Heavy Metal 101 - The Sign Of The Horns

OK. So you're having a party and some rough customers drop by. They demand some Metallica be played on your stereo, and if you don't have any one of the dudes has "Master Of Puppets" in his Camaro, so don't worry. Time to lock up the liquor & your woman, because it's gonna get rough. After the guy with the Camaro finishes rewinding the cassette, a ritual begins. Mullets start flying, guttural howls emanate from the living room, and the dudes start punching each other in the chest. But something catches your eye and you begin to smile inside (because you remember this post from Rock Hard Times). Either these guys are retarded, are Texas Longhorn fans, love to surf, are trying to tell the infield there are two outs, or plan on having gay prison sex after they leave. They definitely don't know anything about Heavy Metal because you can tell by the hand signs they keep flashing each other. "Not even close, man," you whisper to yourself. "But how do I get these guys out the door & down the highway?" You set your jaw, squint your eyes, bend your knees & flash the correct, Ronnie James Dio-approved version of the "Mano Cornuta" - the sign of the horns that will drive these evil spirits from your friendly little gathering. They are stunned & amazed all at once. You are definitely a little weird they think - "just chill" they say as they grab Camaro boy's cassette & move on in search of some chicks that put out & maybe score some weed too. Whew...close call.

The sign of the horns - properly displayed above by Mr. Dio, has become iconic with fans of heavy metal music over the past 25 years. So much so, that even Dio has become tired with it's improper use & rarely uses it himself these days. "It's all right as long as it's accepted for what it was," Dio told (Kerrang!) magazine. "It was a more serious thing at the time, when I was with (BLACK) SABBATH. That was a band that was very dark, and that's what I wanted it to be. It was symbol of the darkness of that band, and not something to be passed on to BRITNEY SPEARS! An invention is an invention, I guess. It's become so damn polluted now. The people who are doing it don't know what it means and they have no idea that they shouldn't be doing it." Dio goes on to say, "The point is that you can't just flash it. You have to have a face that goes with it. There has to be some emotion behind it. It can't just be the raising of the arm, trying to get your fingers in the right position. And you'll notice that a lot of people are using the thumb now, too. When the thumb comes out it means 'I love you' either in Hawaiian or in sign language - I'm not sure which! So that's proof, once again, that these celebrities don't really have a clue."

Ronnie James Dio actually learned the sign from his grandmother, who is of Mediterranean descent. In those countries the sign is used as a superstitious way to ward off bad luck, albeit in a very vulgar way. In modern America, however, it has made appearances in circles dealing with the occult. Bram Stoker brought the corna to readers' attention in Dracula as a charm for Jonathan Harker. Anton LeVey popularized its use in the 1960's as many became enchanted by his Church Of Satan & its rituals. Who actually "invented" the sign & began using it in popular music performances has been a source of debate however. Ronnie James Dio probably deserves more credit than anyone as he began using it in the early 80's as the new lead singer for Black Sabbath to connect with the audience. Gene $immons, of course, has laid claim to inventing the sign as part of this demon character in the band Ki$$ during the early seventies. Even The Beatles got in on the game. On the cover of the Yellow Submarine album (1969), the cartoon of John Lennon's right hand is making the sign above Paul McCartney's head. For many fans, this was one of the many "Paul is dead" clues.

Anyhow, the sign of the horns is very similar to the "hang loose" Hawaiian hand sign & the sign language sign for "I love you." The difference is that that thumb is loose & to the side on these two hand signs. The sign of the horns has the thumb tucked in tight, covering the middle & ring finger in your palm. To "hex" someone, you simply angle your wrist downward and point your pointer and pinkie finger at someone. You can even make the sign with both hands, pull in your pointer finger on each hand, & bring both hands together to make a mega devil's horn. Sweet, huh? Whichever way you prefer you've got to have a heavy-metal attitude behind it, that is the key. Dude, just don't be like a loser...or a posuer, dude. OK, dude?

So there you have it, you first course in Heavy Metal 101. Enjoy the poll, while I get to work on my two boys. They're still a little green as you can tell...that's their only excuse.

Rock on...

DJ