Yellow Sign

Yellow Sign

The Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol or glyph, first described in Robert Chambers' book of horror short stories entitled "The King in Yellow" (1895).

"The King in Yellow"

"The King in Yellow" never fully describes the shape and purpose of the Yellow Sign. Nonetheless, "The Repairer of Reputations", one of the stories in the collection, suggests that anyone who possesses, even by accident, a copy of the sign is susceptible to some form of insidious mind control, or possession, by the King in Yellow or one of his heirs. The stories also suggest that the original creator of the sign was not human and possibly came from a strange alternate dimension that contains an ominous and ancient city known as Carcosa.

The Cthulhu Mythos

H. P. Lovecraft and many of his imitators were great admirers of Chambers' book and incorporated many of his characters and symbols into their own works. In the latter-day Cthulhu Mythos, developed by August Derleth and other Lovecraft imitators, the Yellow Sign is the sign of Hastur and is used by members of his cult to identify one another. In addition, according to many of these works one of Hastur's avatars is known as the King in Yellow.

Call of Cthulhu

In 1989, Kevin Ross designed a Yellow Sign symbol for the Chaosium roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu. Ross created the symbol for an adventure scenario entitled "Tell Me, Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?" in the supplemental book "The Great Old Ones". The symbol resembles a yellow triskelion, and is also believed to resemble a tentacled creature, since Hastur is often described as an aquatic tentacled being similar to Cthulhu."Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?". "The Great Old Ones". 1989. Chaosium Inc.]

Ross later stated in an interview that the image used is actually a corruption of his original drawing; apparently, Chaosium printed the image both upside-down and backwards. Flipping the image horizontally and vertically reveals Ross' original conception of the Yellow Sign, which resembles a coiled body or tentacle with two tentacles branching upward. Fans have pointed out that this image bears a resemblance to the "Kronos" symbol used by the band Blue Öyster Cult. When asked, Ross admitted to being a big fan of the band, but could not remember if the resemblance was deliberate. [ [http://www.yog-sothoth.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=1951 Forums - Yog-Sothoth for Lovecraft & Cthulhu ] ]

Other media

Literature

In Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's "Illuminatus!" trilogy, the Cult of the Yellow Sign is offered to one detective as a concocted explanation of human history. The cult supposedly worships cthulhoid entities known as "lloigor", commits human sacrifice, and has strived throughout history to suppress rationalism. The cult is opposed by the rationalist Illuminati.

Film

Independent film director Aaron Vanek shot [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370081 The Yellow Sign] in 2001, inspired by the Robert W. Chambers story of the same title. Like H. P. Lovecraft, Chambers is a difficult author to adapt to film. The book "The King in Yellow" which contains the short story "The Yellow Sign" is a set of loosely connected stories about sensitive individuals discovering an obscure play, "The King in Yellow", then becoming obsessed with the horrific otherworldliness. The emphasis is less on plot and characterization than on creating an eerie, disturbing atmosphere.

Vanek, with colleague John Tynes of Pagan Publishing, took the sketchy plot of Chambers' story and built a more complete screenplay around it, while still capturing the proper weird, disconnected, dream-like fantasy feel.

The film was distributed by Lurker Films at the end of 2006 as part of the Weird Tale Collection Volume 1.

See [http://www.lurkerfilms.com/cat/wtc01.html Lurker Films] and the original website [http://www.webnoir.com/yellowsign Web Noir] .

Games

The Yellow Sign is the symbol used to designate the Hastur Faction in the Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game.

The Yellow Sign is depicted on the cover of the Unknown Armies supplement Postmodern Magick.

The Yellow Sign is used by cultists in Green Ronin's Freeport "d20 System" setting, and a similar cult in the same company's Freedom City setting for "Mutants and Masterminds.

Music

The Yellow Sign is also the name of a Progressive Death Metal band from Michigan formed in 2007, and can be found online through their website (http://www.myspace.com/theyellowsign).

F. Tennyson Neely monogram

The first edition of "The King In Yellow" was published in 1895 by F. Tennyson Neely, and featured a picture of a salamander on the cover with a highly stylized symbol in the upper left corner. Some believed that this symbol was supposed to be the Yellow Sign. However, closer examination of the symbol reveals that they are a monogram of F.T.N., the publisher's initials, and the same picture appears on other early editions of books published by F. Tennyson Neely as part of their "Neely's Prismatic Library" series. [ [http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/goldendawn/31/truesign.html# Robert W. Chambers: The Yellow Sign ] ]

Notes and references


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Yellow Thunder — is also the name of an attack featured in Mahou Sentai Magiranger .Yellow Thunder (Ho chunk name Wahkanjahzeegah also given as Wakunchakookah, born in 1774) was a chief of the Ho Chunk tribe. Historians state… …   Wikipedia

  • yellow ribbon — noun count a thin band of yellow material that people tie around a tree as a way of remembering someone who has gone away, and as a sign of hope that they will return …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Yellow badge — The yellow badge (or yellow patch), also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with… …   Wikipedia

  • yellow fever — Pathol. an acute, often fatal, infectious febrile disease of warm climates, caused by an RNA virus transmitted by a mosquito, esp. Aedes aegypti, and characterized by liver damage and jaundice. Also called yellow jack. [1730 40] * * * Acute… …   Universalium

  • yellow ribbon — a yellow colored ribbon displayed as a symbol of solidarity with soldiers in combat, political hostages, etc. * * * yellow ribbon noun (US) A symbol of welcome for those returning home after having undergone some danger, orig a decoration on US… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Sign — Any abnormality that indicates a disease process, such as a change in appearance, sensation, or function, that is observed by a physician when evaluating a patient. * * * 1. Any abnormality indicative of disease, discoverable on examination of… …   Medical dictionary

  • Sign of the horns — A demonstration of the Sign of the Horns The sign of the horns is a hand gesture with a variety of meanings and uses in various cultures. It is formed by extending the index and little fingers while holding the middle and ring fingers down with… …   Wikipedia

  • Yellow ribbon — A yellow ribbon is a symbol with various meanings, mostly associated with those waiting for the return of a loved one or of military troops who are temporarily unable to come home. It is also sometimes used at county and state fairs in the United …   Wikipedia

  • Yellow River (Indiana) — Geobox River name = Yellow River native name = other name = other name1 = image size = 300 image caption = The Yellow River in Knox in 2006 country = United States state = Indiana region = city = city1 = length imperial = 50 length note = approx …   Wikipedia

  • Yellow deli — The Yellow Deli was a youth outreach ministry of the Vine Christian Community, also called The Light Brigade, now known as the Twelve Tribes communities. History The Yellow Deli was founded by Elbert Eugene and Marsha Spriggs. It first opened at… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”