Voorish Sign (spell)
The Voorish Sign originates in Arthur Machen's "The White People (fiction)".
Description
"I found that some one had drawn in red chalk a rough outline of a hand—a human hand—upon the wall. But it was the curious position of the fingers that struck me... a hand seen from the back, with the fingers clenched, and the top of the thumb protruded between the first and second fingers, and pointed downwards, as if to something below..."
- Arthur Machen's "The White People (fiction)"
The Voorish Sign, one of the only occult relics of a primitive post-Hyperborean race of beings known as the Voors, is a simple hand motion which can make the unseen visible for a few moments after it has been performed, or to increase spell-casting ability. It might also render the Voor invisible, and has appeared as a chalk drawings made by the Voors as a component of their curses, though it is unclear exactly how it works in this context; the written/drawn Sign may increase the potency of spells it is used with.
Appearances
Appearances include:
Rules
- This gesture can also be used to increase the maker's spell-casting ability by 5 percent. Making the Sign costs one Magic Point and one point of Sanity.
Heresies and Rumors
- According to some sources (unknown - perhaps Chaosium, Lin Carter, and/or Clark Ashton Smith?), the sign may involve lowering the middle finger and ring finger while crossing the thumb under the raised index finger and touching the lips and forehead, but Arthur Machen seems to have originally described it as a clenched hand with the thumb protruding between the first and second fingers and pointed downward.
