The Keyhole?

I'm not sure where I'm going with this line of thinking yet. I mostly just need to scribble some notes down so I don't lose this if it does end up leading somewhere.

Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is also the key to the gate.

For a while, when I first started reading Mythos stories, I had a hard tike distinguishing between Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth in my mind. Names, descriptions, roles they play in things...it was all too similar. Which one is asleep and has no clue that any of this is really happening, but also the only reason it's happening is because he's asleep and dreaming it? (That's Azathoth.) And which one is a lot like the sleeping one, but does know it's happening, knows why it's happening, kind of seems to be the Overseer of everything, and got Old Man Whately's daughter pregnant - possibly with more of Old Man Whately's help than I want to know? (That's Yog-Sothoth).

Eventually, I started thing of them as being sort of like two sides of the same coin. I don't think they're the same being, but I do think they are more closely connected to each other than any of the other Old Ones are. Maybe they're both dreaming. Maybe Yog-Sothoth is a lucid dreamer. Maybe they actually are two forms of the same being, standing on two different sides of s door...or gate. If Yog-Sothoth is the gate, is Azathoth also the gate?

And then there's Nyarlathotep.

He fascinates me. There are different ways of looking at him. Lovecraft's disdain for religion is often seen mixed into his racism, but he wasn't only a non-believer of religions that weren't white enough for him. I suppose he may have had a little more respect for Christianity, but he didn't have the faith. Agnostics and athiests are still influenced by the major religions in their culture, as culture is shaped by such things. Is there a bit of a twist on the God of the bible and Jesus in Azathoth and Nyarlathotep? Am I giving Lovecraft credit for something that came later? I think it was August Derleth who added some elements that look more biblical in origin. Even if it's not intentional, maybe it just naturally lines up so that comparisons can be made.

Nyarlathotep isn't said to be the son of Azathoth, but a servant. And he isn't said to be intentionally sent here by Azathoth, but...well, he kind of is. There's a lot of reading him as being Azathoth's "man on the ground", but I'm not sure it's that simple. Is he part of Azathoth? Sure. If Azathoth is dreaming everything, then everything is part of Azathoth.

I've seen it discussed many times that Nyarlathotep can do his own thing and have his own projects as long as they don't conflict with Azathoth, and that Nyarlathotep seems to be more interested in hands-on involvement than the other Old Ones. I've also seen it debated whether or not he really is one of the Old Ones, or a lower servant to them (and to Azathoth specifically) who is still just really powerful if compared to humans.

Do they make some kind of unholy trinity? An abominable trinity? Can the Christian Father, Son, Holy Spirit line up with Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth in strange ways?

Those are interesting thoughts, but not really what I'm focused on. Or maybe it is. Maybe I've removed myself from Christian mythology for long enough that I'm resisting seeing it overlap.

Is Nyarlathotep a keyhole?

Is he what connects Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth? Maybe he can do what he wants as long as it doesn't conflict because he needs to stay away from Azathoth as much as possible. Maybe "conflicting" would be bringing back too much awareness. But Yog-Sothoth is aware. Yog-Sothoth understands the dream on levels that I'm not sure humans are fully capable of understanding. Ways that maybe only the Old Ones can understand because only the Old Ones can experience it.