Unaussprechlichen Schlangen Kulten

[Nameless Serpent Cults]

            Every text that aims authoritatively at a subject must spam an absorbitant amount of research. Therefore, Friedrich von Juntz, in the midst of compiling and augmenting the Unaussprechlichen Kulten, had intended to investigate and supplement with the various unknown serpent cults of both India and Sri Lanka. In March, that year, he arrived by cruiser to the port of Bombay from France. It was a long and tedious journey. Nonetheless, Friedrich arrived late one evening and booked a room at a small hotel. That was the Happy Slumbers Hotel. He had a fitful sleep that night, but that night only. The next morning, he set eagerly to inquiring among the English-speaking natives about these cults. Not many citizens knew anything about serpent worship. Someone recommended that he go south. The man added that in the Deep South, there are cults that worship Siva-with whom the serpent is associated-and that these cults expect young virgins to sit on a 'lingam'-a stone phallic representing both Siva and the male/masculine energy. Friedrich merely replied that he thought it was bridal training in those parts. Nevertheless, as he needed to head south, he decided to visit Tamil Nadu and Kerala en route to Srilanka.

Friedrich packed his notebooks and supplies, and enough food for ten days, and boarded the earliest bus for the south. He arrived in the state of Kerala after 48 hours. If the cruise was tiresome, the bus trip was surely exhausting; but Friedrich enjoyed the scenery and after some time, an itinerate musician boarded and sang songs. The bus eventually stopped at a border town and he alighted for refreshment. Since he left Bombay, finding an English speaker was difficult. Fortunately, the innkeeper in the town and his daughter, Rama, knew a little English. Nonetheless, communication was difficult.

On the second night of his sojourn at Happy Slumbers, Friedrich received a late visit from Rama, the innkeeper's daughter. She had information for him that she urged be kept secret.

"Mister von Juntz, there is a group--a sect, a cult perhaps, a secret society-that worships a thing called Great Serpent at the valley of the Sarasvati River. You may investigate them but keep your information and my name a secret please."

Friedrich promised her and then prepared for bed. Even then, he slept fitfully. Rama had returned to her room to sleep. While she was changing her clothes, something moved quietly among the shadows. She slipped into her nightclothes and went to wash her face. The next morning, Friedrich took breakfast in the dining room of the inn and paid for his room. As Rama collected the bills, the innkeeper called her. He called several times but she did not answer. Nonetheless, Friedrich paid for the room and departed for the valley. Soon afterwards, the innkeeper went to Rama's room and knocked but she did not respond. He tried the door and found that it was unlocked. Upon entering, he found her day wear lying in a heap on the floor and her shoes in the corner. But Rama was gone. He called the local police to report kidnap.

Friedrich arrived at the river valley by twilight the following day and began to prowl for data or clues. He soon found the ruins of an old temple complex that resembled none of the old Hindu mandiras of the area. First, it was much older and second, the structure and decor were different from Indian decor. Then, he heard a commotion and hid in the shadows near the temple. He saw three figures approaching the structure. Two were moving like serpents along the earth and the third was moving furiously in the grip of the second. Friedrich tried to look more closely without revealing himself, but that was risky. He edged among the shadows, but the distance was still considerable. He saw that the third figure was a young woman, apparently in the grasp of a male figure and struggling. She had long dark hair and tanned complexion like the local people. Strange suggestions entered his mind: they were kidnapping her for either coercion or human sacrifice of the virgin. Had he been close enough to see clearly, he would have seen that she was Rama, the innkeeper's daughter.

The Cult of the Great Serpent kidnaps Rama

The two males dragged Rama into the grounds of the ruined temple and threw her prostrate onto the floor. Then they approached her and stared at her coldly in a rage. She trembled fearfully. Then, looking up at them, she muttered through her gag,

"I-I did not tell anybody anything!"

"We do not care much whether you told anybody anything, woman. We will now make certain that you never tell anybody a word of any thing again."

Suddenly, one male lunged and crushed her in his grasp like a gigantic python and the other bared his fangs and bit deep into her shoulder. There was the surge of a fluid, apparently venom. She died within moments after that.

Rama's voice and screams had echoed from the ruins so that Friedrich heard them; but he did not know how the cult had learned that Rama had told him about them. In fact, serpents have been thought to be sentient and psychic animals for centuries. Friedrich had recognized Rama's voice and realized that the cultists [in reality, the Snake Men of Yig] had kidnapped her to safeguard their secret. Soon after the murder, the snake men had left the temple and Friedrich crept into reaffirm that she was Rama. He found her lying motionlessly on the stone floor. Then he ran from the ruins and hid.

The following morning, he returned to the ruins. At closer glance, he found old runic inscriptions along the walls. Je copied these into a note pad and hurried from the temple. In the nearest town, nobody knew anything about the runes, so at last he sent them along with an explanatory letter to Miskatonic University, in the USA. The letter would take more than one week to reach there.

After 12 days, the letter arrived at the university and the president delivered it to the Department of Occult Sciences. Professor Torrance Emerson was head of the department. He was also versed in ancient scripts and languages. Emerson had traveled broadly. He studied Gallic at the University of Versailles, Gothic at Hamburg and the Aryan languages in Bombay. That time, the department was open for the new term and for research. Monica Campbell attended along with her good friend Melody Ann Chambers, whom she invited to give guest lectures on occult methods through the ages. Melody Ann was lecturing on wicca[1] when the letter arrived. They asked to see it.

"So, Von Juntz is updating his text on cults in India," she said.

"Yes, that should be well worth the read," Emerson replied.

"The letter says that he has found the glyphs attached as well as a mysterious cult worshiping 'the Great Serpent' in the Sarasvati basin of Kerala." She showed him the paper with the runes copied on it.

"Great Serpent? Not the Serpent of Eden?"

"No, Professor," Melody Ann replied. "This is Yig, father of all the serpents and may be the father of that one."

“Yig is deemed to be the predecessor of Ea, the Serpent of Babylon who was later revised as the Serpent of Eden by some scholars, Set, Apophis of Egypt, and even the dragons of early Britain and Imperial China,” Monica explained further.

"Apparently, they either revived or re-emerged in the rural climes of South India due to the serpent associations of Siva. Von Juntz explains that the cult somehow discovered a young Indian woman who told him and then kidnapped and mur4dered her. He says that they constricted her like a Boa or python and then envenomed her like a cobra."

"They are the Snake Men, the servants of Yig," Melody Ann asserted.

“Professor, we have a very lethal threat in our midst,” Monica averred.

“Indeed. What should we do about it now?”

“For the moment, Professor, try to find and make available all data on these cults. We’ll do the rest.”

The lectures concluded after two days. Meanwhile, both young women browsed the data from the department for details on the Great Serpent. However, no written records or data seemed to be available. It seemed that Friedrich von Juntz aimed at delivering the first source material on this cult. The two women decided to journey to Kerala to visit him and learn more.

Friedrich von Juntz had arrived at a small town about 20 kilometers from the ruins at that time. He rented a room in a small hotel like Happy Slumbers and decided to stay under cover. Since the staff did not speak much English and he did not speak their dialect, he simply took his room and stayed in it the whole time.

The reader must wonder whether certain events form patterns. The owner of this hotel, a woman of 35 years, was frequently preoccupied with shopping for the hotel and the guests, and had to go to the market in the city or a nearby town. She left her niece, Anuraddha, 18, to care for the guests. At that time, Friedrich von Juntz was the only guest of the hotel. He summoned Anuraddha whenever he needed anything. On the second night of his sojourn, she visited him. Since she spoke some English [she had been to school in Madras] they chatted. Then he told her his name and about his book. He erred by mentioning the Great Serpent Cult. She trembled.

The next morning, Friedrich took breakfast, which she made for him, and headed to town for some supplies. He had some trouble explaining to shopkeepers and so he returned to the hotel late at night. He found the door open and the reception desk unattended.

"Ach, der Teufel[2]! So these creatures have come for her too!"

In the ruins, the snake men had dragged Anuraddha into the grounds of the temple and confined her. She denied that she knew or heard anything. They mauled and poisoned her, as they did with Rama.

The Cult abducts Anuraddha

Monica Campbell and Melody Ann Chambers began their long journey to the West Coast to catch the ship fort Asia. The ship stopped at Okinawa, Japan to refuel and then continued eastward towards China. Soon, the ship docked at Shanghai and the women alighted and headed for the train southwards to the China Gate, whence they would travel to India.  Altogether, they spent about one week on board ship and then they engaged a bus line towards the gate. They arrived at New Delhi within about twelve days. Like Friedrich von Juntz, they felt thoroughly exhausted from the long journey but they had to accept it. From Delhi they engaged a southbound bus towards Kerala. The fares involved need not be mentioned. However, the journey demanded their strength and endurance as well as their pocket money. They left Delhi at 5 PM and headed south, passing states like Madhya Pradesh along the way. Flight would demand more of their strength, so they accepted all circumstances of the trip.

Friedrich von Juntz had taken refuge in an old town, suspecting that the Snake Men were trailing him. In fact, they were simply seeking to secure their secret. He realized that and vowed not to *tell anyone about them again. While searching for a haven, he found a deserted shed and hid in it. However, one hour later, he heard strange slithering noises nearby.

"Mein Got![3] They are coming after me now!" he thought, anxiously.

He was right. Although neither Rama nor Anuraddha had told them about him, they had learned through psychic means that the girls had been with him, and they began to follow him now.

Friedrich von Juntz wanted to hide further away, but he had a slim chance to move away. The slithering seemed to be everywhere, and he suspected that the whole cult had dispersed to search for him. Then he heard human voices calling him. He dared not to answer. He thought that the Snake Men were mimicking humans to lure him out of hiding. Nevertheless, the voices continued to call him. They were women's voices.

"Professor von Juntz!"

"Professor von Juntz, ich spreche Deutsch ein bischen. Ich bin Melody Ann Chambers von America. Wir dich helfen[4]."

'Ah! They are people.'

He acted boldly and emerged from the shed cautiously, holding his text. They found him only moments before the snake men did. Then the whole cult assembled before them and confronted them.

"Professor, we have skills to face them."

"They are deadly, young woman .They have already murdered two girls."

"We read the letter, Professor. Relax, I have powers to handle them," Melody Ann replied. She suggested that he retreat further away for his safety. He retreated deep into the shed.

Monica entered the shed for a moment, cautious not to let Friedrich von Juntz see her, and then began her transformation.

KAANGA!

Her skimpy but scintillatingly sexy attire assembled on her instantly. Panther Girl went into the fray first, rather boldly. The Snake man confronted her   and lunged and lurched; she did her best to avoid and dodge him. Eventually though, as with all her confrontations with villains, whether human or otherwise, the villain got the best of her at first. He constricted her like the great Indian python. But he was not Kaa[5] nor was she Mowgli[6]. He had only deadly killer instinct and aimed at Panther Girl for his victim. Meanwhile, seeing that she certainly needed help-evidently, she did, Occulta moved into the shed and made sure that Friedrich would not see her either. He was too worried to pay her much attention, though. She raised her silver starred wand and began her transformation; and then, she hurried forth into the fray to help and rescue Panther Girl. She noticed how the Snake Men had zeroed in on Panther Girl and was a bit more cautious. She wielded her wand at them and zeroed in on one or two and let loose a few [ eldritch]energy blasts but finally, enraged and desperate, the nearest Serpent warrior zeroed in on her and  'whoosh!' Both women superheroes were in the grasp of the fiends and being crushed.

Top: Panther Girl in the Grip of Yig’s SnakeMan

Bottom: Occulta faces Identical Peril. Artist: David Hughett

The coils of the Snake Men seemed endlessly painful. [I believe that agonizing is the word for it.] What hope remained for our two young superheroes? When both hope and strength seemed to ebb away, and just as the master himself was due to appear to them, Occulta sent a last telepathic signal to her mentor, Elizabeth.

'Teacher, we both are at the verge of losing hope and strength now. Help us!'

"I am coming now, Melody Ann. Try to relax and wait."

To wait seemed difficult enough; but to relax seemed remote and impossible. Nonetheless, science and nature have taught that whenever one rests, the other follows Perhaps due to a false sense of victory or self-confidence, the oppressor relaxes and gives the oppressed a moment to recollect strength and courage. At that moment, there was a rustling or slithering louder than the snake men. It seemed tremendous.

"Monica, the master cometh!"

"So it seemeth, Melody Ann!"

Surely enough, there was the image of a gigantic serpentine entity with the head and arms of s human gazing at them. The master, Yig, father of all serpents, had come. But Elizabeth was trailing close behind.

"SO, YOU SEEK TO END THELIFE OF MY FOLLOWERS, DO YOU?'

Friedrich von Juntz heard him and hurried out from the shed boldly. He stared at the fiend.

"No. We seek to record it for history; but they have ended the lives of two young innocent Indian girls and now they want to harm my defenders. This must not be."

"Indeed it must not, Friedrich von Juntz!"

"Who?"

"Elizabeth, Witch of the Silver Star, my mentor!" Occulta exclaimed with much relief.

Elizabeth waved her wand around in the still air around the shed. Panther Girl and Occulta braced themselves in anticipation. The heat and humidity of their environment rose. Elizabeth chanted. The air grew tense. Heat and humidity continued to rise.  She raised her wand high into the air.

"Get ye hence to your own world now! Be ye grateful for my mercy, lest I smite ye with my wand! GO!"

Moments later, they all relaxed in the shed. Elizabeth turned to Friedrich von Juntz and smiled.

"Ja, herr friedrich von Juntz, was gibt mit deine Buch? Will you enter the Cult of the Great Serpent?"

"Ja, naturlich. And I will acknowledge you as my advisor, Madame."

"Danke shoen! That will not be necessary, herr von Juntz. All the best with it." She turned to Occulta and Panther Girl.

"Well, are you two ready to leave now?"

“As ready as we'll ever be, Elizabeth!" Occulta exclaimed with relief.

"Good! Let's go!"

Elizabeth transported Occulta and Panther Girl back to the USA. We all know how she did that, don't we?