Yellow Sign
Encyclopedia
The Yellow Sign is a fictional symbol or glyph
, first described in Robert Chambers
' book of horror short stories The King in Yellow
(1895
).
", 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
.
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.
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
.
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.
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 striven throughout history to suppress rationalism
. The cult is opposed by the rationalist Illuminati.
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 Lurker Films and the original website Web Noir.
.
The Yellow Sign is also a "tome of magic" in the Old World of Darkness of White Wolf.
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 & Masterminds.
The Yellow Sign is used by the country Carcosa in the Darkon Live Action Roleplaying warclub as their country's symbol.
The Yellow Sign is used in the custom dice game Cthulhu Dice by Steve Jackson Games
. When the Yellow Sign is rolled the targeted player must give up a sanity token to Cthulhu.
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
, first described in Robert Chambers
Robert W. Chambers
Robert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.-Biography:He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to William P. Chambers , a famous lawyer, and Caroline Chambers , a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
' book of horror short stories The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories written by Robert W. Chambers and published in 1895. The stories could be categorized as early horror fiction or Victorian Gothic fiction, but the work also touches on mythology, fantasy, mystery, science fiction and romance...
(1895
1895 in literature
The year 1895 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* Carlyle's House in Chelsea opens to the public.* Robert Frost marries Elinor Miriam White.* Ernest Thayer recites his poem, Casey at the Bat, at a Harvard class reunion....
).
The King in Yellow
The King in Yellow never fully describes the shape and purpose of the Yellow Sign. Nonetheless, "The Repairer of ReputationsThe Repairer of Reputations
The Repairer of Reputations is a short story published by Robert W. Chambers in the collection The King in Yellow in 1895. The story is an example of Chambers' horror fiction, and is one of the stories in the collection which contains the motif of the Yellow Sign and the King in Yellow.-Plot:The...
", 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
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
, 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
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
that contains an ominous and ancient city known as Carcosa
Carcosa
Carcosa is a fictional city in the Ambrose Bierce short story "An Inhabitant of Carcosa" . In Bierce's story, the ancient and mysterious city is barely described, and is viewed only in hindsight by a character who once lived there....
.
The Cthulhu Mythos
H. P. LovecraftH. 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....
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
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
, developed by August Derleth
August Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
and other Lovecraft imitators, the Yellow Sign is the sign of Hastur
Hastur
Hastur is a fictional entity of the Cthulhu Mythos. Hastur first appeared in Ambrose Bierce's short story "Haïta the Shepherd" as a benign god of shepherds. Robert W...
and is used by members of his cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
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 ChaosiumChaosium
Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role-playing games still in existence. Founded by Greg Stafford, its first game was actually a wargame, White Bear and Red Moon, which later mutated into Dragon Pass and its sequel, Nomad Gods...
roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
. 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
Triskelion
A triskelion or triskele is a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry. Both words are from Greek or , "three-legged", from prefix "τρι-" , "three times" + "σκέλος" , "leg"...
, and is also believed to resemble a tentacled creature, since Hastur is often described as an aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
tentacled being similar to Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
.
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
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
. When asked, Ross admitted to being a big fan of the band, but could not remember if the resemblance was deliberate.
Literature
In Robert SheaRobert Shea
Robert Joseph Shea was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In...
and Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
'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
Lloigor (Cthulhu Mythos race)
The Lloigor are a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings first appeared in August Derleth and Mark Schorer's short story "The Lair of the Star Spawn" .-Summary:...
, commits human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
, and has striven throughout history to suppress rationalism
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
. The cult is opposed by the rationalist Illuminati.
Film
Independent film director Aaron Vanek shot The Yellow Sign in 2001, inspired by the Robert W. ChambersRobert W. Chambers
Robert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.-Biography:He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to William P. Chambers , a famous lawyer, and Caroline Chambers , a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
story of the same title. Like 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....
, 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
John tynes
John Tynes is a writer best known for his work on role-playing games such as Unknown Armies, Delta Green, Puppetland, and for his company Tynes Cowan Corporation. Under its imprint Pagan Publishing, Tynes Cowan Corp...
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
Lurker Films
A media publishing company, founded by Andrew Migliore focused on weird tales & literary horror—H. P. Lovecraft, Cthulhu Mythos, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert W. Chambers. They primarily publish DVDs and CDs of rarely seen features, television shows, short films and featurettes that include in-depth...
at the end of 2006 as part of the Weird Tale Collection Volume 1.
See Lurker Films and the original website Web Noir.
Games
The Yellow Sign is the symbol used to designate the Hastur Faction in the Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card GameCall of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game
The Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game or Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game is a collectible card game marketed by Fantasy Flight Games. It is based on the fiction of the Cthulhu Mythos, primarily the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu role-playing game...
.
The Yellow Sign is also a "tome of magic" in the Old World of Darkness of White Wolf.
The Yellow Sign is depicted on the cover of the Unknown Armies
Unknown Armies
Unknown Armies is an occult-themed role playing game by John Tynes and Greg Stolze and published by Atlas Games. Subtitled "A roleplaying game of power and consequences"...
supplement Postmodern Magick.
The Yellow Sign is used by cultists in Green Ronin's Freeport d20 System
D20 System
The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...
setting, and a similar cult in the same company's Freedom City
Freedom City
Freedom City is a fictional, city-based campaign setting for the roleplaying game Mutants & Masterminds. It was designed by Steve Kenson, whose design philosophy for the setting seems based-on and in honor of several classic comic book icons and concepts.-Campaign history:Set somewhere on the east...
setting for Mutants & Masterminds.
The Yellow Sign is used by the country Carcosa in the Darkon Live Action Roleplaying warclub as their country's symbol.
The Yellow Sign is used in the custom dice game Cthulhu Dice by Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
. When the Yellow Sign is rolled the targeted player must give up a sanity token to Cthulhu.