MALCOLM HODGE CTHULHU IDOL #1 - SHRINE OF BOTHRIA

THE SHRINE OF BOTHRIA

One of the FIVE "lost" Cthulhu idols created by Malcolm B Hodge of Danvers State Hospital.

Hodge received acclaim as a Cthulhu cultist after several of his psychotherapy sessions, conducted by famed psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Driesback, were made public. In these published transcriptions Hodge discusses and reacts to five "idols" of his own creation.

An accomplished artists and sculptor, Hodge is believed to have constructed these "idols" while institutionalized at The Rhode Island State Hospital, though how we was able to make them remains a mystery since he spent most of his time restrained in his cell.

While the five "idols" published in the works of Dr. Driesback received significant press in the '30s, they rather famously disappeared shortly after his death. Driesback was found murdered in his home outside of Hathorne Mass. in the summer of 1935, and apparently had the "idols" in his home at the time.

Recently his descendants have recovered a box of Driesback's belongings from his days at Danvers. Along with a multitude of records, photographs, and drawings, five sculptures were discovered - this idol is one of them. This idol is listed in Driesback's correspondence as being "Idol number 1," apparently named by Hodge as "The Shrine of Bothria."

Based off of original drawings and transcriptions of recorded sessions between Hodge and Driesback this idol is believed to be authentic. Hodge believed wholeheartedly that this shrine would protect him from his enemies citing the "Elder Sign," as Hodge calls it (the symbol carved into the back of the shrine), as the main source of its protective power. Hodge also states that the shrine is modeled after a creature called a "Shuggoth." And that it would protect him from "the Deep Ones and The Dreamer. Yet its protection comes at a price."

Several human teeth and dried blood were found along with this idol. In addition photographs of Hodge with numerous self-inflicted wounds, including missing teeth, wrist-wounds, bite-marks and ritualistic cuts on his legs and arms, along with the remains of several small animals have led scholars to believe that Hodge thought the only way to unlock the idol's protective power was to make a sacrificial offer to it of human or animal blood and flesh.

More detailed description about this idol and its significance is forthcoming...

The Shrine of Bothria: 6.25 inches tall x 5.25 inches wide

The other Hodge Idols can be found here:

#2 - The Monstrance of Innsmouth ( [link])

#3 - The Crown of Worms ([link])

#4 - The Crypt of The Abominable Ones ([link] )

#5 - The Cthulhu Reliquary ( [link] )

PRIVATE COLLECTION, USA