https://blackgirlnerds.com/the-ritual-of-chud-will-welcome-to-derry-dive-deeper-into-this-mysterious-mythology/

The release of 1986’s IT by Stephen King didn’t just give birth to one of the scariest clowns in pop culture, but it also gave birth to the idea of the Macroverse, described as the home of ancient, otherworldly beings like Maturin and IT. Over time, King expanded the concept of the Macroverse in his Dark Tower series, and his world thrived on mysteries that blurred the lines between cosmic horror and childhood nightmares. One of those mysteries is the Ritual of Chüd, a cryptic and ancient battle of wills that served as the Losers Club’s ultimate weapon against IT.

Now, with HBO’s Welcome to Derry promising to explore the origins of IT and the hidden depths of the mythology King has created, the fanbase is brimming with expectations, one of which regards the mysterious ritual. Will the upcoming series finally unravel the secrets behind the Ritual of Chüd and bring clarity to King’s mind-bending lore? Well, this remains to be seen sometime in 2025, when the series is scheduled for release. In the meantime, we can discuss the Ritual of Chüd as it appeared in the movies and novels.

Since the series builds upon the adaptations directed by Andy Muschietti, we’ll reference those movies instead of Tommy Lee Wallace’s 1990 miniseries that, for many, was the first introduction to IT. It’s also worth pointing out that the Ritual of Chüd depicted in the recent IT adaptations is somewhat different compared to that described in the novels, and because of that, we’ll start from the source material.

In the novels, Bill Denbrough was the first to learn of this ritual when he stumbled upon the information about it in a book called Night’s Truth at the Derry Public Library. He also learned that IT was part of an ancient and malevolent race of shapeshifters called Glamours, who were known by many cultures under many different names, and that the Ritual of Chüd was the only way to defeat the old monster Himalayans recognized as Taelus.  

The ritual itself comes from the old Himalayan belief and involves a holy man staring into the monster’s eye, with both of them biting into each other’s overlapped tongues. The two take turns telling riddles until one of them laughs despite the pain. If the Taelus laughs first, it gets sent away for a hundred years, but if the holy man laughs first, the Taelus (known to readers of this story as IT) gets to eat the man’s soul. It’s also important to note that the Ritual of Chüd actually involves a metaphysical confrontation with IT rather than a purely physical encounter.

During their childhood battle with IT, the Losers experience the shapeshifter in various terrifying forms that prey on their personal fears. However, Bill Denbrough’s connection to IT during the Ritual of Chüd stands out in the novels because he’s the only one who engages IT on a deeper, more metaphysical level after enacting the ritual. Being thrust towards the Macroverse and the dreaded Deadlights, which represent the essence of IT’s power and its otherworldly nature, Bill also comes across Maturin the Turtle.

Maturin is somewhat of a benevolent Lovecraftian god-creature who accidentally created our universe by throwing up. While he doesn’t actually teach Bill the ritual itself, Maturin offers guidance and insight into a broader struggle against IT, showing him how the Losers’ actions tie into a much larger universal struggle between good and evil. Bill then starts battling IT telepathically, and the Losers end up defeating the monster but ignore Maturin’s advice to finish IT off, and IT supposedly escapes.

Twenty-seven years later, when IT returned to terrorize the people of Derry, the now-adult Losers came back to stop IT. Bill was once again the first to face IT, but without his childlike imagination, he is weaker in the battle. Still, the losers are eventually able to use the Ritual of Chüd to overpower IT, and Bill ends up crushing IT’s still-beating heart between his hands, finally putting an end to Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

However, in Andy Muschetti’s It Chapter Two, the Ritual of Chüd also appears, but in a very different form and not by name. In the movie, Mike visits the local Native American tribes as an adult and discovers the ritual in a vision induced by the tribe’s sacred root herb called Maturin. The ritual involves exposing IT’s true form as the Deadlights and trapping them inside the Native American tribe’s ceremonial Sealing Jar, which is strong enough to trap evil IT. The ritual proves to be ineffective in the movie.

But, the Losers still succeed in killing Pennywise by making him believe that he’s small and weak, allowing them to expose his heart and crush it together with their hands, finally killing the ancient evil once and for all. The movie significantly simplifies many elements of King’s original ritual, but for those who haven’t read the book, the message remains the same: without belief, there’s no such thing as fear, and without fear as a weapon against its victims, IT is powerless.

It’s worth noting that the introduction of the fictional Shokopiwah tribe and their ceremonial Sealing Jar has been met with some criticism. King’s work, and by extension their adaptations, have often been scrutinized for blending cultural references in ways that feel reductive and appropriative at best. While the Ritual of Chüd plays an important role in IT, its portrayal in It Chapter Two risks oversimplifying Indigenous cultures and traditions for narrative convenience—which is most definitely the case in this movie. 

Welcome to Derry now has the chance to further explore the Ritual of Chüd, its significance, and its ties to Maturin the turtle-god, as well as how it’s used to defeat Pennywise. Done right, this expansion of King’s mythos could further elevate the horror of Welcome to Derry to new, mind-bending levels. But whether or not the series actually explores the Ritual remains to be seen once Welcome to Derry finally drops next year.

The post The Ritual of Chüd: Will ‘Welcome to Derry’ Dive Deeper into this Mysterious Mythology? appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.