28. See also Chaos.
Q
Qadmon, Adam --- See Eternity.
Queen --- (The __) DS 16.
R
Race --- (The Awesome Nameless __) ST 158. [Note: this may be the
same as
The Nameless who dwell in The Vapors of Valtorr. Not to be confused
with the other-dimensional enity known as The Nameless One.]
Raggador --- See Raggadorr.
S
Sacred and True --- (All That Is __) DS 22.
Sands ---
(__ That Time Has Shifted). See Time.
(Ikonn's Shifting __). See Ikonn.
Son --- (The __) DS 16. See also Satannish, Sinister Sons of
Spirits --- (Good __ in the Astral Plane) MP 7 (C.)
Stone --- (The Power in the __) MP 5 (C.)
T
Tetragrammaton --- See JHVH.
Tiboro --- Ruler of the Sixth Dimension (code no. number 10), first
seen
in ST 129 and DS 178. DS 31.
Time ---
(The Sands That __ Has Shifted) SUB 22. [Note: may be Ikonn's
Sands, which see.]
(The Tendrils of __) DS 174.
U
Umar --- First seen in ST 151, Umar is the half-sister of Dormammu,
and like
him, lives in The Dark Dimension. She is half human and half Faltine,
and is
sometimes referred to as a "Goddess." Her unacknowledged daughter
by Orini is
Clea, disciple and lover of Dr. Strange. Although she is known as
"The Unre-
lenting", she has occasionally been invoked by those who have most
reason to
distrust her.
(__'s Cursed Pawn) GR 30
(__'s Name) DS 15 (C.)
V
ST 115Valtorr --- This place, first mentioned in ST 115, was said, in ST
155, to be the
home of The Nameless (who are perhaps the same as The Awesome
Nameless
Race). ST 155 refers to "The Valtorr", but this is not a title -- rather it
is used in
the same sense as we do when speaking of "The Matterhorn" or "The
Sahara".
Valtorr is a region of mists, inhabited by reptiles (who may in fact be
Nameless).
(__'s Dread Clime) DS 180
(Vapors of __) ST 115, 125 (M.), 126, 127 [Note: as a metaphor
for death], 131 (M.), 138, 141, 143 (M.'s helper), 155, 160, 164,
DS 169, 173, H 126, MP 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, DS 10, 15, 25, HTD Treas.
(HTD), DS 33
(Vipers of __) ST 144, 150, 151, 152, DS 178, SP ANN 2 (= DS
179), 181, MP 9 10, DS 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 27, 28, 29 34, 35
Vipers --- (The __) ST 129 (Tiboro) See also Valtorr, the Vipers of.
W
Watoomb --- First mentioned in ST 147, Watoomb lives in The
ST 147
Dimension
(The Winds of [Wild] __) DS 173, 180, 181, 182, SUB 22, H 126,
MP 9, DS 20, 29, GR 31.
SEARCH THIS SITE: a local search engine and a named link to each Lucky Mojo page
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The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: manufacturers of spiritual supplies for hoodoo and conjure
catherine yronwode, the eclectic and eccentric author of all the above web pages
tyagi nagasiva: tyaginator, nigris (333), hara/mulla, nocTifer, lorax666, boboroshi,!
The Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive: captured internet files on occult and spiritual topics
A Companion to
the Dr. Strange Comic Books
Objective Dimensions
Subjective Dimensions
Footnotes
DIMENSIONAL THEORY:
AN OMNIVERSAL "HERESY"
A Prologue and a Possible Explanation
Published in Discrete Little Items for APA-I, 1983
Soon after the book was published (in a very small edition), Mark was hired
as an assistant editor at Marvel. Roy Thomas had been impressed with
Mark's theory, and he wanted to work with Mark in an effort to tie upo
some longstanding loose ends in Marvel continuity, using the TORICL
approach to comic book reality. Within months Mark's Omniversal concepts
became accepted at Marvel, and a new title, What If...? was used as a primer
in Omniversal theory, relying heavily on Mark's ideas about alternate
realities. Eventually the Omniversal theory became official Marvel dogma,
and that situation still holds true.
However, during the early days of the Omniversal theory, before it had
hardened into "fact" for many Marvel professionals, Mark Guenwald
invited comments, suggestions and even criticism of his ideas from fellow
fans. To my knowledge he never accepted any of these suggesteions, but he
did make the offer to print them in his fanzine, Omniverse. That zine was
published by Mark and his then room-mate, Dean Mullaney. Two issues
appeared before their partnership was dissolved, and a third one (containing
material written up to five years ago) is said to be in the works at present
{{1983}}.
The trouble was that i did not agree with Mark's theory, and i took several
paragraphs out to explain why i thought he was wrong in assigning the
typical "Ditko" dimension visited by Dr. Strange to a subsidiary category he
called "fractional," instead of granting it status as a "whole number" with
my "heresy," and the article, originally scheduled for issue no. 2 of
Omniverse, was bumped to issue no. 3, pending what i was told would be
"massive rewrites" by party-line Ommies. Many years passed and issue
no.3, once considered a pipe-dream, now seems to be on the road to reality,
but it turns out that my article was bumped again, because it does not
upbold the "official explanation of "magical" dimensions as currently
propounded by Gruenwald and his cohorts.
Anyway, since it is apparent that the article will never see print in Mark's
zine without a total rewrite, i have decided to put it through APA-I as the
preface to my original catalogue of dimensions visited by Dr. Strange. I
realize that some of the terminology ("VBL," "fractional dimension," etc.)
will be hard to understnad if one hasn't ever read TORICL, but the gist of
the work is still clear, i hope, being merely an attempt to categorize the
dimensions Strange has visited in strictly philosophical (or metaphysical)
terminology, i.e. "subjective," "objective," etc.
Next time i'll get to the actual catalogue of dimensions, and that will be easy
enough for even non-Ommies to follow because the only referents to this
present article which occur in the catalogue are those which "type" the
dimension ("Subjective -- Unstable -- Real") according to the terms set forth
herein.
1
THE WONDROUS WORLDS OF DR. STRANGE
By Cat {{sign}} Yronwode
An unpublished article for Omniverse, 1978
But first, as they say, let us define our terms. And while
we're at it, it will be necessary to re-define some of them
too.
2
"reintegration", or to phrase it another way, to give any
credence to any of the data presented in ST, MP and DS
comics, requires a revision of this area of the Omniversal
theory. I certainly mean no disrespect to Gruenwald, but
there's 15 years' worth of data in these comics that
contradicts the idea that "magical", "alien", or
"mythological" are useful adjectives in defining a
dimension! What follows here is my attempt at clarifying
the situation -- and i welcome any responses from
readers.
3
of the several Earths, the inhabitants of these so-called
"mythic realms" are simply living out their own day-to-
day existences. If some blundering human being witnesses
their rather awesome soap-opera and upon returning
home makes a "religion" out of what she saw, that no
more defines the beings in question as "gods" than does
the fact that because some misguided South Pacific
islanders worship cargo planes, airline pilots are "gods."
OBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS
Planetary
Unstable
and
"Artificial".
5
lighter or virtually nonexistent. Grotesque land-forms
and strangely-shaped objects about, many of them
reminiscent of things on Earth, but seen out of their
normal contexts. Some of these multiverses contain so-
called "worlds within worlds"" and may in fact be made
up of not just one continuum but several interlocked
realities which drift down the time-line together,
remaining in permanent conjunction. The landscapes of
Unstable worlds are sometimes called "surreal" but i
prefer not to use this term, as it casts doubt upon their
"reality." Therefore i have named the more bizarre and
colourful regions of the unstable realms "Ditko Areas,"
after Steve Ditko, the first person from Earth-real to
discover them. If anyone is in doubt as to what exactly
constitutes a Ditko Area, the all-time definitive version
can be found in Spiderman Annual #2, reprinted as Dr.
Strange #179. (Thank you Steve, you have increased our
knowledge of Reality immensely.) Incidentally, although
many if not all Unstable universes contain Ditko Areas,
this does not constitute a definition of these dimensions
per se. One type of VBL (Interdimensional Corridors
AKA Nether-zones) i also Ditkoid in appearance.
6
nuances of subjectivity3, so the fact that these Artificial
worlds are never explicitly stated to be Subjective leaves
but one other logical explanation: the "creators of
Artificial dimensions are liars. They find some
uninhabited Objective-Unstable multiverse that suits
them, dress it up with a few personal trinkets, such as
Lord Nekron did with his Clock Dimension (no. 22 in the
catalogue), and then they brag that they are "Creators."
Dr. Strange may be slightly gullible to believe these
grandiose claims to demigodhood on the parts of his foes,
but actually, that is a more tenable hypothesis than one
which would leave the Master of the Mystic Arts, trained
by a Thibetan Sorcerer Supreme, unable to distinguish an
Objective from a Subjective reality.
SUBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS
7
Ancient One, a native of the nearby lost civilization of
Kamar-Taj.4 Undoubtedly his mentor taught him to
accept the fact that what we in the West call "subjective
states" (such as imagination, dreams, and drug-induced
hallucinations) are actually real -- somewhere. A journey
to these Subjective realms is not to be confused with
sitting around and tripping, although an uneducated non-
participant observer may fail to grasp the distinction.
Subjective worlds are not just "fantasy" -- events
experienced there are true. Merely imagining that
someone walks up and stabs you will not cause your death
on Earth-real, but if you were to travel via Transhypnotic
Jewel to the Dimension of Imagination (DIM30 in the
catalogue), and were stabbed to death while there, you
would be dead on both your own Objective world and
that Subjective one you were visiting. The reality of
subjective states and their subtle causal link to the
objective state we call "normal waking life" explains the
mechanisms behind voodoo and hexes, as well as forming
the bais for virtually all of the religious and superstitious
dogma of Earth-real. One can enjoy Dr. Strange Comics
without an appreciation of these matters, but i would like
to recommend Alexandra David-Neel's Magic and
Mystery in Thibet. Julian Huxley's The Invisibles:
Voodoo Gods of Haiti and Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan
series to those who want to explore the Subjective realms
more thoroughly.
8
living beings. However, in the hopes that Mr. Englehart
can explain in semanticaly precise terms what he means
by "Unreal," i have given the Orb a tentative position in
the category Subjective-Unreal -- that is, a state which is
dependent upon consciousness but does not exist.
Philosophy is a slippery matter, and as Sir Francis Bacon
once said, "He who knows least is fittest to ask
questions."5
9
in TORICL, a Limbo is a timeless state, consisting of but
one Atomic Instant, although one may subjectively
experience the passage of time there. In the pages of DS
Comics, the word is used to indicate any Vibrational
Barrier Land wherein one might be "trapped," either by
accident or the malintent of a foe. Lattice-Work ("nether
dimension") VBLs are called "Limbo," as are Ditko Area
Interdimensional Ciorridor ("nether-zone") VBLs. Aside
from the fact that the nomenclature is confusing, Dr.
Strange seems to be fully aware that one doesn't age in
Limbo and that it consists of but one Atomic Instant.6
For the sake of clarity, the words Limbo and Nether are
always accompanied by a more precise synonym in the
catalogue. It is unfortunate that the authors of DS Comics
seem to possess such a limited stock of such adjectives, for
by constant repetition they have renedered the names of
many of hte dimenmsions useless. In addition to all the
varied Limbos and Nethers, there are three entirely
different multiverses named respecitvely, the Dimension
of Dreams, Nightmare's Dream Dimension, and
Nightmare's World! It is for this reaosn that i have
resorted to giving every dimension a number and an
alternate name when the title given in the comic book has
already been used before or is so vague as to be
meaningless.7
10
AN OUTLINE OF DIMENSIONAL TYPES
"No. #" refers to the following Dimensional Catalogue
(DIM##).
Human Inhabitants: 48
Alien Inhabitants: 4, 5, 6, 28, 41
Uninhabited: 15, 26
Inhabited: 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 27, 31, 37, 49, 53
Uninhabited: 22, 33, 34
"Artificial" (Originally Uninhabited): 32, 46, 51
11
FOOTNOTES
12
INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVEL:
WALKING BETWEEN THE WORLDS
The word "Dimension" is used very loosely in the pages
of ST, MP, and DS Comics, as well as in other titles where
the Mystic Master appears. For the purposes of this
catalogue Fractional Dimensions also known as
Vibrational Barrier Lands, Interdimensional Spaces, etc.)
will accord with Mark Gruenwald's theoretical
"Fractional Dimensions" as defined in TORICL. All
other Dimensions, whether Objective or Subjective will
be classified as actual whole-number Dimensions -- a
practice which goes against Gruenwald's Theory.
13
A CATALOGUE OF DIMENSIONS
DIM01
Name: The Dimension of Dreams
a.k.a. The World of Nightmare, Nightmare's Dimension,
Nightmare's Dream World, The Realm Unreal
14
DIM02
Name: "Another Plane, a Mystic
Dimension"
Ref: ST112
Ref: ST117
DIM04
Name: "An [Alien] Dimension Not Far
From Our Own"
[The Greenie's Dimension]
Ref: ST118
15
DIM05
Name: The (Dread) Purple Dimension
Ref: ST119, ST123
DIM06
Name: "Another Space-Time Continuum"
a.k.a. The Shadow World [of Haunted Houses]
Ref: ST120
DIM07
Name: "A Shadowy Dimension"
[NOTE: Hoggoth's Dimension; not to be confused
with DIM06, "The Shadow World" or with DIM33,
"The Shadow-Land")
Ref: ST123
16
DIM08
Name: The Mystic Realm
Ref: ST120
DIM09
Name: Dormammu's Dimension
a.k.a. The Realm of Darkness, The Dark Domain,
The Dismal Domain, The Dark Dimension,
The Domain of Dormammu, "The Dimension of Death",
etc.
17
somewhere, flapping their demonic wings -- unless Dr.S.
killed them all in ST154.
18
DIM10
Name: The Sixth Dimension
a.k.a. The Realm of Tiboro
19
DIM12
Name: "A Nameless Land, A Timeless
Time"
[Shazana's Realm]
Ref: ST133
20
DIM13
Name: The Hidden Land
[The Mask-Demon's Dimension]
Ref: ST135
DIM14
Name: Eternity's Realm
a.k.a. The World of Eternity, Eternity's Plane of
Existence
21
the Judeo-Christian deity), although he was capable of
recreating the Earth after N. caused him to destroy the
original model as a result of a bad dream. It was stated at
that time (DS13) that E.'s dreams are as reality to the
inhabitants of Earth -- (Earth-M anyway...) and since
that time E. has become known as "Adam Qadmon, the
All-Being, the Universe." Be that as it may, he was at one
time the friend of Dr.S.'s mentor, the A.O., and in fact
gave the Thibetan master an amulet called "the Eye of
Agamotto" which was later passed down to Dr.S. After
the A.O. became "one with the universe" (MP10) he was
still able to manifest himself as apart from E., something
that would be difficult to do if E. is the universe. E.'s
other skills consist of telepathy and the ability to cause
world-wide memory-changes, as he did when he created
the short-lived "Stephen Sanders" identity for Dr.S. in
DS182.
24
DIM16
Name: The Dimension of Demons
Ref: ST141
DIM17
Name: "A Dimensional Corridor"
Ref: ST144
DIM18
Name: "An Unfamiliar Universe"
[The Stop-Over]
Ref: ST144
Ref: ST144
DIM20
Name: "The Nether Dimension"
a.k.a. "Limbo"
26
DIM21
Name: The Dimension of Raggadorr
Ref: ST148
27
DIM22
Name: "Limbo"
DIM23
Name: "The Fearsome Void Which Exists
Between Dimensions"
a.k.a. Everlasting Nothingness
Ref: ST151, ST155, ST162
DIM24
Name: The Forbidden Dimensions
Ref: ST155
28
DIM25
Name: "A Dreaded Interdimensional
Road of Repetition"
and "The Realm of Nothingness"
Ref: ST155
29
DIM26
Name: "A World Beyond Worlds"
[Zom's Prison]
Ref: ST156
DIM27
Name: The World of the Million Perils
a.k.a. The Planets Perilous [World of Nebulos]
Ref: ST161-163
30
DIM28
Name: "The Nightmare World"
[Yandroth's World]
[NOTE: not to be confused with "Nightmare's World"
(DIM01).]
Ref: ST164-6
DIM29
Name: "Space-Warp", "Nether Zone"
Ref: ST167
31
DIM30
Name: "The Dimension of Dreams"
[Dimension of Imagination]
[NOTE: not to be confused with N.'s Dream Dimension
(DIM01)
Ref: ST167
32
detritus and surrealistic sculpture. All the inhabitants
(one dinosaur and a small horde of viking warriors) are
said to be "illusions" but the vikings, at least, believe
themselves to be real (which they are, subjectively
speaking). Y. falls into an abyss and Dr.S. rescues V.B.
They are both then retrieved by the mental command of
the A.O. I would like to note that if this dimension does in
fact contain "all of mankind's [and womankind's]
fantasies, memories and wishes", only a minute fragment
of it was viewed in this story!
DIM31
Name: "The Realm Unknown"
[The Realm of Vanishment]
Ref: DS170
33
DIM32
Name: "Yet Another Bleak Dimension"
[The Clock Dimension]
Ref: ST174
DIM33
Name: A Hostile Dimension
a.k.a. The Land of Shadows
[NOTE: not to be confused with DIM06, The Shadow
World or DIM07, A Shadowy Dimension)
[The Cult and the Curse Dimension]
Ref: DS177, DS36
Comments: Dr.S. and C. are banished here by the SoS., who use a spell from
the Book of the Vishanti to transport them through a "wondrous whirlpool"
to this place of exile. It is uninhabited save for green "floating protoplasmic
shapes" and grey "living foliage", both of which are apparently carnivorous.
In DS36, this dimension is referred to as "some fathomless netherworld."
34
DIM34
Name: "A Place Which Could Serve as a
Stage Setting For Alice In Wonderland"
[The Wondrous World]
Ref: DS1-2
35
DIM36
Name: "SomeTimeless Unknown Other
[Dimension]"
[The Realm of the Undying Ones]
DIM37
Name: "An Adjacent Dimension [to DIM36"]
[Nightcrawler's Dimension]
Ref: H126
36
DIM38
Name: An "Other World"
[Dagoth's Exile]
Ref: MP7
DIM39
Name: "Intradimensional Spaces"
Ref: MP8
DIM40
Name: "Cold Voids of the Outer Universe"
Ref: MP8
37
DIM41
Name: Kathulos
Ref: MP8
DIM42
Name: "A Dimension Diametrically-Opposed
To Our Own"
[Shuma Gorath's World]
Ref: MP10
38
DIM43
Name: The Orb of Agamotto
Ref: DS1-5, DS14, TOD44
39
DIM44
Name: "Nether-Planes"
Ref: DS15
Type: VBL -- Nether-Zone [may contain "Ditko Areas", but not
shown]
DIM45
Name: Hell
Ref: DS15-16
40
DIM46
Name: The Quadriverse
Ref: DS19, DS23
41
DIM47
Name: "Another Dimensional Plane"
"A World Between Existence, Teetering on Realities --
"A World Sandwiched Between All Other Worlds" [Cloud-
Land]
Ref: DS20
DIM48
Name: The Temple of Man
Ref: DSANN1
42
DIM49
Name: Phaseworld
Ref: DSANN1
DIM50
Name: "Cold Space"
Ref: DS22
43
DIM51
Name: Creation II
Ref: DS24-5
DIM52
Name: An "Outer Dimension"
Ref: DS26-7
44
DIM53
Name: The Inbetweener's Dimension
Ref: DS27-8
DIM54
Name: "Darkness"
[NOTE: not to be confused with D.'s Dark Domain,
DIM09]
46
DIM55
Name: Unnamed Dimensions -- A Series
["Beneath the Sanctum's Floor"]
Ref: DS31
DIM56
Name: The Halls of Fear
Ref: DS32, DS35
47
DIM57
Name: The Endless Dimensions of the Vishanti
Ref: DS33
DIM58
Name: The Endless Void
Ref: DS34
DIM59
Name: [Ludi's Dimension]
Ref: DS35-6
48 - 59 (blank)
60
TIME DISTORTION AND TIME TRAVEL
Aside from the hyperbolic (and incorrect) use of the word
"time" in such phrases as "a nameless place, a timeless
time" and "a time which has spatial existence", Dr.S. has
had a few actual dealings with both time distortion and
time travel (to the past only). These are given here
chronologically, with some possible explanations of events
in an Omniversal framework. [ST133, DS170]
61
D. gives M. an (unrecorded) spell for placing the A.O. in a
"mystic time trap". This trap either places one in a
timeless "limbo" VBL or causes one to remain stationary
on the time track. It renders the victim invisible. [ST138
-- SL]
62
one time-line there will still be the divergent reality
(Dr.S.'s home-reality) wherein Franklin lived. C.,
admonishing her teacher to "watch the bright side" of
things, may be wiser than her master, fo she implies that
one can choose by magic to let one's subjective sense-of-
self follow the reality-line most satisfactory to one's
wishes. [DS18 -- SE]
SEARCH THIS SITE: a local search engine and a named link to each Lucky Mojo page
Lucky Mojo Site Map: a descriptive entry-level index to the whole Lucky Mojo pile
Lucky W Amulet Archive Home Page: an online museum of folk-magic charms
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice: an online book about African-American folk-magic
Sacred Sex Home Page: essays on tantra yoga, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
The Sacred Landscape Home Page: essays on archaeoastronomy and sacred geometry
Freemasonry for Women Home Page: a history of mixed gender freemasonic lodges
The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: manufacturers of spiritual supplies for hoodoo and conjure
catherine yronwode, the eclectic and eccentric author of all the above web pages
nagasiva yronwode: tyaginator, nigris (333), hara/mulla, nocTifer, lorax666, boboroshi,!
The Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive: captured internet files on occult and spiritual topics
A Companion to
the Dr. Strange Comic Books
Objective Dimensions
Subjective Dimensions
DIMENSIONAL THEORY:
AN OMNIVERSAL "HERESY"
A Prologue and a Possible Explanation
Published in Discrete Little Items for APA-I, 1983
Soon after the book was published (in a very small edition), Mark was hired
as an assistant editor at Marvel. Roy Thomas had been impressed with
Mark's theory, and he wanted to work with Mark in an effort to tie upo
some longstanding loose ends in Marvel continuity, using the TORICL
approach to comic book reality. Within months Mark's Omniversal concepts
became accepted at Marvel, and a new title, What If...? was used as a primer
in Omniversal theory, relying heavily on Mark's ideas about alternate
realities. Eventually the Omniversal theory became official Marvel dogma,
and that situation still holds true.
However, during the early days of the Omniversal theory, before it had
hardened into "fact" for many Marvel professionals, Mark Guenwald
invited comments, suggestions and even criticism of his ideas from fellow
fans. To my knowledge he never accepted any of these suggesteions, but he
did make the offer to print them in his fanzine, Omniverse. That zine was
published by Mark and his then room-mate, Dean Mullaney. Two issues
appeared before their partnership was dissolved, and a third one (containing
material written up to five years ago) is said to be in the works at present
{{1983}}.
The trouble was that i did not agree with Mark's theory, and i took several
paragraphs out to explain why i thought he was wrong in assigning the
typical "Ditko" dimension visited by Dr. Strange to a subsidiary category he
called "fractional," instead of granting it status as a "whole number" with
my "heresy," and the article, originally scheduled for issue no. 2 of
Omniverse, was bumped to issue no. 3, pending what i was told would be
"massive rewrites" by party-line Ommies. Many years passed and issue
no.3, once considered a pipe-dream, now seems to be on the road to reality,
but it turns out that my article was bumped again, because it does not
upbold the "official explanation of "magical" dimensions as currently
propounded by Gruenwald and his cohorts.
Anyway, since it is apparent that the article will never see print in Mark's
zine without a total rewrite, i have decided to put it through APA-I as the
preface to my original catalogue of dimensions visited by Dr. Strange. I
realize that some of the terminology ("VBL," "fractional dimension," etc.)
will be hard to understnad if one hasn't ever read TORICL, but the gist of
the work is still clear, i hope, being merely an attempt to categorize the
dimensions Strange has visited in strictly philosophical (or metaphysical)
terminology, i.e. "subjective," "objective," etc.
Next time i'll get to the actual catalogue of dimensions, and that will be easy
enough for even non-Ommies to follow because the only referents to this
present article which occur in the catalogue are those which "type" the
dimension ("Subjective -- Unstable -- Real") according to the terms set forth
herein.
1
THE WONDROUS WORLDS OF DR. STRANGE
By Cat {{sign}} Yronwode
An unpublished article for Omniverse, 1978
But first, as they say, let us define our terms. And while
we're at it, it will be necessary to re-define some of them
too.
A PROPOSED REVISION OF THE THEORY OF
FRACTIONAL DIMENSIONS
2
"reintegration", or to phrase it another way, to give any
credence to any of the data presented in ST, MP and DS
comics, requires a revision of this area of the Omniversal
theory. I certainly mean no disrespect to Gruenwald, but
there's 15 years' worth of data in these comics that
contradicts the idea that "magical", "alien", or
"mythological" are useful adjectives in defining a
dimension! What follows here is my attempt at clarifying
the situation -- and i welcome any responses from
readers.
3
of the several Earths, the inhabitants of these so-called
"mythic realms" are simply living out their own day-to-
day existences. If some blundering human being witnesses
their rather awesome soap-opera and upon returning
home makes a "religion" out of what she saw, that no
more defines the beings in question as "gods" than does
the fact that because some misguided South Pacific
islanders worship cargo planes, airline pilots are "gods."
4
Earths Real, M, Prime, 1, 2, S, and so forth cannot have
diverged before the origin of the human species and since
we know that the omniverse is at least 4.5 billion years old
(because Earth Real is that old) it is obvious that there
has been enough time for some really radially divergent
universes to develop within one prime system. I'm not
trying to propose that all the diverse dimensions Dr.
Strange has visited were once united, but given the idea of
divergences and a time-span like that, it's not illogical nor
impossible.
OBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS
Planetary
Unstable
and
"Artificial".
5
lighter or virtually nonexistent. Grotesque land-forms
and strangely-shaped objects about, many of them
reminiscent of things on Earth, but seen out of their
normal contexts. Some of these multiverses contain so-
called "worlds within worlds"" and may in fact be made
up of not just one continuum but several interlocked
realities which drift down the time-line together,
remaining in permanent conjunction. The landscapes of
Unstable worlds are sometimes called "surreal" but i
prefer not to use this term, as it casts doubt upon their
"reality." Therefore i have named the more bizarre and
colourful regions of the unstable realms "Ditko Areas,"
after Steve Ditko, the first person from Earth-real to
discover them. If anyone is in doubt as to what exactly
constitutes a Ditko Area, the all-time definitive version
can be found in Spiderman Annual #2, reprinted as Dr.
Strange #179. (Thank you Steve, you have increased our
knowledge of Reality immensely.) Incidentally, although
many if not all Unstable universes contain Ditko Areas,
this does not constitute a definition of these dimensions
per se. One type of VBL (Interdimensional Corridors
AKA Nether-zones) i also Ditkoid in appearance.
6
nuances of subjectivity3, so the fact that these Artificial
worlds are never explicitly stated to be Subjective leaves
but one other logical explanation: the "creators of
Artificial dimensions are liars. They find some
uninhabited Objective-Unstable multiverse that suits
them, dress it up with a few personal trinkets, such as
Lord Nekron did with his Clock Dimension (no. 22 in the
catalogue), and then they brag that they are "Creators."
Dr. Strange may be slightly gullible to believe these
grandiose claims to demigodhood on the parts of his foes,
but actually, that is a more tenable hypothesis than one
which would leave the Master of the Mystic Arts, trained
by a Thibetan Sorcerer Supreme, unable to distinguish an
Objective from a Subjective reality.
SUBJECTIVE DIMENSIONS
7
Ancient One, a native of the nearby lost civilization of
Kamar-Taj.4 Undoubtedly his mentor taught him to
accept the fact that what we in the West call "subjective
states" (such as imagination, dreams, and drug-induced
hallucinations) are actually real -- somewhere. A journey
to these Subjective realms is not to be confused with
sitting around and tripping, although an uneducated non-
participant observer may fail to grasp the distinction.
Subjective worlds are not just "fantasy" -- events
experienced there are true. Merely imagining that
someone walks up and stabs you will not cause your death
on Earth-real, but if you were to travel via Transhypnotic
Jewel to the Dimension of Imagination (DIM30 in the
catalogue), and were stabbed to death while there, you
would be dead on both your own Objective world and
that Subjective one you were visiting. The reality of
subjective states and their subtle causal link to the
objective state we call "normal waking life" explains the
mechanisms behind voodoo and hexes, as well as forming
the bais for virtually all of the religious and superstitious
dogma of Earth-real. One can enjoy Dr. Strange Comics
without an appreciation of these matters, but i would like
to recommend Alexandra David-Neel's Magic and
Mystery in Thibet. Julian Huxley's The Invisibles:
Voodoo Gods of Haiti and Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan
series to those who want to explore the Subjective realms
more thoroughly.
8
living beings. However, in the hopes that Mr. Englehart
can explain in semanticaly precise terms what he means
by "Unreal," i have given the Orb a tentative position in
the category Subjective-Unreal -- that is, a state which is
dependent upon consciousness but does not exist.
Philosophy is a slippery matter, and as Sir Francis Bacon
once said, "He who knows least is fittest to ask
questions."5
9
in TORICL, a Limbo is a timeless state, consisting of but
one Atomic Instant, although one may subjectively
experience the passage of time there. In the pages of DS
Comics, the word is used to indicate any Vibrational
Barrier Land wherein one might be "trapped," either by
accident or the malintent of a foe. Lattice-Work ("nether
dimension") VBLs are called "Limbo," as are Ditko Area
Interdimensional Ciorridor ("nether-zone") VBLs. Aside
from the fact that the nomenclature is confusing, Dr.
Strange seems to be fully aware that one doesn't age in
Limbo and that it consists of but one Atomic Instant.6
For the sake of clarity, the words Limbo and Nether are
always accompanied by a more precise synonym in the
catalogue. It is unfortunate that the authors of DS Comics
seem to possess such a limited stock of such adjectives, for
by constant repetition they have renedered the names of
many of hte dimenmsions useless. In addition to all the
varied Limbos and Nethers, there are three entirely
different multiverses named respecitvely, the Dimension
of Dreams, Nightmare's Dream Dimension, and
Nightmare's World! It is for this reaosn that i have
resorted to giving every dimension a number and an
alternate name when the title given in the comic book has
already been used before or is so vague as to be
meaningless.7
10
AN OUTLINE OF DIMENSIONAL TYPES
"No. #" refers to the following Dimensional Catalogue
(DIM##).
Objective Dimensions
Human Inhabitants: 48
Alien Inhabitants: 4, 5, 6, 28, 41
Uninhabited: 15, 26
Inhabited: 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 27, 31, 37, 49, 53
Uninhabited: 22, 33, 34
"Artificial" (Originally Uninhabited): 32, 46, 51
11
FOOTNOTES
12
INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVEL:
WALKING BETWEEN THE WORLDS
The word "Dimension" is used very loosely in the pages
of ST, MP, and DS Comics, as well as in other titles where
the Mystic Master appears. For the purposes of this
catalogue Fractional Dimensions also known as
Vibrational Barrier Lands, Interdimensional Spaces, etc.)
will accord with Mark Gruenwald's theoretical
"Fractional Dimensions" as defined in TORICL. All
other Dimensions, whether Objective or Subjective will
be classified as actual whole-number Dimensions -- a
practice which goes against Gruenwald's Theory.
13
A CATALOGUE OF DIMENSIONS
DIM01
Name: The Dimension of Dreams
a.k.a. The World of Nightmare, Nightmare's Dimension,
Nightmare's Dream World, The Realm Unreal
14
DIM02
Name: "Another Plane, a Mystic
Dimension"
Ref: ST112
DIM03
Name: "An Unknown Dimension"
a.k.a. "Strange," "Dark"
Ref: ST117
DIM04
Name: "An [Alien] Dimension Not Far
From Our Own"
[The Greenie's Dimension]
Ref: ST118
15
DIM05
Name: The (Dread) Purple Dimension
Ref: ST119, ST123
Type: Objective -- Planetary -- Alien
DIM06
Name: "Another Space-Time Continuum"
a.k.a. The Shadow World [of Haunted Houses]
Ref: ST120
DIM07
Name: "A Shadowy Dimension"
[NOTE: Hoggoth's Dimension; not to be confused
with DIM06, "The Shadow World" or with DIM33,
"The Shadow-Land")
Ref: ST123
16
DIM08
Name: The Mystic Realm
Ref: ST120
DIM09
Name: Dormammu's Dimension
a.k.a. The Realm of Darkness, The Dark Domain,
The Dismal Domain, The Dark Dimension,
The Domain of Dormammu, "The Dimension of Death",
etc.
17
somewhere, flapping their demonic wings -- unless Dr.S.
killed them all in ST154.
18
DIM10
Name: The Sixth Dimension
a.k.a. The Realm of Tiboro
DIM11
Name: AnUnnamed Series of Fractional
Dimensions,
Liquid, Lattice-Like and Surreal
Ref: ST133
19
DIM12
Name: "A Nameless Land, A Timeless
Time"
[Shazana's Realm]
Ref: ST133
20
DIM13
Name: The Hidden Land
[The Mask-Demon's Dimension]
Ref: ST135
DIM14
Name: Eternity's Realm
a.k.a. The World of Eternity, Eternity's Plane of
Existence
21
the Judeo-Christian deity), although he was capable of
recreating the Earth after N. caused him to destroy the
original model as a result of a bad dream. It was stated at
that time (DS13) that E.'s dreams are as reality to the
inhabitants of Earth -- (Earth-M anyway...) and since
that time E. has become known as "Adam Qadmon, the
All-Being, the Universe." Be that as it may, he was at one
time the friend of Dr.S.'s mentor, the A.O., and in fact
gave the Thibetan master an amulet called "the Eye of
Agamotto" which was later passed down to Dr.S. After
the A.O. became "one with the universe" (MP10) he was
still able to manifest himself as apart from E., something
that would be difficult to do if E. is the universe. E.'s
other skills consist of telepathy and the ability to cause
world-wide memory-changes, as he did when he created
the short-lived "Stephen Sanders" identity for Dr.S. in
DS182.
22
E.'s form as he died (in DS4). He materializes in an area
of dense fog which bears no relation to the landscape
previously encountered in E.'s dimension. E. prophesies
the end of the world and Dr.S. is catapulted through a
series of encounters with fragments of his own personality
in a world which changes from "a swirl of shifting
shadows" to an exact analogue of the White House in
Washington D.C. But, to make a long story short, none of
these "nebulous nether worlds" take place in E.'s Realm,
even the first foggy one -- for E. has all along been captive
in N.'s Dimension of Dreams (DIM01)! Obviously the key
to understanding the numerous inconsistencies lies in this
fact and its corollary -- E's dreams are experienced as
"reality" on Earth-M. This leads us no closer to an
understanding of the true nature of E.'s world, but for the
sake of this catalogue, I will venture to theorize that to
visitors from Earth-M (like Dr.S.) it is objective, unstable
and inhabited, whereas to E., everything in his universe is
subjective, unstable (or rather, in this case, malleable)
and real, E. being both the "dimension" and the "image
of a man" who inhabits it.*
[NOTE: Or else we are faced with the hitherto unheard-
of idea that "the universe" (which is E.) is embedded
within another dimension! More next time -- cat [sign]]
For more on E.'s role in "the end of the world" epic, see
N.'s world (DIM01). It is my sincere hope that someone
will someday answer the question "who is that image of a
man, anyway?" but if you thought i would, you were
sadly mistaken. And while the world awaits the answer,
let us all ponder another conundrum: whatever happened
to the "Stephen Sanders" identity (and everyone's
memory of it) between H126, when Dr.S. took a vacation,
and MF1 (Def.) when he returned, once more "Stephen
Strange"?
23
DIM15
Name: "A Neutral Dimension"
Ref: ST140
24
DIM16
Name: The Dimension of Demons
Ref: ST141
DIM17
Name: "A Dimensional Corridor"
Ref: ST144
DIM18
Name: "An Unfamiliar Universe"
[The Stop-Over]
Ref: ST144
25
DIM19
Name: The Twilight Dimension
a.k.a. The Kingdom of Tazza
Ref: ST144
DIM20
Name: "The Nether Dimension"
a.k.a. "Limbo"
26
DIM21
Name: The Dimension of Raggadorr
Ref: ST148
27
DIM22
Name: "Limbo"
DIM23
Name: "The Fearsome Void Which Exists
Between Dimensions"
a.k.a. Everlasting Nothingness
DIM24
Name: The Forbidden Dimensions
Ref: ST155
28
DIM25
Name: "A Dreaded Interdimensional
Road of Repetition"
and "The Realm of Nothingness"
Ref: ST155
29
DIM26
Name: "A World Beyond Worlds"
[Zom's Prison]
Ref: ST156
DIM27
Name: The World of the Million Perils
a.k.a. The Planets Perilous [World of Nebulos]
Ref: ST161-163
30
DIM28
Name: "The Nightmare World"
[Yandroth's World]
[NOTE: not to be confused with "Nightmare's World"
(DIM01).]
Ref: ST164-6
DIM29
Name: "Space-Warp", "Nether Zone"
Ref: ST167
31
DIM30
Name: "The Dimension of Dreams"
[Dimension of Imagination]
[NOTE: not to be confused with N.'s Dream Dimension
(DIM01)
Ref: ST167
32
detritus and surrealistic sculpture. All the inhabitants
(one dinosaur and a small horde of viking warriors) are
said to be "illusions" but the vikings, at least, believe
themselves to be real (which they are, subjectively
speaking). Y. falls into an abyss and Dr.S. rescues V.B.
They are both then retrieved by the mental command of
the A.O. I would like to note that if this dimension does in
fact contain "all of mankind's [and womankind's]
fantasies, memories and wishes", only a minute fragment
of it was viewed in this story!
DIM31
Name: "The Realm Unknown"
[The Realm of Vanishment]
Ref: DS170
33
DIM32
Name: "Yet Another Bleak Dimension"
[The Clock Dimension]
Ref: ST174
DIM33
Name: A Hostile Dimension
a.k.a. The Land of Shadows
[NOTE: not to be confused with DIM06, The Shadow
World or DIM07, A Shadowy Dimension)
[The Cult and the Curse Dimension]
Comments: Dr.S. and C. are banished here by the SoS., who use a spell from
the Book of the Vishanti to transport them through a "wondrous whirlpool"
to this place of exile. It is uninhabited save for green "floating protoplasmic
shapes" and grey "living foliage", both of which are apparently carnivorous.
In DS36, this dimension is referred to as "some fathomless netherworld."
34
DIM34
Name: "A Place Which Could Serve as a
Stage Setting For Alice In Wonderland"
[The Wondrous World]
DIM35
Name: The Crimson Cosmos
[Of Cyttorak]
Ref: DS1-2
35
DIM36
Name: "SomeTimeless Unknown Other
[Dimension]"
[The Realm of the Undying Ones]
Ref: H126
36
DIM38
Name: An "Other World"
[Dagoth's Exile]
Ref: MP7
DIM39
Name: "Intradimensional Spaces"
Ref: MP8
Type: VBL -- Interdimensional Space [contains "Ditko Areas"
and lattice-work]
DIM40
Name: "Cold Voids of the Outer Universe"
Ref: MP8
37
DIM41
Name: Kathulos
Ref: MP8
Ref: MP10
38
DIM43
Name: The Orb of Agamotto
Ref: DS1-5, DS14, TOD44
39
DIM44
Name: "Nether-Planes"
Ref: DS15
Ref: DS15-16
40
DIM46
Name: The Quadriverse
Ref: DS19, DS23
41
DIM47
Name: "Another Dimensional Plane"
"A World Between Existence, Teetering on Realities --
"A World Sandwiched Between All Other Worlds" [Cloud-
Land]
Ref: DS20
DIM48
Name: The Temple of Man
Ref: DSANN1
Type: Objective -- Planetary -- Human
42
DIM49
Name: Phaseworld
Ref: DSANN1
DIM50
Name: "Cold Space"
Ref: DS22
Type: VBL -- Outer Space-like
43
DIM51
Name: Creation II
Ref: DS24-5
DIM52
Name: An "Outer Dimension"
Ref: DS26-7
Type: VBL -- Outer Space-like with some "Ditko Area"
overtones
44
DIM53
Name: The Inbetweener's Dimension
Ref: DS27-8
DIM54
Name: "Darkness"
46
DIM55
Name: Unnamed Dimensions -- A Series
["Beneath the Sanctum's Floor"]
Ref: DS31
DIM56
Name: The Halls of Fear
Ref: DS32, DS35
Type: Objective -- Unstable -- Inhabited [contains "Ditko Area"
and a castle.]
47
DIM57
Name: The Endless Dimensions of the Vishanti
Ref: DS33
DIM58
Name: The Endless Void
Ref: DS34
DIM59
Name: [Ludi's Dimension]
Ref: DS35-6
48 - 59 (blank)
60
TIME DISTORTION AND TIME TRAVEL
Aside from the hyperbolic (and incorrect) use of the word
"time" in such phrases as "a nameless place, a timeless
time" and "a time which has spatial existence", Dr.S. has
had a few actual dealings with both time distortion and
time travel (to the past only). These are given here
chronologically, with some possible explanations of events
in an Omniversal framework. [ST133, DS170]
61
D. gives M. an (unrecorded) spell for placing the A.O. in a
"mystic time trap". This trap either places one in a
timeless "limbo" VBL or causes one to remain stationary
on the time track. It renders the victim invisible. [ST138
-- SL]
62
one time-line there will still be the divergent reality
(Dr.S.'s home-reality) wherein Franklin lived. C.,
admonishing her teacher to "watch the bright side" of
things, may be wiser than her master, fo she implies that
one can choose by magic to let one's subjective sense-of-
self follow the reality-line most satisfactory to one's
wishes. [DS18 -- SE]
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Lucky Mojo Site Map: a descriptive entry-level index to the whole Lucky Mojo pile
Lucky W Amulet Archive Home Page: an online museum of folk-magic charms
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice: an online book about African-American folk-magic
Sacred Sex Home Page: essays on tantra yoga, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
The Sacred Landscape Home Page: essays on archaeoastronomy and sacred geometry
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The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: manufacturers of spiritual supplies for hoodoo and conjure
catherine yronwode, the eclectic and eccentric author of all the above web pages
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The Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive: captured internet files on occult and spiritual topics
APPENDICES
Introductory Notes published in "Return from Reality"
"The One and Future Dr. Strange" by cat yronwode (from Instant
Gratification #1, 1979)
Introductory Notes
published in "Return from Reality"
(for APA-I)
This is my first zine for APA-I, but even stranger, it's my first zine since
"Motorcycle Kidneys" way back in 1965. "Gafiated but not forgotten" has
always seemed like a fitting epitaph on the tombstone of my fannish days. So
now i'm back, resurected (but still making the same old typos) and ready to
play. In case you wonder, i left fandom because it seemed so trivial in the
light of the Vietnam War, the Psychedelic Revelation, the Immanent Socio-
Economic Collapse of Civilization As We Know It, the Ravages of Pollution,
the Need to Raise A Family, and so forth. I came back to fandom because
deep in my heart there is an overwhelming love of triviality, after all. Maybe
even a need for it.
So anyhow, this little thing you hold in your hands (or feet) is the first
installment of "The Lesser Book of the Vishanti," a mammoth crazy index
to all facets of Doctor Strange's reality. Part of The Lesser Book, dealing
with alien dimensions, will appear in "Omniverse 3", if Gruenwald &
Mullaney don't forget {{the much-delayed Omniverse 3 came out many
years later, and my contribution was not included}} -- and, although i doubt
the whole bizarre compendium will ever see print, further installments can
be expected to surface in APA-I mailings from time to time.
Why Dr. Strange? Oh, i guess i just liked Steve Ditko's art -- and even after
he left I stayed attached to the concepts.