Symbol of Chaos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories, the Symbol of Chaos comprises eight arrows in a radial pattern (in contrast, the symbol of Law is a single upright arrow.). It is also called the Arms of Chaos, the Arrows of Chaos, the Chaos Star or the Symbol of Eight.
Moorcock conceived this symbol while writing the first Elric of Melniboné stories in the early 1960s. It was subsequently adopted into the pop-cultural mainstream, turning up in such diverse places as role-playing games and modern occult traditions.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
Moorcock says [1] —
- The origin of the Chaos Symbol was me doodling sitting at the kitchen table and wondering what to tell Jim Cawthorn the arms of Chaos looked like. I drew a straightforward geographical quadrant (which often has arrows, too!) – N, S, E, W – and then added another four directions and that was that – eight arrows representing all possibilities, one arrow representing the single, certain road of Law. I have since been told to my face that it is an "ancient symbol of Chaos" and if it is then it confirms a lot of theories about the race mind. … As far as I know the symbol, drawn by Jim Cawthorn, first appeared on an Elric cover of Science Fantasy in 1962, then later appeared in his first comic version of Stormbringer done by Savoy [ISBN 0-7045-0226-7].
An even-more-chaotic asymmetrical representation was by Walter Simonson in the Michael Moorcock's Multiverse comic (and subsequent graphic novel: ISBN 1-56389-516-1).
There are a number of traditional symbols that have the same geometrical pattern as Moorcock's symbol of Chaos – for example:
- Dharmacakra
- Star of Ishtar
- Wheel of the year (see sun cross)
But none of these were symbols of chaos.
[edit] In games
The symbol's first appearance in a commercial role-playing game (RPG) was in TSR's Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Deities & Demigods (1980; ISBN 0-935696-22-9)[2] which included the gods, monsters, and heroes from Moorcock's Elric books as one of 17 mythological and fictional "pantheons". (Copyright problems lead to its omission from later editions.) This reproduction of the game content shows the symbol in Jeff Dee's fine drawing of Arioch and, just below that, as a graphic element by itself.
It then turned up quite naturally in Chaosium's Stormbringer RPG (one edition of which was published as Elric!) (1980-2003; ISBN 1-56882-152-2). The 1987 edition of Stormbringer was published jointly by Chaosium in the U.S. and Games Workshop (GW) in the UK.
Moorcock's eight-arrow symbol of Chaos was subsequently arrogated by GW and became a frequent graphic element in their own Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 games and the related miniature figures (e.g., these Knights of Chaos).
A slightly modified version can been seen as orcish tattoos on Chris Metzen's WarCraft art. Most noticeably on the character Grom Hellscream.
The Heretic and HeXen series of video games feature the symmetrical version of the symbol on the Chaos Device item, which teleports the player back to the beginning of the level.
[edit] In music
The Norwegian black metal band 1349 used the symbol on their self-titled debut EP, which contains a song called "Chaos Within".
Another Norwegian band, Arcturus displayed the symbol at the beginning of the song "The Chaos Path" in their live DVD Shipwrecked in Oslo.
The Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura has an album entiled Chaos A.D. depicting the chaos symbol on the compact disc itself.
The American thrash metal band Testament features the chaos symbol on the cover of their album The Ritual. The first track of which is called "Signs of Chaos."
The English experimental band Coil often uses the Cross of Chaos as a symbol on album covers and official releases.
The English death metal band Bolt Thrower uses the symbol in much of their artwork, the bonus track on the album "Those Once Loyal" (2005) is called "A Symbol of Eight".
[edit] In modern traditions
The eight-arrow symbol of Chaos is used in chaos magick, as is its 3D analog, the Chaos Sphere.
Alternative symbols of chaos (owing nothing to Moorcock) include the Sacred Chao of Discordianism and the Hands of Eris.
In hitch-hiker, punk, and backpacker subculture, this symbol, known as the Chaos Cross, frequently appears in tattoos. The right to the tattoo is generally passed from a current bearer of the symbol to a close friend, as a sort of rite of passage. In this context, the Chaos Cross is seen to symbolize freedom of thought and motion, strength, and dedication; also, it carries some mystical or occult connotations.
