The shining

"The asterisk is placed against [that which has been] omitted, in order for what seems to be omitted may shine forth." —St. Isidore of Seville, Etymolgiae

(as quoted in Torbjörn Lundmark's Quirky Qwerty)

* * *

Trivia: What is the triple asterisk section-break indicator above (* * *) known as?

Brodsky beat

From Dzyd Joshua:

Probably the strangest mass-market asterisk movie is *batteries not included from 1987, in which alien machines save a New York "tenement" from destruction. But the best asteriskwork in any medium has to be ***: a novel from 1994 by forgotten Michael Brodsky....In his book *** is a cipher, a late commercial version of V: it's a product, an artwork, a mystical (Kabbalistic) force.