MEANING: This symbol was created by Michael Moorcock and is associated with the Elric/Stormbringer "Eternal Champion" series. Believed to represent the energy known as Nwyvre. But, you know, Chaos is really hard to pin down…
This symbol is also referred to as Arms of Chaos, the Arrows of Chaos, the Chaos Star, the Chaos Cross, the Chaosphere, or the Symbol of Eight. Michael Moorcock said of his Chaos Star:
"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 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."
It has also been found on the Thoth Tarot deck (Aleister Crowley) as the 8 of Wands.
Since its inception by Michael, the Chaos Star has been picked up by Role Playing Games (we see a group at the Maryland Renaissance Festival wearing homemade tunics with a red Chaos Star every year), album artwork for various types of Metal Bands (who knew there were so many different types!), a tattoo on a TV Chef (hmmm...I'm thinking...personally of course...that I don't want to bring Chaos into my kitchen... says Katrina), and on...Thank you Wikipedia!
THE CARVING: My Carvings are single pieces of western red cedar, designed and carved to be wall hangings. Each piece is finished with a blend of clear oils that brings out the natural color of the wood. For more information on the process of creation, please see my profile.
SIZE: The last picture has the piece on a quilting board, lined up on the 1 inch marks. So subtract 1 inch from the height and width for the stock size. Measurements may vary slightly from piece to piece.
