Star-Stones

Stones that give protection against the races that serve the Great Old Ones (3).

Shape

The great majority of the star-stones are shaped like a five-pointed star. [AWD Curwen, Depths (online text), Gable (online text), Gorge, Island, Keeper, Lurker, Middle, OutThere, Sandwin, Sky, Space, Spawn, Witches]

Star-stones found in Lake Michigan were precise and symmetrical. [Depths (online text)] Others are described as roughly shaped [Witches] or having a rough surface [Island, Gorge, OutThere].

Color and Material

The star-stones are usually described as grey [Curwen, Gorge, Island, Keeper, Lurker, Sky] or grey-green [Gorge].

The type of stone is never identified. Claiborne Boyd said it was "made from some manner of grey stone unfamiliar to me" [Gorge]. Abel Keane said it was "made of a stone material foreign to me" [Sky]. The stone was soft enough for John Tennant's knife-blade to leave marks when he scraped one clean [Depths (online text)].

Sizes

Typically the star-stones are small enough to carry in your hand [Gable (online text), OutThere, Spawn], and no larger than the palm of your hand [Depths (online text), Island, Spawn].

Various people were able to fit star-stones in their pocket [Curwen, Island, OutThere]. One of the star-stones also fit in a cigarette pack [Spawn].

However, the star-stones from Lake Michigan varied in size, with some being substantially larger [Depths (online text)].

Engravings

The star-stones from Lake Michigan had no inscriptions [Depths (online text)].

Jason Warwick's star-stone was decorated: "On it was roughly drawn a smaller pentagon, and within this, a circular thing that looked like an eye" [Spawn]. The design sounds like a variant of the Elder Sign (2).

Martin Keane had star-stones that he said were "among the thousands bearing the Seal of R’lyeh which closed the prisons of the Ancient Ones. They are the seals of the Elder Gods." [Witches] Keane did not describe the Seal of R’lyeh, but it is elsewhere said to be an image of Cthulhu in R'lyeh [Seal].

Nayland Colum referred to "the grey five-pointed stones bearing the seal of the Elder Gods" [Keeper]. This sounds like a reference to the Elder Sign (2), but conceivably refer to the Seal of R'lyeh instead.

One of the star-stones from Cthulhu's risen island was covered with hieroglyphs, which Andrew Phelan said were "utterly beyond my understanding!" [Curwen]

The star-stone that imprisoned Something from Out There beneath an English priory was inscribed with a Latin prayer by St. Augustine [OutThere]. It seemed that the star-stone was far older than St. Augustine's inscription.

Protection

The Necronomicon says: "For within the five-pointed star carven of grey stone from ancient Mnar lies armor against witches and daemons, against the Deep Ones, the Dholes, the Voormis, the Tcho-Tcho, the Abominable Mi-Go, the Shoggoths, the Valusians and all such peoples and beings who serve the Great Old Ones and their Spawn..." [Curwen]. Another version of the quote says that the star-stones also protect against Ghasts [Lurker]. Andrew Phelan recited a similar list of species that the star-stones protect against, but he also mentioned the Voormis. [Sky]

Laban Shrewsbury and his followers carried star-stones that protected them from Deep Ones on several occasions [Curwen, Gorge, Island, Keeper, Sky]. However, the star-stones never seemed to stop the Deep Ones from following Shrewsbury's group from place to place. By contrast, Mis' Bishop believed the "Sign uv perteckshun" could prevent you being followed by beings from Outside. It seems likely that the "Sign of perteckshun" that she referred to was the Elder Sign (2) that appears on star-stones. [Lurker]

When the "spectral wind" blew in the Nameless City, Shrewsbury said that the star-stones would keep them safe. Probably he meant that the star-stones would protect them from the ghosts of the Nameless City denizens [Keeper].

A star-stone protected Geoffrey Malvern from Something from Out There [OutThere].

The star-stones were effective against the Cthulhu spawn in Lake Michigan [Depths (online text)].

Limits of Protection

Though the star-stones protect against various races that serve the Great Old Ones (3), they are less potent or powerless against the Great Old Ones themselves [Curwen, Keeper].

The star-stones also lack power against the immediate servitors or body-servants of the Great Old Ones [Curwen, Gorge, Sky]. We know little of these body-servants, who are never named. But their presence is sometimes betrayed by earth tremors and the sound of "great, sluggish, sucking footsteps slogging along in the waters of the earth" [Sky].

For simplicity, we'll use the term "minions" refer to those lesser servants such as the Deep Ones and the shoggoths who are subject to the star-stones; and "body servants" to refer to the more powerful servants who are immune to the stones.

A star-stone provided protection from the creature called Something from Out There. However, Duncan Vernon worried that if the creature killed more people, it might become too strong to be controlled by the star-stone. [OutThere]

As Barriers

The star-stones evidently exert a repulsive force against the minions, and can be used to form barriers that they cannot cross.

Thus, Andrew Phelan and Abel Keane were able to trap Ahab Marsh in a house by circling the house with star-stones, especially near the doors and windows. When they lit the house on fire, Ahab "slowly backed into the flames, rather than dare the power of those stones laid end to end around the house, whimpering and crying bestially." [Sky]

Similarly, Martin Keane was able to trap the possessed Mrs. Potter in a house by placing a star-stone at each of the doors and windows. However, when Keane set the house afire, the entity that possessed Mrs. Potter was able to escape through the chimney. [Witches]

Asa Sandwin used a similar barrier, but in his case it was to keep the minions out of his house so he could hide from them. He placed star-stones on his window-sills, but perished because he forgot to protect an attic window. [Sandwin]

As Weapons

The star-stones have some use as an offensive weapon. For example, Duncan Vernon pursued Something from Out There with a star-stone and was able to drive the creature into a casket. [OutThere]

For some beings, the touch of the star-stone can actually be fatal. When a cigarette pack containing a star-stone was given to the creature masquerading as Jason Warwick, the creature disintegrated. [Spawn]

A letter to Septimus Bishop said that he would be able to return after death unless he was destroyed by "the Sign" [Middle].

Martin Keane and Williams (2) were able to expel possessing entities from members of the Potter family by touching them with star-stones [Witches].

Power to Imprison

The star-stones have been used to imprison some entities. Thus, Something from Out There was imprisoned in a casket with a star-stone on top [OutThere]. Ossadagowah was imprisoned in a pit under a slab with a star-stone-like design [Lurker]. A large number of star-stones were used to imprison the spawn of Cthulhu beneath Lake Michigan [Depths (online text)]. Septimus Bishop and has familiar were imprisoned within a pier of the Crary Road bridge in a mass of concrete marked with a five-pointed star, with a star-stone embedded in the center [Middle].

The star-stones also play some role in imprisoning the Great Old Ones (3)/Ancient Ones (2). A member of the Great Race said that the Ancient Ones (2) who remained on Earth were imprisoned under the five-pointed star which was the seal of the Elder Gods (1) [Space]. Martin Keane said there are thousands of star-stones bearing the Seal of R’lyeh which closed the prisons of the Ancient Ones (2) [Witches].

According to the Necronomicon, Cthulhu "was tak’n by Those Whom He Defy’d, and thrust into ye Neth’rmost Deeps und’r ye Sea, and placed within ye barnacl’d Tower that is said to rise amidst ye great ruin that is ye Sunken City (R’lyeh), and seal’d within by ye Elder Sign" [Lurker]. Additionally, Laban Shrewsbury and Andrew Phelan found star-stones around a portal to Cthulhu on a risen portion of R'lyeh; Shrewsbury said "The earthquake evidently broke away the encrustation of these talismans put there by the Elder Gods when Cthulhu was imprisoned. This is one of the doorways to the Outside." [Curwen]

It seems curious that the star-stones were used to imprison the Great Old Ones, since it is elsewhere stated that the star-stones have power only against the lesser minions, and not the Great Old Ones themselves. Possibly the star-stones have a stronger power for imprisoning beings than for protecting from those same beings once they are free. Another possibility is that the star-stones were actually placed to keep minions such as the Deep Ones from trying to set their masters free.

Arranging for Increased Power

Some of the spawn of Cthulhu were imprisoned under Lake Michigan by numerous star stones that "had been laid in a strata or lines along the bottom." The spawn began to escape after some of the star-stones were disturbed. Jordan Holmes and Sharp set about re-imprisoning the spawn by placing star-stones in the pattern of a large five-pointed star, with the five largest star-stones marking the points. [Depths (online text)]

Origins: Mnar and the Elder Gods

Ultimately, the star-stones are supposed to come from the Elder Gods (1). The star-stones are "blessed and sacred, made powerful by the Elder Gods" [Depths (online text)]. The star-stones have the power of the Elder Ones in their magic [Sky]. The star-stones are "impregnated with the power of these Elder Gods" [Spawn]. The monk Clithanus spoke of the star-stones being used by holy ones who whispered "the secret words, the words known only to them, translated by them into this language from the ancient gibberings in which the Elder Gods had given them" [Depths (online text)].

The star-stones are weapons "used eons past, when the Elder Gods fought and conquered the hosts of evil for possession of Earth" [Spawn]. "Those Elder Gods imprisoned the [Cthulhu spawn] by the power of the five-pointed stars" [Depths]. It was the Elder Gods who placed star-stones around the portal to Cthulhu [Curwen]. The Elder Gods themselves are a power greater than the star-stones they created [Depths].

Yet, the star-stones are said to be from ancient Mnar [Curwen, Lurker, Sky]. This was a human kingdom from only around 10,000 years ago, long after the Elder Gods imprisoned the Great Old Ones. So how did the star-stones come to be associated with Mnar? One could speculate that the people of Mnar uncovered a stash of star-stones that had been left by the Elder Gods. Or possibly the people of Mnar learned old prayers that could infuse stones with the power of the Elder Gods.

Workarounds

It seems clear that the star-stones provide some additional protection, beyond being a mere barrier to prevent the minions from approaching. If the star-stones acted only as a barrier, then the Deep Ones would have been able to kill off Laban Shrewsbury and his assistants by any of a number of indirect means, such as long-distance rifles, explosive booby traps, or ignorant human thugs hired as assassins. The star-stones must therefore affect the minions with some kind of mental compulsion or inhibition.

However, there are some limited examples where human servants of the Great Old Ones work around the power of the star-stones. Thus, Ambrose Dewart (while possessed by Richard Billington) and Misquamacus could not touch a slab decorated with a star containing the Elder Sign. So Dewart convinced the innocent Stephen Bates to lift the slab alone. [Lurker] Similarly, the possessed Mr. Potter threatened to shoot his daughter unless the heroes removed a star-stone from her chest [Witches].

Power to Command

According to the Necronomicon, "He who hath the five-pointed stone shall find himself able to command all beings who creep, swim, crawl, walk, or fly even to the source from which there is no returning" [Curwen, Keeper].

There are few available examples of the star-stones being used to command anything. However, Laban Shrewsbury did invoke "the five-pointed star" as part of a necromantic incantation to raise the dead Abdul Alhazred [Keeper].

On another occasion, Shrewsbury showed a "strange, five-pointed star-shaped stone" to a Peruvian Indian who was a member of the Cthulhu cult. Strangely, the cultist became less suspicious and more cooperative. [Curwen] The cultist's reaction is strange because the star-stone should have made it obvious that Shrewsbury was an enemy of the cult, not a friend. There are various possible ways to explain the cultist's reaction: (1) he was woefully underinformed, and could not tell a friendly talisman from an enemy one; (2) Shrewsbury showed him a talisman that was not actually a star-stone, but some other kind of Cthulhu-friendly talisman that happened to be the same shape; or (3) Shrewsbury was able to use the power of the stone to confuse the cultist, and more or less hypnotize him into believing that Shrewsbury was a friend. If the latter conjecture is true, this might be an example of the star-stones' power to command.

Felt by Humans

Some people notice a sense of benevolent power from the star-stones. When William Currie held the star-stone inscribed with St. Augustine's prayer, he "was conscious of a strange sense of power, a kind of benign strength that seemed to flow through me as a medium from some other place . . . Moreover, there was in addition as noticeable a sense of urgent direction, as if there was something connected with the stone that most vitally needed to be done" [OutThere]. Bassett felt that a star-stone "gave off a definite atmosphere of incredible age, radiating it as if it were alive. There was, too, a sense of power that seemed to lie in the stone." [Spawn]

The star-stones can affect humans the same way they affect the minions, if those humans are servants of the Great Old Ones. Seneca Lapham commented: "Richard Billington has had enough traffic with those Outside to be subject to the same strictures to which they in their own dimensions are subject. In short, to the Elder Sign" [Lurker]. Wilbur Akeley saw an old man flee when a woman approached with a star-stone [Gable (online text)].

Sensed by the minions

Some evil beings are able to sense the presence or the approach of the star-stones. Duncan Vernon said that Something from Other There would feel the power emanating from the stone [OutThere].

Martin Keane said that that the thing possessing Mrs. Potter knew they were coming, but could not reach them past the talisman of the stone. On the other hand, Keane and Williams (2) were able to approach Mr. Potter and the the Potter children and surprise them with the star-stones. [Witches] It is possible that Mrs. Potter was better able to sense the star-stones because she was the seat of the possessing entity's intelligence.

By contrast, various other minions seem unable to sense the proximity of the star-stones. The fake Jason Warwick accepted a cigarette pack containing a star-stone [Spawn]. Andrew Phelan and Abel Keane were able to bring a large number of star-stones to the Gilman House hotel in Innsmouth without raising any suspicion. Later, they were able to place the star-stones around the Marsh mansion without being noticed by the Deep One inside. [Sky]

The star-stones can have an oppressive effect on Deep Ones hybrids, even if they are still in human form and have not yet begun to transition. Thus, Horvath Blayne found that a star-stone seemed to burn him, even through his clothing. [Island]

Glowing

Rarely, the star-stones have been observed to glow when their power is exerted. After a star-stone killed the fake Jason Warwick, the stone glowed like a living green flame [Spawn]. When Jordan Holmes recited a prayer to banish the Cthulhu spawn, the stars on the barge glowed like fire [Depths (online text)].

Range and Duration of Power

The Necronomicon avers that the star-stones shall have power "In the land of Yhe as in great R’lyeh, in Y’ha-nthlei as in Yoth, in Yuggoth as in Zothique, in N’kai as in K’n-yan, in Kadath-in-the-Cold-Waste, as in the Lake of Hali, in Carcosa as in Ib" [Curwen]. The list includes places on earth, both past and future, as well as earth's dreamlands and distant stars.

Nevertheless, the Necronomicon also says that "even as the stars wane and grow cold, as the suns die, and the spaces between the stars grow more great, so wanes the power of all things—of the five-pointed star-stone as of the spells put upon the Great Old Ones by the benign Elder Gods, and there shall come a time as once there was a time, and it shall be shown that That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange eons even death may die." [Curwen, Lurker]

Written Sources

Written sources about the star-stones include the Necronomicon and the Confessions of Clithanus [Depths (online text)].

In Folklore

Asaph Gilman believed that five-pointed decorations in the Tonga Islands and New Caledonia were inspired by the star-signs [Gorge].

Celaeno and Byakhee

Laban Shrewsbury advised his assistants to keep a star-stone in their possession before calling the Byakhee to take them to Celaeno [Curwen, Gorge, Keeper]. However, the star-stones do not seem to be necessary to control the Byakhee, as Shrewsbury said he did not have a star-stone on his first visit. Instead, Shrewsbury said they needed the star-stone to avoid being tortured, as he was. [Curwen] It is not clear who the torturers were, or where the torture occurred, partly because this is a two-stage trip: the Byakhee take them to the Nameless City, where their physical bodies remain dormant while their astral selves travel to Celaeno [Keeper]. Presumably the star-stones are left with their physical bodies in the Nameless City. So either the star-stones are to protect them from being physically tortured in the Nameless City, or else the star-stones somehow remotely protect their astral selves from being tortured on Celaeno. Or perhaps the "astral self" of the star-stone travels with them to Celaeno, so as to be able to protect them "astrally"?

Meaning of the Shape

Clithanus wrote that "the five points [mark] the directions of the earth and the secret place beyond the earth from which the things of Evil had first come" [Depths (online text)]. The "secret place" might be in the constellation Orion, where Rigel and Betelgeuse were the source of the Elder Gods (1) and their slaves such as Lloigor and Zhar, according to Dr. Fo-Lan [Lair]. Or it could be a reference to the constellation Taurus, home of the Hyades and source of Hastur [Island, Keeper].

The star-stones' shape resembles the traditional pentagram that is much used in magic spells.

Variants

There are some instances of stones that resemble star-stones but have an overall different shape.

Seneca Lapham had two ovoid-shaped grey stones, each small enough to affix to a bracelet or armband. These stones were engraved with "a rough star of five points, centered with a broken lozenge framing what appeared to be a pillar of flame"; in other words, the Elder Sign (2). This stone apparently gave some horrible pain to Ambrose Dewart when he shook hands with Lapham. Since Dewart was possessed by the evil Richard Billington at the time, it appears that the ovoid stone was acting like a star-stone. [AWD Lurker]

In one of Lovecraft's fragments, we learn that the Wampanaug wise man named Misquamacus used a large, flat grey slab carved with the Elder Sign (1) to imprison Ossadagowah in a pit [HPL Sorceries (online text)]. Derleth elaborated this information by specifying that the slab seemed to be limestone, and the surface had a carved decoration "in the rough shape of a star, in the center of which there appeared to be a caricature of a single giant eye; but it was not an eye, rather a broken lozenge in shape with certain lines suggestive of flames or perhaps a solitary pillar of flame" [AWD Lurker]. The star-shaped decorative carving recalls the appearance of the star-stones, and the slab's overall usage seems to be similar.

Aka: five-pointed stones.

Compare with: magic sign; soapstones. The material is never identified as soapstone, and so probably differs from the five-pointed soapstones of the Antarctic Old Ones.

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