The "three-lobed burning eye" is one of many manifestations of Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...

, a messenger of the Outer Gods, from fiction penned by H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

. This particular manifestation is a huge bat-winged creature, with a burning tri-lobed eye. In Lovecraft's story "Haunter of the Dark," the character Robert Blake

Robert Harrison Blake

Robert Harrison Blake is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. The character is the creation of H. P. Lovecraft and appears in his short story "The Haunter of the Dark" .-Summary:...

 discovers a Shining Trapezohedron in a church steeple in Providence, RI, a place of worship for the Church of Starry Wisdom cult. Narrowly escaping an unseen horror released by the Trapezohedron, Blake realizes the horror can only travel in the dark. When a storm and power blackout envelop the city, he scribbles down his findings, concluding the story with his terrified record of what he can only glimpse of the approaching beast. "I see it-- coming here-- hell-wind-- titan-blur-- black wings-- Yog-Sothoth

Yog-Sothoth

Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...

 save me-- the three-lobed burning eye..."

Lovecraft indicated in his letters with then-young writer Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch

Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...

, that the character Robert Blake was an intentionally thinly veiled gesture at killing off one of his friendly correspondents. In 1936, Bloch would publish a story that continued the professional fun, in which Blake did not actually die, but was possessed by Nyarlathotep, and kills off a character based on Lovecraft.

See also

• Three-lobed Burning eye (magazine)
  Three-lobed Burning eye (magazine)
  Three-lobed Burning Eye is an online magazine of speculative fiction edited by Andrew S. Fuller. First published in 1999, it features stories from the genres of horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction, as well as magical realism or slipstream. All issues are collected in an annual print anthology...
  
  
• Three Lobed Recordings is an independent record label based in High Point, NC. The logo and company name are a reference to Nyarlathotep
  Nyarlathotep
  Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
  
  and the exclamation "Iä! Shub-Niggurath!" appears sporadically throughout the site.