Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Star and Crescent

The star and crescent is the best-known attribute used to represent Islam. It appears on the flags of many countries in the Islamic world, like Turkey and Pakistan.

Surprisingly, this symbol is not Muslim in origin. Rather, it was a polytheistic icon adopted during the spread of Islam, and its use today is sometimes contraversal in the Muslim world. The crescent and star are generally said to be Islamic symbols, but historians say that they were the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, not of Islam as a whole.

It is important to know that Islam has few traditional symbols, and the crescent moon and star are not ones that are recognized as traditional symbols by Muslims. The symbol is due to cultural circulation and spread of Islam to the Ottoman turks who ruled a big area and aswell put the crescent moon and star attribute on their flag. It has since then become associated with Islam.

Buddhist Wheel Symbol - Dharmachakra

The wheel is one of the a most important Buddhist symbols, as it represents the teching of the Buddha. The Buddha was the one who "turned the turn the dharma" and thus the wheel symbol is the Dharmachakra, or "wheel of law." The Tibetan term for this symbol, chos kyi'khor lo, means "the wheel of transformation."

The wheel aswell represents the endless cycle of samsara, or rebirth, which can only be escaped by means of the Buddha's teachings.

Today, the Dharmachakra appears in the art of every Buddhist culture.

Some Tibetan wrathful deities are depicted brandishing a wheel as a weapon to beat evil and ignorance.

Infinity Symbol

The precise origin of the infinity symbol is unclear. One possibility is suggested by the name it is sometimes called—the lemniscate, from the Latin lemniscus, meaning "ribbon".

The mathematical symbol for infinity was devised in 1655 by mathemetician John Wallis

The religious aspect of the infinity symbol predates its mathematical origins. It has been found in Tibetan rock carvings; the ouroboros, or infinity snake, is often depicted in this shape. In the tarot, the lemniscate represents the balance of forces and is often associated with the magician card.

World Triad Meaning

Originally an oriental symbol, it was "adopted by western Gnostics as an symbol of cosmic creativity, the threefold attributes of reality or fate, and the eternally spiraling cycles of time. In Japan it was maga-tama or mitsu tomoe, the world soul. In Bhutan and Tibet, it is still accepted as the Catholic Mandala, a sign of the Trimurti. Like the yin yang, it aswell represents eternity. This is aswell the attribute for U.S. Department of Transportation. Another Gnostic attribute is the uroborus.

Hexagram - Star Of David

Six pointed star, when surronded by a circle, it represents the "divine mind" (a affected of God's wisdom) to many occult groups through the centuries. Many still use it in occult rituals. But to Jewish people, it is their Star of David.

While generally used as a symbol of Jewish identity it is used aswell in other historical, religious and cultural contexts, for archetype in Islam, and Eastern Religions as well in Occultism.

generally recognized as a attribute of Judaism and Jewish identity and is aswell known colloquially as the Jewish star or "Star of David". Its usage as a sign of Judaism began in the Middle Ages, though its religious usage began earlier, with the current earliest archeological being a stone bearing the shield from the arch of a 3-4th century synagogue in the Galilee. A other enduring symbol of Judaism, the menorah, has been in use back BCE.

Fleur De Lis

The fleur-de-lis is a stylized lily (in French, fleur means flower, and lis agency lily) or iris that is used as a decoration or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, and symbolic", especialy in heraldry.

Also called lily of France, it was first an adaptation of the Gaulish lily representing the Virgin Juno. Among goddess worshippers, it had several meanings, including the Triple Goddess. It appeared in Arthurian legends as well as on the French (and other national) "coat-of-arms" and aristocratic or military emblems. It has aswell been an emblem for the Boy Scouts.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Eye Of Horus Meaning

The eye of horus also known as Wedjat or Oudjat is the left lunar eye, connected with the moon.The right eye is the eye of RA and associated with the sun.The horus eye sign is worn for protection and to ward of angry evil spirits.

Though some sources say there is no distinction at all. The Eye represents the eye that was lost by Horus when he fought with Seth over the murder of his father, Osiris. The symbol is worn for to ward off evil spirits.

The Eye of Horus also symbolises bringing of wisdom and our ability to see with clarity and truthfulness.

Ouroboros

Ouroboros is a attribute used in ancient cultures all over the world. It consists of a snake bitting its own tail, basic a circle, and like other circular motifs, it can symbolize unity or the cyclical nature of many aspects of life. Ouroboros is present in the cultures of ancient China, Egypt, and the Americas, also in some cultures of Europe and West Africa. Plato describes the ouroboros as the first living creature on Earth. Sometimes, ouroboros is depicted as a dragon.

Jerusalem Cross Symbolism

In medieval heraldry Jerusalem Cross symbolized the "Crusader's Kingdom of Jerusalem" generally displayed on shields and banners after the initial battle in the action to recapture Jerusalem during the Crusades.
Some have linked the four corner crosses the "holy" wounds of Jesus or the four gospels.
Similar shapes can be find on Hindu and Buddhist temples or coins and in various earth-centered cultures with absolutely different sets of meanings.

Minotaur Myth

The Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a creaturee that was part man and part bull. It dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction built for King Minos of Crete and designed by the artist Daedalus and his son Icarus who were ordered to build it to hold the Minotaur.
The historic site of Knossos is usually identified as the site of the labyrinth. The Minotaur was killed by Theseus.
Some modern mythologists regard the Minotaur as a solar personification and a Minoan adaptation of the Baal -Moloch of the Phoenicians. The slaying of the Minotaur by Theseus in that case indicates the breaking of Athenian tributary relations with Minoan Crete.

Fasces

Fasces, a plurale tantum, from the Latin fascis, symbolizes sumary power and jurisdiction, and "strength through unity".

The traditional Roman fasces consisted of a bundle of white birch rods, tied together with a red ribbon into a cylinder, and often with a bronze axe (or sometimes two) amongst the rods, with the blade(s) on the side, projecting from the bundle.

It was used as a attribute of the Roman Republic in many circumstances, including getting carried in processions, the way a flag might be carried today.

Labrys Meaning

Labrys is a term for a doubleheaded axe, accepted to the Classical Greeks as pelekys or sagaris, and to the Romans as a bipennis.

The labrys symbols are found in Minoan, Thracian, Greek, and Byzantine religion, mythology, and art, dating from the Middle Bronze Age onwards. The labrys aswell appears in African religious mythology (see Shango).

The labrys was former a symbol of Greek fascism. Today it is sometimes used as a attribute of Hellenic Neopaganism. As an LGBT attribute it represents lesbianism and matriarchal power.

Ankh Cross

The Ankh Cross represents life (immortality) and death, male and female, balance. It can aswell represent zest, joy of life, and energy. It's related closely to the looped cross that can mean fertility and life.

The gods are often seen holding an ankh to someone's lips this is considered to be an offering of "The Breath of Life". The breath you will need in afterlife.

Like a lot of religious or spiritual symbols, the Ankh Cross doesn't have a single meaning. The following extracts from books on symbols might help you get a feeling for it, though.

Monday, September 28, 2009

High Voltage Symbol

The term characterizes electrical circuits, in which the voltage used is the cause of particular safety concerns and insulation requirements.
High voltage is often present when storms created downed power lines. Power centers are the source of a great deal of electricity and should be respected as such. Construction sites can also have high voltage areas when there is a need for electricity to power the site. This symbol puts one in mind of a lightning bolt or a staggered exclamation point.

Toxic Symbol

The skull and crossbones symbol, consisting of a human skull and two bones crossed together beneath the skull, is today used as a warning of danger, particularly in regard to poisonous substances.

The symbol, or some variations , was aswell featured on the Jolly Roger, the traditional flag of European and American pirates. It is aswell used by Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University, as well as the international male collegiate fraternity Phi Kappa Sigma. It is aswell a part of the WHMIS home symbols placed on containers to confirm that the substance inside is dengerous in a way.

This Symbol with the words "very toxic" is used to label a substance which, if it is inhaled or ingested or if it penetrates the skin, may involve extremly serious, acute or chronic health risks or even death.

Biohazard Sign

All parts of the Biohazard sign can be drawn with a compass and straightedge. The basic outline of the sign is a plain trefoil, which is three circles overlapping each other equaly like in a triple venn diagram with the overlapping parts erased.

The Biohazard sign has a rich and fascinating history abaut its creation. While it seems abstract at first glance, both biologists and laymen quick and easily grasp its warning. Only fifty years ago, the symbol was absolutely unknown, but today we see the biohazard attribute in clinics, labs, and even on skateboards! This now-ubiquitous attribute was created with some thorough testing and decision making by scientists and psychologists over 40 years ago.

Radiation Sign


The international radiation sign (trefoil) first appeared in 1946, at the University of California, Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. At the time, it was rendered as magenta, and was set on a blue background. The modern adaptation is black against a yellow background, and it is drawn with a central circle of radiuss R, an centralized radius of 1.5R and an external radius of 5R for the blades, which are afar from each other by 60В°.

Trefoil

Trefoil (from Latin trifolium, "three-leaved plant", French trefle, German Dreiblatt and Dreiblattbogen) is a clear form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings acclimated in architectonics and Christian symbolism. The term is aswell activated other symbols of three-fold shape.

Trefoil is a term in Gothic architectonics given to the ornament foliation or cusping introduced in thehead of window-lights, tracery, panellings, etc., in which the center takes the form of a three-lobed leaf (formed from three partially-overlapping circles). One of the ancient examples is in the plate architecture at Winchester (1222 - 1235). The fourfold adaptation of an architectural trefoil is a quatrefoil.

A trefoil accumulated with an equilaternal triangle was aswell a moderately accepted symbol of the Christian Trinity during the late Middle Ages in some locations of Europe.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Ichthus - Fish Christian Symbol

The fish was an early attribute of Christianity, since the Greek word for fish, ichthus, is an acronym (the aboriginal letter of each word) for the Greek phrase Iesous Christos Theou Huios Soter, which means "Jesus Christ, of God the Son, Savior." It is used as the graffiti, and was used as a secret password if Christians were being persecuted by the Romans. The sign of the Ichthus was simple to draw consisting basically of two arcs.

The Tau Cross (Crux Commisa)

The Tau Cross is named from the Hebrew alphabet's last letter 'X', which was pronounced 'Taw'. This same sound transliterates to the Greek letter 'T'. Both the 'X' and 'T' shapes are used in forms of the Chi-Rho Cross.

Tau Cross gets its name from the similarity between letter 'T' and a walking aid. Indeed, the Christian cross is used by many people for their jurney through life.

Crux Commissa means a cross a cross made by joining or attaching pieces together. With the cross bar used as a carring handle, it is called Crux Ansata and represents a attribute of divinity on Egyptian and Assyro-Babylonian sculptures, such as Isis and Osiris. (See aswell the Ankh Cross) It was the symbol of immortality, life in general, and sometimes a phallic symbol. A pagan sign of the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, this cross was a attribute of the Roman god Mithras and the Greek Attis, and their forerunner Tammuz, the Sumerian God of Sun, consort of the goddess Ishtar. Conveniently, the original form of the letter 'T' was the initial letter of the god of Tammuz. During baptism, this cross was marked on the foreheads by the pagan priest.

The Latin Cross

The Latin cross (crux ordinaria) is a attribute of Christianity even admitting it was acclimated as a pagan symbol for millennia before the foundation of the Christian Church.

It is sometimes referred to as the Protestant cross because it is plain, without any corpus attached. It does not deny the suffering on the cross but focuses the mind on Christ's ressurection and is most common in Protestant churches. When the cross includes a corpus, it is usually referred to as a crucifix and emphasises Christ's suffering and sacrifize which gives meaning and sense to His resurrection.

The Latin cross is apparent on several flags; Recife (Brazil), Pernambuco (Brazil), and Tucuman (Argentina), for example. Heraldic versions, such as the Greek and Nordic crosses are apparent on many civic flags.

With or without a cross, it doesn't take long for patriots to take 'allegiance to the flag' literally and the flag becomes then a fetish.

The Latin Cross is carried by more people than any other religious symbol and is considered by many to be sacred. People sometimes go as far as to accomplish the cross an object of admiration or an figure in its own right.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Faravahar - Symbol of Zoroastrianism


The Faravahar depicts a man arising from a disk flanked by wings wide spread. It has been frequently accepted as the attribute of Zoroastrianism back the nineteenth century, when the term "Faravaharв" was first applied to it. However, the Zoroastrians have been using the symbol for more than 2000 years. Some non-Zoroastrian Persians (i.e. Iranians) aswell use the attribute as a representation of national pride.