Showing posts with label roman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roman. Show all posts

Friday, December 4, 2009

Mano Fico

The mano fico, also called figa, is an ancient Italian or Etruscan symbol, and is also one of the better known protective gestures against the eye. Fico or figa means "fig." The Mano Fico represents a hand gesture with the thumb interlaced in the fingers and represents the female genitals (An English slang equivalent might as well be "pussy hand.") , and thus the Goddess.
The fig was associated by the Romans with female fertility and eroticism, the fruit was sacred to Bacchus.
Examples have been found from the Roman era, and it was also used by the Etruscans.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Cupid (Love Symbol)

Cupid or Eros means desire in Greek.
In the story of Cupid and Psyche, he is described as a magnificently handsome young man. In many stories, he is called the son of Venus.

According to Hesiod, Eros was the deity who came from Chaos and represented the primal forces of desire. Eros is said to have been born from the union of Aphrodite and Ares. Known as Amor (meaning love) to the Romans, the Cupid was often shown blindfolded in art to symbolize love's blindness.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Caduceus

The caduceus (pronounced from Greek "karykeion," κηρύκειον meaning "herald.")

The caduceus served as the symbol of Hermes and Mercury, the Greek and Roman messenger gods. The caduceus was the sign of a herald and hence a logical symbol for the messenger. However, because of a misconception, the caduceus became the sign of the US Army Medical Corps. The Medical Corps should have chosen the symbol of medicine, which is the rod of Aesculapius , which has only one snake and no wings atop it. No wings were necessary since the essence of medicine is not speed. The single serpent that could shed its skin and emerge in full vigor represents the renewal of youth and health.

The caduceus with its pair of snakes coiled about each other bears some resemblance to the structure of DNA, the double helix, which was only discovered in modern times (in 1953, if that is still in "modern times").

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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.