PEACE

This week I am going to discuss the Peace Sign. The Original peace sign pictured on the left consists of a circle, a vertical line, and two downward sloping lines. This peace sign was something seen on clothing, necklaces, notebooks, and nail art in my elementary/ middle school years. Now more often we use the two fingers (index and middle) pictured on the right as the "Peace Sign." The finger peace sign became more prevalent when it was seen in the popularly known iPhone keyboard option called the Emoji. We now use the term peace as a form of a greeting. When leaving from your friends, or acquaintances often times people will hold up the peace sign with their fingers as a form of goodbye. Not only has it been seen as a greeting sign, but it is also seen in pictures for some odd reason as a pose. The cool thing to do was hold up a peace sign during a photo with a group of your friends. Many known people have been seen using this symbol like Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill, and Yasser Arafat. The peace sign was founded by a man named Gerald Herbert Holtom. Gerald Herbert Holtom worked with the Direct Action Committee (DAC) against nuclear war in 1958. The BBC quotes Gerald on what the peace sign symbolizes,  "I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya's peasant before the firing squad.” The sign became the logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. An interesting meaning of the symbol is its ties with Satanism. A bigger idea that the sign introduce is some people believe the sign began as a symbol of satanic benediction during rituals.  The V peace sign with your index and middle finger symbolizes the meaning for the Hebrew letter for V, which is ‘Nail.’ Nail is one of the secret titles of Satan within the brotherhood of Satanism.

Rock On

Even from a young age I remember doing the "Rock on Sign." You know, the one with index and pinky up, with the other fingers down to form "devil horns?" There has always been mixed emotions on this sign ever since the beginning. Is it a harmless sign to promote heavy metal culture, or is it a sign of worshiping the devil?

I think so often we see the sign and think "Hail Satan," as I'm sure that's where the sign originally began in meaning - as it did begin from a darker, edgier type of music. However,I found an interesting article on premierguitar.com where the author John Bohlinger found an interview with Black Sabbath's Ronnie James Dio (who contributed to an increase in popularity with this gesture) who reported that the way he used the sign. He said, "It’s not the devil’s sign like we’re here with the devil. It’s an Italian thing I got from my grandmother called the 'Malocchio.' It’s to ward off the Evil Eye or to give the Evil Eye ("What Does the Horn Hand Mean")." If that's true, then one of the most popular bands could have actually been using this sign to get rid of the evil eye...or give it. But this sign isn't just used in music anymore. Think about going to a University of Texas game, as this is their "hook 'em horns." Certainly in this situation the stadium is referencing bull horns, not the Devil's horns. Either way, this signal, even with a dark beginning, has morphed into a symbol of pop culture in general. At any concert I have ever been to, whether it be a country concert, pop concert, or rock concert - I have seen this signal be given. I think it is more to say "Keep playing, you're going great" rather than the edgier idea of summoning the Devil to the convert (of course).

 One thing I really found interesting during my research on this topic was the transformation of this gesture in pop culture. Of course it may have started with darker bands trying to sign they were "worshiping the Devil," but it has really transformed into being something much less. It is a signal that all people connect with in all types of music, because it simply translates now into "rock on" - with all signs of the Devil left behind.




What Does The Horn Hand Mean?