The Silver Key

I'm in the process of reading all the Randolph Carter stories again. I know he's pretty much accepted as being Lovecraft's insertion of himself as a character, but I like Randolph Carter a lot more than I like Lovecraft. Maybe because he is "just a chatacter". We know nothing more about him than we needed to know for the stories being told.

There's also the fact that the whole Silver Key thing really resonates with me. Keys have always been very magical objects to me, going all the way back to my early childhood. I simply cannot remember a time when keys weren't fascinating and, somehow, sacred. Combine that with a lot of me seeing things in those stories as being useful to refocus as metaphors for things I have experienced, and it's probably not really a mystery that Randolph Carter is an important character for me.

The key is a very important object. I would say I'm considering making my own key, but I know I'm past "considering". The idea has been turning over in my head for a while. Now it's expanding, developing details, and making plans for itself. I know how it goes when these kinds of ideas develop for me. It's just a matter of time before I actually start doing it. Reading the stories again is, I'm sure, going to fuel that process.

This won't just be a nifty decorative item, though. Keys are also important to the deity I am devoted to. Yes, somewhere along the way in life the keys really did become sacred. Or maybe they always were and it's just that I eventually gained better understanding. If (when) I make the key, it will be an important item.