Had a wonderful weekend–Started Thurs night with dinner and a movie: After the Thin Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZuTCnxTXcI Old movie are fun. The pictures of mine featured this time are back at the Maitland Art Museum grounds http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g34412-d536475-Reviews-Maitland_Art_Center-Maitland_Florida.html Didn’t go there this week but aways love the pictures. The rest of Thurs. I just did more work….and more and more——https://www.etsy.com/people/sarren126 —-you get the picture……
Sam/Jamie as a pirate—paying off on a bet he won……https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsWogWcOyYQ Make up by Cait.
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With a lot of flag issues and other similar things I’ve decided to look at symbols—today it’s pagan symbols:
EDIBLES:
As I’ve already mentioned in a previous blog apples are associated with magic and other similar topics long before Christianity had it’s double whammy with apples and snakes.
Garlic on the other hand is associated with protection and was believed to keep evil away in cultures like ancient Greece and Rome.
Salt, one of those staples we can’t live without despite our current efforts to remove it from the diet, is a symbol of life and health and has been used in magical rites since ancient time
Beans have been associated with death and ghosts from long ago times, they were even distributed and eaten by the Romans at funerals and they used black beans at the festival of the dead (in May) to keep ghosts away.
Rice (in the East) and Corn (in the new world) were a symbol of fertility and that has been carried over in our practice of throwing rice (or confetti as a substitute) at weddings.
FISH, FOWL AND OTHER FOOD ANIMALS
Fish were a symbol of knowledge and wisdom and it was a sacrilege to harm or disturb fish that lived in healing or wishing wells.
Hens that crowed or had feathers like a cock were in some societies considered death omens and a symbol of evil and were killed at once to ward this off.
ALL OTHER CREATURES
Raven was a Norse symbol of the god Odin and the scavenger often found devouring the dead after battle was also a form common to some of the Celtic gods. The similar crow was associated with goddesses and moved on to hags when Christianity became the norm.
Weasel is an evil omen in the UK, especially if it is white,
Doves and pigeons were a symbol of Aphrodite in Greece as they drew her chariot while in Rome it was Venus and to the Hebrews they were a symbol of purity.
Ladybird is a symbol of luck probably because its color is associated with fire. But one must remember that if it lands on you it should not be kept, nor shoved away, but allowed to leave only when it is ready.
Swans are associated with Freyr in Scandinavaia and also with the white cirrus clouds that formed his chariot. also with the Valkyries who summoned to Valhalla those who died heroically in battle.
Butterflies are a symbol of the human soul sometimes associated with death in many cultures and in Burma the soul was believed to escape the body and fly about as a butterfly during the person’s sleep.
Body
Blood associated with life and the soul, witches were destroyed by burning their blood in fires.
Hair and nails were felt to contain the essence of the person The Ancient Egyptians believed that a potion of hair, nail clippings and blood could give one person absolute power over another. Urine, spittle, even footprints where used in potions & rituals.
Hand, the raised hand is felt to be a symbol of healing.
Eyebrows that met across the nose were in Scotland thought to be a symbol of immorality and in Greece vampires and in Iceland, Denmark and Germany a werewolf.
MAN MADE OBJECTS
Bells were multiple symbols, the sound representing the creative powers, their shape the female force and celestial vault. Bells have been used for years in magic rituals around the world including Africa where they were used to invoke the gods.
Cauldrons have been a symbol of fertility, and abundance and were used magically to attempt to revive the dead in ancient Celtic societies and some believe were the actual “grail” in the early Arthur legends and not the Christian’s later additions.
Mirrors are seen as a reflection of the soul. In Ancient Greece it is said that spells were made by writing in human blood upon mirrors. They have also been used to detect thieves and produce visions of dead childhood sweethearts to name just a few of the uses they have been put through down the ages an around the globe.
Horseshoes have long been thought to be a symbol of luck and protection, an association that still seems to be around in many circles.
ALL OTHER NATURAL
Ash tree was once a symbol of the sacred associated with lightning (and thus fire) as well as the clouds it came from and in some mythology is actually an ancestor of mankind itself.
Bay Tree was a symbol of victory, honor and renown to the Greeks and Romans, with the Romans even adorning their houses with it for luck at the New Years.
Diamonds which are also the April Birthstone are also a symbol of innocence and light, while the June agate for purity and also for tears.
Dew once associated with Selene and Zeus in classical times later became a symbol of virginity–precious and soon gone.
Ferns were associated with thunder and lightening and were used to protect the home against these forces (as does Hawthorn). In 1636, Charles I’s (England) minister ask that no ferns be burnt in an area where the king was to visit to insure good weather.
Foxglove (and Hawthorn) is associated with Fairies and in Scotland was considered unlucky and not brought into houses or aboard.
ships.
Hemlock (poisonous) is a symbol of Evil and more recently the Devil and witches. But on the other hand it has been used for years in medicines and skin care.
Ivy was anciently associated with Bacchus. The leaves, wood and roots were also used in healing potions both medical and other that were purely magical.
Mistletoe (and the oak it grows in) is a symbol of peace in ancient Scandinavia where a bunch was hung on the outside of houses denoting a safe welcome within and enemies that met below its boughs had to lay down arms and fight no more that day. It is still banned in some churches in England because its strong association of paganism.
Nuts were a symbols of life and fertility in pagan antiquity and were also associated with (and still is) love, marriage and childbirth. In Rome they were given to the newly-married couple on their wedding-day to ensure their fruitfulness.
Owls were hated by the Romans as a symbol of death and disaster. But in Greece it symbolized Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom and was revered.
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Sources:
Mythology by Arthur Cotterell
The Encyclopedia of Superstitions By E. & Radford
The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft by Rosemary Ellen Guilley
The New Book of Goddesses & Heroine By Patricia Monaghan
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