CHESMAYNE
Symbol
01 Something used or regarded as
standing for or representing something else.
02 A material object representing
something immaterial.
03 An emblem, image, archetype, sign,
hieroglyphic, ideogram etc.
04 Token - or,
05 Sign.
06 A letter.
07 Figure, or other character or
mark, or the combination of letters or the like, used to represent something.
09 To symbolize - a set or system
of symbols.
10 Symbol codes are used by the
chess player to distinguish the exchange of ideas that occur on the field of
action.
11 Symbol: two halves of a
jaggedly broken disc, which fit perfectly once they have been brought
together. To ‘toss together’ or ‘to join
together’. Symbolon. Greek: symballein - a gathering together, a
hiding or a veiling, sometimes used to encode or camouflage a meaning - the
unitiated not being able to understand the encoded statement - something mysterious, an
arcanum. Latin: tesserae. Such discs were the origin of the word
‘symbol’. Symbols cannot be understood
purely intellectually for they must arouse feelings. Symbolism is deeply concerned with wholes
and works from the core of life to grasp wholes and relate the parts. Without symbols our lives would be as
spiritually impoverished as sleep without dreams. Our waking life is full of
symbolism operating on an unconscious level.
A symbol is a sign which opens up or makes transparent insights and truths that were previously
hidden. Attributes, emblems, allegories and logograms
are related. Semiotics.
12 Religious symbols allow the
believer to encounter the sacred. The
success and survival of a religion may be said to be dependent upon the ability
of its symbols to open up new dimensions of religious experience for its
adherents. The symbology used in the
mystery religions has survived in Christianity (architecture and the sacrifice
of the Mass with its sacremental cup etc). Manly P. Hall says that every means possible
was used to conceal the origin of the symbols, doctrines and rituals of the early
Christians (An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Heremitic, Qabbalistic and
Rosacrucian Symbolical Philosophy).
13 Identifying symbols can
enable you to recognize the patterns and processes at work in your mind, and to explore, develop and transform yourself by unraveling the
relationship between symbolism and the working of the human psyche, which plays
such a central part in determining human life and destiny. You should recognize symbols, knowing that
they refer directly to patterns and processes at work in the inner world of
your own psyche. A system of symbols is
an expression of the psyche ie, chess, and thus the best way to get to know
your own mind. Symbols can be used as a
focus for concentrating the mind.
14 Scripts and stories are
written in symbolic language. Symbolism
not only affects the individual through chess but also as it appeals to the
unconscious through myths, fairy-tales, religion, literature, art
and cinema etc. The last years have seen a major
breakthrough in our understanding of symbolism. There is only one symbolic language which is
used by dreams, creative imagination
and myths in expressing the unconscious and the soul. It is in fact the language of the
unconscious. You are the tree,
the root and the twig bearing the fruit.
Symbols explain convincingly why symbols are of such vital, everyday
concern.
15 People often get interested
in symbolism first through the accumulated symbolism of the past - fairy-tales
and myths, nonsense verse and religious symbols, novels and plays with powerful
symbolic themes or in the symbolism of cinema or science fiction. In the past symbols were used to express the
preoccupations of the time, with each particular society relying on a specific
series of symbols and knowing no other.
There are many complete systems of symbolism and every society has known
that symbolic language works, and has a vitality and significane that extends
beyond conventional forms of communciation.
16 Because dictionaries are
the product of the intellect, they tend to dissect and fragment experience by
their very nature. Many of the symbols
in this dictionary will introduce you to other vivid examples of related
symbols from other cultures, which may refresh or shed light on the ones you
are already familiar with. For those
who lived and utilized these systems, each was complete and sufficient in
itself. By familiarizing yourself with
the core of symbolism you will realize that the language of symbolism expresses
profound truths about life. Once you
grasp the relationship between the different myths, fairy-tales and other
symbolic material of all nations the confusing morass of data finally falls
into unified whole. There is such a
wealth of symbolism that no lexicon could be exhaustive.
17 A powerful symbol can lead the
chess player into the wider and richer field of symbolism in everyday, waking
life. This dictionary provides an
opportunity to see the relevance, and even the intellectual rigour, of symbolism,
which otherwise might be dismissed.
Many people feel the lack of symbolism in their lives as if it is
something they are excluded from, a mystery, a blank. Part of the inner battle is a result of the
inner conflict between feeling and thinking.
Symbolism reintroduces us to the grander reality of our lives, which is
in contact with remote stars, remote periods in our history etc. Symbols are man’s ancient
way of ordering this chaotic array of direct experience. They focus the individual’s attention on the
particular application of the grander vision of vast space, endless time
- from microcosm to macrocosm - symbols express the binding force of the
universe - Eros the great snake, coiled around the cosmos and holding it together. Society breaks up into warring factions,
male and female, black and white, one class against another. When symbols grow old and stale, they too
disintegrate and wither away to make room for the new. True symbolism is not fantasy, though both
are the products of the imagination.
Everything is subject to decay, yet even this is merely another facet of
transformation, since the essence of life is indestructable. The crisis and resolution which are the
essential feature of drama are also fundamental to symbolic language.
18 They describe pictorially and
vividly what is of greatest concern to man.
Some symbols are taken from nature, snakes, bulls, trees. Dragons and gods erupt from the
psyche. Inner visions seek expression
and outer facts seek meaning, for man, and at best symbolism mediates and
combines these two. Symbols give form
to forgotten truths about your inner nature.
Symbols cannot be fabricated and erupt from the imagination. As truths about the cosmos which are too
vast to take in.
19 A lot of symbolism is in
pictorial rather than story form.
Symbols attempt to regulate and control the system of the mind
(psyche). Wotan or Hermes, or
any figure associated with guiding souls to the underworld (guiding the inner
spirit, initiating it into the realm of the unconscious) represents a highly
developed and clearly distinguished Animus, godlike and therefore capable of
transforming the inner life. Symbolism
is inevitable. It deals with immediate
experience. Although the chess player may be confronted by chaos on the one
hand or at one time, s/he is also confronted by order. Typical patterns and sequences
emerge in different contexts and are inter-related. The basic feature of the patterns is that
simple units are linked up to form more and more complicated combinations. The complex combinations which relate to
chess are endless. As the fairy-tales
indicate, the art is in the choosing. Symbols and
myth are closely related. The I Ching, one of the most
expansive systems of symbolism, concentrates on 64, that is 8 x 8. As civilizations developed, pictures were
condensed into symbols and then into alphabets and scripts. Symbols, images and codes developed into
writing.
20 Biblical Symbolism: the Bible has yielded up its
symbolic fruit in many different forms to many people. The books present a symbolic picture, a
living drama. Its long formative
process tended to favour the survival of the archetypal and symbolic elements -
of enduring value and meaning to anyone, anywhere, at the expense of what was
long-winded, or of only passing interest.
21 In Ancient
22 Garden of
23 Sevenfold symbolism,
seven-branched-candlestick, the seven-day week, a year divided into seven parts
(Koran,
24 Christian Symbolism:
Christianity echoes the major symbolic themes of the Ancient Near East, but
applied on a conscious personal level to the man, Jesus,
and through him to each individual. The
eternal and enduring essence is the main concern of symbolism, to which all
other concerns are subordinated. Christ, crucified on the central
mound of the world (see ‘Omphalos’)
is at the hub of all
action and energy in the universe. So
long as we are at one with the great vine or family tree of human life, we
endure forever. Buddhist symbols: wheel of Dharma, Bodhi tree, throne (empty) and
footprints.
25 St Maximus saw humanity as the revelation (final revelation).
26 God:
symbol of symbols.
27 The renewal of the KI may
be one of the oldest rituals out of which symbolism itself evolved.
28 Hell is an all male preserve with no QU.
29 The core of symbolism seeks
to heal the rift between God and man.
30 The French abandoned as a
republician symbol the bare-breasted Marianne, so liberal with the milk of
human kindness, and substituted the more pertinent talisman of a heroic warrior.
31 Religious Symbolism: religion
and psychology have been the chief means of preserving and communicating
symbols. Symbolism was the traditional
religious language of mankind, and most symbols can be traced back to their use
in ritual. Myth was originally the words
that accompanied ritual actions, which together formed an ancient drama, a
dramatic compression of the drama of life.
Fairy-tales are a recognizable version of ancient myths distorted by
oral transmission. Religious groups are
dedicated to the work of inward discovery.
Some organization was needed and so especially before the invention of
printing, which partially accounts for the religious monopoly of symbols - now
taken over to some extent by psychology.
The atmosphere in which symbolism can flourish was limited till recently
to a small circle of psychologists who attended the Eranos meetings. Society as a whole is still starved of the
fruit of symbolism. Religious
establishments have often lost touch with their own symbolic roots and crumble
chiefly because those entrusted to transmit it did not understand what they
were talking about. A large proportion
of symbols point beyond human experience.
There is only one tree of life with many branches.
32 Mathematical Symbolism: George Boole was
born in 1815, the son of a
33 Picaso admitted to using symbols in his painting
‘
One of Picasso’s best-known works,
Dali Universal Tarot. The Surrealist
genius,
34 The relationship between
outer and inner is precisely the concern of symbolism. The major concern of symbolism is with the
eternal images, the patterns of reality, and sequence of life, the distilled
essence, the enduring core which does not change. Human life, robbed of vision, becomes
degraded and miserable. Once the symbol
no longer stirs the unconscious, it either has to be abandoned or
transformed. But when looking at
traditional symbolism, it is axiomatic that it is meaningful and mattered at
the time, it roused the deepest intuitions and referred to
whatever was of the utmost importance to the individual and to society. Whatever was being expressed symbolically,
was held in the highest value. Often
expressed in symbolic form, because mere explanations are ineffectual. This is how symbols can affect us while
ideas and dogmas may leave us cold.
35 Human beings think in words
but understand through symbols. When we
confront belief we use symbols. A symbol
permits mental exploration, unlimited association of ideas and free flow of
emotions. It can be looked at from an
infinite number of views and each thinker can discover in a symbol a new
meaning relevant to him/herself.
Symbols free us from our mental straight-jacket. Stories and parables
convey their meaning through symbols, (Mark: 11-12) - this is the purpose of
symbolic imagery. To unlock the symbols
of chess we need to use the correct key to access the code or puzzle they present. We have to go beneath the veneer and under
the surface. We approach the symbols with the intellect and
vision/insight. An example of a symbol/sign
is the hieroglyphic for water used by the Egyptians and now known as the Zodiac
sign of Aquarius the Water Carrier. Symbols unlike words offer an unlimited
series of associations and connections and need to be understood both
intellectually and intuitively.
36A A symbol has to be
intellectually analysed and recognized in different forms.
37B Secondly, it has to be
intuitively explored through free association.
37C Thirdly, it has to be
internalized and integrated as a living part of the psyche. If you are not intellectually familiar with
symbols, the images simply fall flat in your mind and fail to serve any inner
purpose. Chess is a vast complex of
interconnected symbols that are brought to life by intellectual study,
intuitive exploration and internalization.
38 There are many complete
systems of symbolism and every society has known that symbolic language works,
and has a vitality and significance that extends beyond conventional forms of
communication. Because dictionaries are the
product of the intellect, they tend to dissect and fragment experience by their
very nature. Many of the symbols in the
Chesmayne dictionary
will introduce you to other vivid examples of related symbols from other
cultures, which may refresh or shed light on the ones you are already familiar
with. For those who lived and utilized
these systems, each was complete and sufficient in itself. By familiarizing yourself with the core of
symbolism you will realize that the language of symbolism expresses profound
truths about life. Once you grasp the relationship between the different myths,
fairy-tales and other symbolic material of all nations the confusing morass of
data finally falls into a unified whole.
There is such a wealth of symbolism that no lexicon could be
exhaustive.
39 A powerful symbol can lead the
chess player into the wider and richer field of symbolism in everyday, waking
life. The dictionary provides an
opportunity to see the relevance, and even the intellectual rigour, of
symbolism, which otherwise might be dismissed.
Many people feel the lack of symbolism in their lives as if it is
something they are excluded from, a mystery, a blank. Part of the inner battle is a result of the
inner conflict between feeling and thinking.
Symbolism will reintroduce you to the grander reality of life, which is
in contact with remote stars, remote periods in our history etc. Symbols are man’s ancient way of ordering
this chaotic array of direct experience.
They will focus your attention on the particular application of the
grander vision of vast space, endless time - from microcosm to macrocosm -
symbols express the binding force of the universe - Eros the great snake,
coiled around the cosmos and holding it together.
40 Society breaks up into
warring factions, male and female, black and white, one class agaisnt another.
When symbols grow old and stale, they too disintegrate and wither away to make
room for the new. True symbolism is not fantasy, though both are the products
of the imagination. Everything is subject to decay, yet even this is merely
another facet of transformation, since the essence of life is indestructable.
The crisis and resolution which are the essential feature of drama are also
fundamental to symbolic language.
41 They describe pictorially and
vividly what is of greatest concern to man. Some symbols are taken from nature,
snakes, bulls, trees. Dragons and gods erupt from the psyche. Inner visions
seek expression and outer facts seek meaning, for man, and at best symbolism
mediates and combines these two. Symbols give form to forgotten truths about
your inner nature. Symbols cannot be fabricated and erupt from the imagination
- as truths about the cosmos which are too vast to take in.
42 To symbolize - a set or
system of symbols. A lot of symbolism is in pictorial rather than story form.
Symbols attempt to regulate and control the system of the mind (psyche). Wotan
or Hermes, or any figure associated with guiding souls to the underworld
(guiding the inner spirit, initiating you into the realm of the unconscious)
represents a highly developed and clearly distinguished Animus, godlike and
therefore capable of transforming the inner life.
43 Symbolism is inevitable. It
deals with immediate experience. Although the Chesmayne player may be
confronted by chaos on the one hand or at one time, s/he is also confronted by
order. Typical patterns and sequences emerge in different contexts and are
inter-related. The basic feature of the patterns is that simple units are
linked up to form more and more complicated combinations. The complex
combinations which relate to chess are endless. As the fairy-tales indicate,
the art is in the choosing. Symbols and myth are closely related. The I Ching,
one of the most expansive systems of symbolism, concentrates on 64, that is 8 x
8. As civilizations developed, pictures were condensed into symbols and then
into alphabets and scripts. Symbols, images and codes developed into writing.
44 Symbols unlike words offer an
unlimited series of associations and connections and need to be understood both
intellectually and intuitively. A symbol has to be intellectually analysed and
recognized in different forms. Secondly, it has to be intuitively explored through
free association. Thirdly, it has to be internalized and integrated as a living
part of the psyche. If you are not intellectually familiar with symbols, the
images simply fall flat in your mind and fail to serve any inner purpose. Chess
is a vast complex of interconnected symbols that are brought to life by
intellectual study, intuitive exploration and internalization.
45 Swastika. A vividly
contrasting Nazi symbol of a reversed swastika on a white circular background
set against a contrasting orange surround. The wheel is a Sun symbol which
later became quadrisected by the equal arms of the Cross inside it resulting in
a circle cut into four similar segments. A fylfot cross results (swastika) when
part of the arc of each of the four segments of the circumference is
removed. The ‘crooked cross’ became a
universal symbol of Light.
46 The first man-made symbols
were wedge-shapes or holes, which were surrounded by circular markings and
found on many megaliths. Another popular
symbol of antiquity is the hand mark.
The major concern of
symbolism is with the eternal images, the patterns of reality, and sequence of
life, the distilled essence, the enduring core which does not change. Human
life, robbed of vision, becomes degraded and miserable. Once the symbol no
longer stirs the unconscious, it either has to be abandoned or transformed. But
when looking at traditional symbolism, it is axiomatic that it is meaningful
and mattered at the time, it roused the deepest intuitions and referred to
whatever was of the utmost importance to the individual and to society.
Whatever was being expressed symbolically, was held in the highest esteem.
Often expressed in symbolic form, because mere explanations are ineffectual -
this is how symbols can affect us while ideas and dogmas may leave us cold.
Peroration
To bring this section to its peroration we have
to realize that the origin of chess is in a realm that contains no shape or
form - a universe of ideas and thought.
Chesmayne is like cubism (a modern French art movement, initiated in
1907, which aimed at the analysis of form through surface arrangement of
planes, colours and textures) - the image need not be restricted to the object
for which it stands. Within this world
exist concepts of tactics, strategy and understanding. While playing the game the individual
operates in this realm - a vast oneness - a state of being that our limited
phraseology attempts to meet and needing a lexiographic surgeon to explain. Moves are generated in some
ultra-dimensional way when we drift into contact with this sphere. It is a world of symbols with the men
grouped into sets of MPs and mps that roam at will but governed by strict
laws. On the chess board these symbols
take shape and become fixed by the monograms we ascribe to them. The human mind needs standard symbols to
refer to, and logic supplies these, enabling systems of action to be employed
that lead to predictable results.
Symbols and symbol-making activity are ever-present realities and it is
possible that the understanding of a single move may bring about the
transformation of a position. Symbols
are important as they are for eternity.
Symbol codes are used by the chess player to distinguish the exchange of
ideas that occur on the field of action.
You should recognize symbols,
knowing that they refer directly to patterns and processes at work in the inner
world of your own psyche. A system of
symbols is an expression of the psyche, and thus the best way to get to know
your own mind. Scripts and stories are
written in symbolic language. Symbolism
not only affects the individual through chess but also as it appeals to your
unconscious through myths, fairy-tales, religion, literature, art and cinema
etc. The last years have seen a major breakthrough in our understanding of
symbolism. There is only one symbolic
language which is used by dreams, creative imagination and myths in expressing
the unconscious and the soul. It is in
fact the language of the unconscious.
You are the tree, the root
and the twig bearing the fruit. Symbols
explain convincingly why symbols are of such vital, everyday concern. People often get interested in symbolism
first through the accumulated symbolism of the past - fairy-tales and myths,
nonsense verse and religious symbols, novels and plays with powerful symbolic
themes or in the symbolism of cinema or science fiction. In the past symbols were used to express the
preoccupations of the time, with each particular society relying on a specific
series of symbols and knowing no other.
Complete
systems of symbolism
There are many complete systems of symbolism and
every society has known that symbolic language works, and has a vitality and
significance that extends beyond conventional forms of communciation. Because
dictionaries are the product of the intellect, they tend to dissect and
fragment experience by their very nature. Many of the symbols in the Chesmayne
dictionary will introduce you to other vivid examples of related symbols from
other cultures, which may refresh or shed light on the ones you are already
familiar with. For those who lived and utilized these systems, each was
complete and sufficient in itself. By familiarizing yourself with the core of
symbolism you will realize that the language of symbolism expresses profound
truths about life. Once you grasp the relationship between the different myths,
fairy-tales and other symbolic material of all nations the confusing morass of
data finally falls into a unified whole. There is such a wealth of symbolism that
no lexicon could be exhaustive.
A powerful symbol can lead the
chess player into the wider and richer field of symbolism in everyday, waking
life. The dictionary provides an opportunity to see the relevance, and even the
intellectual rigour, of symbolism, which otherwise might be dismissed. Many
people feel the lack of symbolism in their lives as if it is something they are
excluded from, a mystery, a blank. Part of the inner battle is a result of the
inner conflict between feeling and thinking. Symbolism will reintroduce you to
the grander reality of your life, which are in contact with remote stars,
remote periods in our history etc. Symbols are man's ancient way of ordering
this chaotic array of direct experience. They will focus your attention on the particular
application of the grander vision of vast space, endless time - from microcosm
to macrocosm - symbols express the binding force of the universe - Eros the
great snake, coiled around the cosmos and holding it together.
Society breaks up into warring
factions, male and female, black and white, one class agaisnt another. When
symbols grow old and stale, they too disintegrate and wither away to make room
for the new. True symbolism is not fantasy, though both are the products of the
imagination. Everything is subject to decay, yet even this is merely another
facet of transformation, since the essence of life is indestructable. The
crisis and resolution which are the essential feature of drama are also
fundamental to symbolic language.
They describe pictorially and
vividly what is of greatest concern to man. Some symbols are taken from nature,
snakes, bulls, trees. Dragons and gods erupt from the psyche. Inner visions
seek expression and outer facts seek meaning, for man, and at best symbolism
mediates and combines these two. Symbols give form to forgotten truths about
your inner nature. Symbols cannot be fabricated and erupt from the imagination
- as truths about the cosmos which are too vast to take in.
Something used or regarded as
standing for or representing something else - a material object representing
something immaterial - an emblem - token - or sign - a letter, figure, or other
character or mark, or the combination of letters or the like, used to represent
something: the algebraic symbol, X - to symbolize - a set or system of symbols.
Symbolist: one who uses symbols or symbolism - one versed in the study or
interpretation of symbols - a writer who seeks to express or suggest ideas etc
by emphasizing the symbolic value of language as a means of communicating
otherwise inexpressible experiences of reality, as by the use of words, often
with a mystical or vague effect. A lot of symbolism is in pictorial rather than
story form. Symbols attempt to regulate and control the system of the mind
(psyche). Wotan or Hermes, or any figure associated with guiding souls to the
underworld (guiding the inner spirit, initiating you into the realm of the
unconscious) represents a highly developed and clearly distinguished Animus,
godlike and therefore capable of transforming the inner life.
Symbolism is inevitable. It deals with immediate experience. Although the chess player may be confronted
by chaos on the one hand or at one time, s/he is also confronted by order.
Typical patterns and sequences emerge in different contexts and are
inter-related. The basic feature of the
patterns is that simple units are linked up to form more and more complicated
combinations. The complex combinations
which relate to chess are endless. As
the fairy-tales indicate, the art is in the choosing. Symbols and myth are closely related. The I Ching, one of the most expansive
systems of symbolism, concentrates on 64, that is 8 x 8. As civilizations developed, pictures were
condensed into symbols and then into alphabets and scripts. Symbols, images and codes developed into
writing.
These would include…
01 Alchemists (chemists).
02 Freemasons.
03 Rosicrucians.
04 Kabbalists
05 Geometricians.
06 Gematricians.
07 Mathematicians.
08 Philologists.
09 Psychoanalysts.
10 Astrologers and Astronomers.
11 Heraldists.
12 Religious people in general.
13 Chess players.
13 Apocalypse: Greek:
(‘revelation of the future’). Literary
works in highly symbolic language which claim to express divine disclosures
about the heavenly spheres, the course of history, or the end of the
world/age/era/system etc. The most
famous example is the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
14 Astrology: it relies upon
precise measurement and a body of symbolism which has come to be associated with
each of the signs of the zodiac and our planets, sun and moon. It is a source of superstition and profound
insight. Its modern emphasis is on
self-knowledge. It developed in
Mesopotamia in the 2nd and 3r
millenia BC. ‘Astral omens’
became the most important form of state divination under the Assyrian KIs
(c.700 BC). Tibetians consult
astrologers regularly.
15 Symbolist:
A One who uses symbols or
symbolism.
B One versed in the study or
interpretation of symbols.
C A writer who seeks to express
or suggest ideas etc by emphasizing the symbolic value of language as a means
of communicating otherwise inexpressible experiences of reality, as by the use
of words, often with a mystical or vague effect.
16 Symbols are the creative
ideas that function as a universal language.
They appear as signposts or keys and function as containers, revealers,
or concealers of meaning. Jung is an
example of a symbolist (he wrote ‘Man and His Symbols’ ). The psychological mechanism for transforming
energy is the symbol. The chess MPs/mps
are ‘symbols in motion.’ They bridge an
inner world into a visible and physical form.
People know intuitively and understand that symbol and ritual are a set
of formal acts and visuals that bring them into contact with the gods.
Symbolism allows us to show respect and reverence to the great Powers while at
the same time being allowed to touch this Power without being overwhelmed or
possessed by it. Symbols are the
universal language that bridge visible and invisible worlds (Jung: archetypes
of the collective unconscious), an outer representation of the deep collective
psycho-mythology of human beings.
17 Our created symbols are also
the lower counterparts of higher ones, and those left on earth also have higher
counterparts ie, Solomon’s seal. This
kind of study is used by Masons. The
cross also has its higher counterpart, and when properly used can give
surprising results. Its initiates call
this higher counter ‘A mind glorified by its Creator’. It is said that those to whom it is given
are swept into its truth and consciousness, and discover that the parables
reveal a great mystery far beyond the understanding of the public! The sayings of Jesus have to be read in this
manner. The cross alone does not alone
represent a cross upon which a man was hung, but also a thing upon which glory
descended. The cross is the symbol of
one crucified and reborn into the Innermost, and not a thing of torture and pain. In the past this science was known and many
occult societies have left behind the symbols of their orders. Like the marks of Masons left in different
countries and easily read by those who can understand them. Symbols are dynamic things, and should not
be fooled with. Today, many religious
people have lost the key and do not understand symbology much better than the
average parishioner. The key opens the
door to the secret chamber of the Great Pyramid and the discovery of the
Philosopher’s Stone.
18 “In
seeking to do this I shall rely to a large extent on symbols. But symbols are what unite and divide
people. Symbols give us our identity,
our self image, our way of explaining ourselves to ourselves and to
others. Symbols in turn determine the
kinds of stories we tell; and the stories we tell determine the kind of history
we make and remake. I want this
Presidency to promote the telling of stories.
As a woman, I want women, who have felt themselves outside history, to
be written back into history”. President
Mary Robinson (first address to the people of Ireland on taking office,
1990).
SYMBOLS
The words below may be found in
this dictionary…….
ALGEBRA................................21:01
ALGEBRAIC NOTATION.....................21:02
ALPHA..................................21:03
ALPHABET...............................21:04
AMARANTH...............................21:05
AMPERSAND
(SYMBOL: &)..................21:06
AMRITA.................................21:07
ANKH...................................21:08
ARABIC
NUMERALS........................21:09
ASTERISK (SYMBOL:
*)...................21:10
B - BETA...............................21:11
BINARY
CODE............................21:12
CABLESE................................21:13
CACHET.................................21:14
CALCULUS...............................21:15
CARTOUCHE..............................21:16
CAPATILIZE.............................21:17
CAPITATION.............................21:18
CIPHER.................................21:19
COGNOMEN...............................21:20
CROSS..................................21:21
CROWN..................................21:22
DOUBLE PLUS SING
(++)..................21:23
EARMARK................................21:24
FORSYTH NOTATION.......................21:25
GRAMMALOGUE............................21:26
GRINGMUTH NOTATION.....................21:27
HERALDRY...............................21:28
MAJUSCULE..............................21:29
MATRIX.................................21:30
MONOGRAM...............................21:31
NAMEPLATE..............................21:32
NOUMENON...............................21:33
OBELISK................................21:34
PRESA..................................21:35
PRESSMARK..............................21:36
QUARK (SYMBOL:
?)......................21:37
REBUS..................................21:38
RED
CROSS..............................21:39
REGAL..................................21:40
SEMANTICS..............................21:41
SEMATIC................................21:42
SEMEIOLOGY.............................21:43
SEMELE.................................21:44
SIGN...................................21:45
SIGN
MANUAL............................21:46
SYMBOL.................................21:47
TIARA..................................21:48
TOKEN..................................21:49
TREE...................................21:50
V......................................21:51
X......................................21:52
YAHWEH.................................21:53
YIN....................................21:54
ZIP
CODE...............................21:55
CHANGE
(flux/stability)................21:56
CHAOS..................................21:57
CIRCLE.................................21:58
CYPHER
:cy.............................21:59
DISC...................................21:60
DOLLAR
(symbol, $).....................21:61
EAGLE..................................21:62
EGG....................................21:63
EIGHT-EIGHTFOLD........................21:64
FISH...................................21:65
FLAGS..................................21:66
GENEALOGIES............................21:67
GOAL
(the).............................21:68
GOD....................................21:69
HIEROGLYPHICS..........................21:70
IDEOGRAM...............................21:71
KANJI..................................21:72
KEY....................................21:73
LADDER.................................21:74
MIRROR.................................21:75
NUMBERS................................21:76
NUMEROLOGY.............................21:77
ORACLE
OF DELPHI.......................21:78
PALLADIUM..............................21:79
PEACOCK................................21:80
PHOENIX................................21:81
PYRAMID................................21:82
RUBICON................................21:83
SERPENT................................21:84
SHEKINAH...............................21:85
SPIRAL.................................21:86
STAMPS.................................21:87
STONES.................................21:88
SYMBOLIST..............................21:89
TRIANGLE...............................21:90
UNION..................................21:91
URAEUS.................................21:92
WHEEL..................................21:93
WOMB...................................21:94
ICON...................................21:95
Pentagram
– Pentacle – Pentangle
A pentagram is a five-pointed figure used as a magical or occult symbol by
the Pythagoreans, Masons, Gnostics,
Cabalists,
magicians,
Wiccans,
Satanists, etc. There is apparently something attractive
about the figure’s geometry and proportions. In many symbolizations, the top point represents
either the human head or a non-human Spirit.
To invert the figure is considered by some as a sign of relegating
Spirit to the bottom of the metaphysical heap.
Others take inversion to be Satanic and on par with alleged mockeries
such as inverting the cross or saying the Mass backwards. Still others find nothing particularly
diabolical about inversion and use the inverted pentagram without fear of
accidentally invoking the forces of evil.
Some say the pentagram is mystical because 5
is mystical. It’s a prime number, the
sum of 2 and 3, as well as of 1 and 4. Christ had five wounds, they say,
if you don’t count those inflicted by the crown of thorns; and he
distributed five loaves of bread to five thousand people. Most importantly, we have five fingers, toes
and senses.
Some Christian watchdogs apparently think the
pentagram is the devil’s hoof print.
They are especially on the lookout for inverted pentagrams as proof of
Satanism, but any pentagram will suit most of these caretakers of decent
symbology in their never-ending quest to identify evil. Of course, it can be bad for business if
rumors are spread that one’s company uses the pentagram or any other symbol
deemed to be diabolical. Proctor and Gamble was once widely accused of being run by devil
worshippers who flaunted their satanic religion with a diabolical logo. The logo
consisted of an old man’s bearded face in the crescent moon, facing thirteen
stars, all set within a circle. Some
saw 666, the number of the Beast in Revelation (usually identified with Satan
by the Christian watchdogs), lurking in the old man’s beard and in the
arrangement of the stars. Others saw a
goat, surely a sign of the devil.
To the Wiccan, the five points of the pentagram
represent Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit.
Wiccans usually put the symbol in a circle, which has
traditionally represented the endless or eternity. The ancient Chinese believed there were five
elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), five planets, five
seasons, five senses, as well as five basic colors, sounds
and tastes. However, the number six
seems to have been more enchanting to them than five, for the I Ching uses six as its
base number. So does the Star of David, which has six points and is made by overlapping two
equilateral triangles. The Star of
David is a hexagram but is not used to cast a hex on you. That kind of hex comes from the German word
for witch, Hexen, which is related to the Old High German word hagzissa,
a hag. Personally, if proportion and
geometry are the basis for mystical figures, the hexagram seems much preferable
to the pentagram.
Occultists of all sorts wear pentagram talismans to protect them from evil
or to help them get occult knowledge and power. They even draw pentagrams on the ground and
stand within them to better call upon occult powers. If the point is aimed north, they are not
worshippers of Satan. However, if the
point is aimed south, they are. So say
the Christian watchdogs.
For some reason, the pentagram has become the symbol
for a star, though no star in the sky looks like a pentagram, unless perhaps it
is seen from inside the five corners of the earth when one is five sheets to
the wind. Furthermore, some mystics
claim that if one stares at a small pentangle long enough one will see that all
triangles end in a circle with five sides.
further
reading
Get
a sneak peak at Signs, the next
thriller by director M. Night Shyamalan.
Mel Gibson is a Pennsylvanian
pastor and farmer who becomes an overnight media sensation when 500-foot crop
circles appear suddenly in his fields. He soon begins to unravel a secret in
the symbols. What do the signs say?
Watch the first trailer, only at Yahoo! Movies, and get a glimpse of the
unknown.
Symbolism