📝In Common Lisp, global variables use star *naming* *convention* because of dynamic scoping

source

Seibel₂₀₀₅

In Common Lisp, all global variables are automatically “special” (use dynamic scoping). Therefore, it is important to use *naming* *convention* to distinguish dynamically-scoped variables from lexically-scoped ones.

Not doing so could lead to unexpected change of the value, or shadowing of the variable higher up the stack.