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Originally posted by Siberia

Haha!
Here's no big deal, usual rock-fan cumpliment, but in Chile that very gesture symbolizes a man who's been cheated on by his wife/mistress/girlfriend.

And the American 'ok' gesture here is taken as badly as the middle finger one.

Gotta love different cultures...

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Originally posted by Valiant Dancer

[quote]Originally posted by Siberia

IIRC, the OK gesture in the US equates to calling someone a homosexual.

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This is a hand gesture which has been misinterpreted as a Satanic recognition signal in many books on Satanism. For example, Michael Warnke refers to this gesture as a recognition signal for "the Brotherhood" in The Satan Seller. The cornu gesture is prominently displayed by all of the people on the cover of Frattarola's America's Best Kept Secret. Mary Ann Herold lists it twice in A Basic Manual on the Occult for Law Enforcement Agencies. A cornu, also described as an "Italian Horn", is listed as a "Demonic Symbol" on the Madrak's Demonbusters web site.[88] The glossary of the Watch Network's Be Aware! handbook defines "Horned Hand" as "The 'horned hand' is the sign of recognition between those who are in the occult".[89] Thomas Carder's ChildCare Action Project/Christian Analysis of American Culture web site defines the "horned hand or the mano cornuto" thus:

"This gesture is the satanic salute, a sign of recognition between and allegiance of members of satanism or other unholy groups. It is also called the Il Cornuto. In other 'circles,' whether displayed as a hand gesture or worn as an amulet, it is supposed to ward off evil (the evil eye) as are the hamsa hand (three finger - two thumbed hand), the eye-in-hand (eye in the palm), and the mano fico ('mano' meaning hand and 'fico' meaning woman's genitals)."[90]

Eventually the cornu or "horned hand" showed up in several police manuals. Lou Sloat's Texas Ritualistic Crime Information Network Occult Crime Manual lists the cornu as a "horned hand sign" in an untitled list of symbols attributed to Satanism.[91] Other examples include:

# "A satanic salute or sign among members; represents devil's horns. Often used innocently by adolescent heavy metal groupies without knowing its alternate meaning."[92]

# "Originally used by Pseudo-Satanists as a secret hand sign to gain access to rituals, the sign is now widely used by Self-styled Satanists to indicate that they are in league with Satan."[93]

The "cornu", "mano cornuto" or "horned hand" salute is made by raising one's hand with the index and little fingers extended and the other fingers and thumb folded against the palm. In different contexts this means quite a few things, including the following:

# In Wicca this is used in some traditions as the sign of the Horned God. Warnke may have been aware of this, as he is using it in reference to what he describes as "witches" here.

# In some Native American traditions this is the sign of the Buffalo.

# Anton LaVey adopted this as a Satanic salute, resulting in it being advertised as such by books such as these.

# It is a recognition signal used by the Piru (Bloods) gang members in Los Angeles.

# It is a symbol of the Texas Longhorns football team.

# It is a slang hand sign in American sign language for the colloquial expression "[bad word deleted]".

This last interpretation of this hand sign pretty much sums up the content of most of the books that list it as a purely Satanic symbol. Incidentally, the image of the hand with the eye in the palm that Carder referred to is a common image in Tibet and in the art of the Native American mound builders.

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