Weird Tract Number 97: Mythos #2 (The Elder Gods of the Witches Vs. Satan) by The Church of All Worlds

Troy Davis writes:

This 1975 24-page comic book by the neo-pagan The Church of All Worlds is a mind-blowing new addition to the museum. I just received in the mail ( I was the high bidder on eBay). This tract appears to be the love child of Stan Lee, Aleister Crowley, Mike Diana, and Tijuana Bible writer/artist Mr. Dylexic. It's the creation of Tony Spurlock who did the story and art for this issue which is part of a serial (published quarterly in true pagan manner on the solstices and equinoxes).

This book is the creation of a group that social scientists would call a "new religious movement" (NRM).  The Church was founded in 1962 and is still around (here is their website). You can buy some merch that has a cool pentagram/pot leaf design.

Mythos #2 begins with the antlered pagan god Ercwlf, a muscular white guy who is kicking the butt of a giant snake that dared to attack him. A voice in the sky summons Ercwlf to appear before "The Presence" and "come garbed for battle."

Cut to: some practitioners of black magic on Earth boast that their spell has released Satan.

Ercwlf goes to a Higher Plane and is greeted by "The Mighty Ones," a pagan version of The Fantastic Four who represent the "four, great elemental forces" who were also summoned to appear before The Presence. A grave Ercwlf explains that this only means that "the end of the universe doth fast approach."

Meanwhile, a freed Satan boasts about how he will control the universe.

Ercwlf and The Mighty Ones meet the scantily-clad holy warrior goddess Andraste who greets Ercwlf as "husband and son [!]" and she explains that it was The Nameless, AKA God or The Great Spirit that summoned them. The Nameless explains that the earthlings released Satan who will try to dethrone Him. The Nameless orders the gods to "defend The Home of the Gods."

Ercwlf, Andraste, and The Mighty Ones enter a portal where they meet a defiant Satan. Andraste whispers to Ercwlf to engage Satan so she can gauge his strength. Ercwlf grows to be a giant; Satan is not impressed.

Meanwhile, Andraste declares that she will deal with the witches who unleashed Satan and then enters a portal.

Satan grows to Erwlf's size then doubles Ercwlf's size and the two battle. Satan has the upper hand and hurls a knocked-out Ercwlf through space. The Mighty Ones decide to take on Satan.

Cut to: Somewhere on Earth,  an unseen seated character on the phone announces a meeting. We are then promised the conclusion in the story in the next issue titled "Shall The Gods Endure?"

The inside back cover has a funky ad for the Church of All Worlds publication Green Egg (scroll down).

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 96: "The Lonely Cabin On The Forty-Mile" by Charles S. Price (Pilgrim Tract Society)

Troy Davis writes:

I previously wrote about the Life Messengers comic book "The Lonely Cabin on the 40-Mile." There is also a written-word version of the tract distributed by the Pilgrim Tract Society. Both tracts are about Joe Conlee, a man who entered a seminary around the turn of the 20th century but became disenchanted when his liberal theology professor encouraged him to read Charles Darwin.  Joe left the ministry and became a hard-drinking newspaper reporter who hit rock bottom but found Jeebus. This eight-page pamphlet gives more details than the comic book. 

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 95: "Coronavirus COVID-19: What Do I Do?" by Bible Tracts, Inc.

Troy Davis writes:

I just checked my mail and I received a box of 100 copies of a timely tract that addresses COVID-19; the tract is published by Bible Tracts, Inc. of Bloomington, Illinois. It's a postcard tract that asks what should one do about the virus; the not-surprising answer has less to do about staying home, washing hands, and wearing masks and more about accepting Jeebus.

The package also included a catalogue for their other tracts, most of which are pretty lame.
The other side of the card is below.

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.

Weird Tract Number 94: "The Beginning of The End" by Jr. Mata (Pilgrim Tract Society)

Troy Davis writes:

This is a four-page pamphlet put out by the Pilgrim Tract Society. It is the testimony of Jr. Mata, a heroin addict in the 1970s who found Jeebus. There is nothing particularly interesting about the contents of his testimony; this tract is a part of the museum's collection mainly for the demented outsider art on the tract's cover.

More on the Pilgrim Tract Society here.

 

The Museum of Weird and Demented Religious Tracts is a project of Les Zazous Postmodern Art Galley of Bellaire, Ohio. Read the Welcome Statement of The Museum here.

For more on the gallery, check out the web site here and the gallery's Twitter handle is @ZazousLes.  The Twitter handle for the museum is @WeirdTracts

The index of tracts for the museum's website is here. 

Contributions of weird tracts to the museum can be made by mail: send your weird tracts to Les Zazous Postmodern Art Gallery 3475 Guernsey Street, Bellaire, Ohio 43906.