Misc. Glossary

A

• Androgyne: In alchemy, uniting man and woman in a single two-headed being stands for a fusion of opposites that leads to immortality. The androgyne may also signify procreation and the primal force of life.
  
  
• Alpha and Omega: These first and last letters of the Greek alphabet symbolize the beginning and end of all things.
  
  
• Ankh: This Egyptian symbol represents the unquenchable life force. Gods were said to hold an ankh before a pharaoh's nose to confer onto him the breath of immortality.
  
  
• Arrow: Thanks to the mythological Eros, who fired magical arrows at people to smite them with love, the arrow has come to symbolize amorous desire. Shot through a heart, an arrow signifies the male principle uniting with the female.
  
  
• Aura: This swath of multi-colored light represents the supernatural energy that some people believe emanates from all human beings. The idea of the aura may derive from the halo, or nimbus, a crown of light that symbolized holiness.
  

  B

• Bear: Grizzlies, symbolizing supernatural power, were used by the Bel-Iacoola in British Columbia, perhaps as guardians for a home. When the hunters killed a bear, they held rites over its body out of reverence for its soul.
  
  
• Blood: A universal symbol of life.
  
  
• Bee: In the traditional spiritual teachings of several cultures, bees symbolize the souls of mortals, probably because souls are believed to swarm around the divine unity as bees swarm around their queen. The bee is one of the symbols of Artemis.
  
  
• Book: Whether in the form of a stone tablet, a parchment scroll, or a bound volume of pages, a book is a universal symbol of knowledge.
  
  
• Bull: This massive beast has long signified strength and fertility and was sacred in ancient Egypt, Greece, India, and in the Middle East.
  
  
• Bridge: A symbol of the journey between life and the eternal. Good souls cross successfully into heaven, while sinners tumble into the river that flows to the underworld.
  

  C

• Cat: embodying both good and evil, this animal was held sacred by ancient Egyptians, who buried pet cats with bronzes. But cats later became associated with powers of darkness and are still often regarded a omens of bad luck.
  
  
• Cow: Like the god Krishna, Hindus try to ensure the well-being of the cow. They consider it a symbol of life and fertility, associated with a divine beast whose milk spawned the first life on earth.
  
  
• Caduceus: A staff entwined with serpents, now the emblem of physicians, has symbolized medicine sine et was carried by the ancient Mesopotamian healing god Ningishzida 4,000 years ago. Classical Greeks believed the staff, wielded by Hermes, herald of the gods, could actually raise the dead. Interestingly, similar symbols represented healing powers in the ancient cultures of India and pre-Columbian North America.
  
  
• Canopy: As a small scale representation of heaven, the canopy magically protects the divinely chosen ruler from earthly harm.
  
  
• Circle: An emblem of eternity, a circle has neither beginning nor end and embodies all directions: up, down, left, and right. Given spokes, it is a wheel, symbol of the cycle of death and rebirth.
  
  
• Crane: A Chinese emblem of longevity, the crane is also a mystical intermediary between the mortal world and the realm of the Eight Immortals.
  
  
• Chimera: A hybrid creature from Greek mythology--a mix of lion, goat, and serpent--that embodies evil in complex form. In particular, as common use of the term implies, a chimera is symbolic of an illusion or false rumor.
  
  
• Crow: Said to enjoy the frequent company of all-knowing divinities, the crow has long represented mysterious powers of divination.
  

  D

• Demon: Endowed with supernatural powers, including the ability to change form at will, and ever ready to do the bidding of evil magicians, demons such as the Japanese oni are said to personify evil and Satanic influence.
  
  
• Dragon: Known in the Christian world as vile embodiments of the devil Lucifer, dragons are regarded in Asian cultures as benevolent creatures associated with the Chinese yang, the mystical, creative force in the universe.
  
  
• Drum: Symbolic of sacrificial altars in diverse cultures, drums serve as vehicles of powerful magic, mediators between the dead world of the spirits and the earthly world of humans.
  
  
• Dance: Because ancient Goddess worshipers believes she spawned the universe by dancing over the Waters of Chaos, dance came to symbolize creation.
  
  
• Dove: Their white feathers emblematic of purity and grace, capable of flight to the highest reach of heaven, the doves represent the souls of the dead. Perched on the branches of the tree of life, they partake of divine fruit and fear no evil.
  

  E

• Eagle: Though long associated with destructive gods of storm and war, eagles sometimes represent the sun and other deities known for benevolence and justice.
  
  
• Elements: In alchemy, the four "elements" relate humankind to the cosmos. Air denotes the soul, which until death is confined to the body, symbolized by Earth. Water represents creation, and Fire stands for transforming energy.
  
  
• Egg: Fragile protectors of life growing within, eggs are symbols of fertility and creation, and represent divine currents of male and female energy, from which all the universe was supposedly created.
  
  
• Eye: In many cultures an eye, especially a third eye, is a symbol of enlightenment, reason, and all-seeing moral authority.
  

  F

• Foot: Because the foot keeps the body upright, it has been equated with the soul. Thus ancient Greeks apparently saw lameness as a sign of spiritual shortcoming.
  
  
• Fish: Emblem of fertility and formative power. In the ancient world, the seas were thought to give birth to fish in a supernatural process. To Christians, the fish is a symbol of Christ, who made his disciples "fishers of men." For early Christians, the outline of a fish scratched on a doorpost was a secret sign of refuge.
  
  
• Fleur-De-Lis: Symbols of life in ancient Egypt, the fleurs-de-lis, "lily flowers", also represented the lily an angel supposedly presented to Clovis, first king of the Franks, at his baptism.
  
  
• Fox: Known in most of the world as a living symbol of sly behavior, the fox in Japanese lore is a cunning thief who assumes human form to seduce human beings and steal their life force.
  
  
• Feather: For the ancient Egyptians, the feather was an attribute of Moat, goddess of law and righteousness, and a symbol of truth. It served as the standard against which peopleÕs hearts would be measured on Judgment Day.
  

  G

• Goat: Associated in Classical times with the lust and potency of satyrs and the god Pan, the goat later became a diabolical symbol--filthy, foul-smelling, and black.
  
  
• Grail: Synonymous with sacred quests since Christ's time, the grail was said to be made by angels from a magical emerald that came off Satan's crown during his fall.
  
  
• Griffin: A composite creature, the griffin symbolizes guardianship--its eagle half over the heavens, its lion half over the earth.
  

  H

• Hair: A symbol of personal might, hair also was believed to be magically bound up with strength of communities in medieval Europe, a reason many Frankish kings went unshorn.
  
  
• Halo: See NIMBUS.
  
  
• Hand: A symbol of protection in many cultures, hands are believed to ward of the evil eye.
  
  
• Head: To the Celts the head was the seat of the soul, and it represented the essence of their religion, as the cross does in Christianity.
  
  
• Heart: A symbol of vulnerability in romance, the heart also represented the body's center. Egyptians being mummified were eviscerated except for the heart, which was regarded as indispensable for eternal life.
  
  
• Heather: Widely considered to be a sign of good forune, this flowering plant was often sold by Gypsies as a lucky charm. Yet it was also said to be the material used to make the brooms ridden by witches to their black sabbaths.
  
  
• Hexagram: Widely identified as the Shield of Solomon or the Star of David, the hexagram also has an older symbolism-the union of male and female.
  
  
• Hourglass: Measuring the time relationship between the upper and lower worlds, the hourglass symbolizes the passage of finite time.
  
  

  I

• Ibis: Ancient Egyptians considered this large wading bird a symbol of Thoth, god of wisdom. So sacred were these god surrogates that when an ibis died, it was mummified and buried with great reverence.
  
  
• Incense: Many cultures use incense in burial rites to represent the soul's ascent to heaven.
  
  
• Ivy: Symbolic of eternal life and of the soul's triumph over death, evergreen ivy also represents fertility. Ancient nature worshippers may have used it in winter solstice rites to ensure the success of spring crops.
  
  

  J

• Jade: Because of its durability, this greenish stone signifies immortality. In an ancient Chinese legend, the stone could assure eternal life if taken as an elixir brewed by the moon-dwelling Jade Hare.
  
  
• Jaguar: This formidable redator represented to some ancient American cultures the very essence of anture's vital force. The Chavin people of Peru, for instance, worshipped the jaguar as a forest rain god.
  
  
• Janus: With his two faces, the Roman god symbolizes duality. He also represents the wholeness of time: As one face looks back, remembering the past, the other face looks ahead with a clairvoyant grasp of the future.
  
  

  K

• Key: This sign suggests the unloking of passages previously barred, such as the dor to knowledge of the afterlife, the gateway to enlightenment, or the road to the unconscious.
  
  
• Knight: The knight upon his mount symbolizes the spirit dominating matter in order to subdue evil. Saint George was probably a thrid-century Christian martyr, although he became a dragon-slaying knight in medieval legend.
  
  
• Knot: This is a symbol that can represent either a state of psychic bondage, or, quite differently, the continuity of life.
  
  

  L

• Labyrinth: A labyrinth is a complex network of paths sometimes compared to the depths of te uterus. To penetrate then emerge from it symbolizes death and rebirth.
  
  
• Laurel: Laurel connotes poetic inspiration, perhaps because chewing its intoxicating leaves is said t rouse creativity.
  
  
• Lily: In many religions the lily represents a virgin goddess or matriarch.
  
  
• Lion: Along with the eagle, the lion is the most common animal to appear on heraldic emlems. While the eagle is sacred as a lord of the heavesn, the lion, king of the beasts, symbolizessupreme earthly power.
  
  
• Lotus: The lotus is India's sacred flower, symbolic of creation, purity, and life everlasting.
  
  

  M

• Man: Western theories have held that a human is the universe in microcosm. The Chinese have said the universe is like an immense human being. Either way, mankind symbolizes the unity of the cosmos.
  
  
• Mandala: With counterbalanced geometric forms, the mandala stands for the melding of opposites, such as order and diversity.
  
  
• Mandrake: An embodiment of Satan but with great healing pwers, mandrake when uprooted was said t emit a shriek that killed all who heard it.
  
  
• Mask: Masks are powerful, active symbols of supernatural beings. The mask is said to submerge the wearer's identity, while the being manifests itself in a human body and voice.
  
  
• Mirror: Considered a medium of communicaion between this world and the sirit realm, the mortality and the futility of self-love.
  
  
• Moon: Long hailed as queen of the night, the moon has generally been equated with feminine powers. Influencing covert forces of nature as well as the tides, it is also symbolic of the psychic, the occult, and the magical.
  
  
• Mountain: Though believed to be created by the devil chewing up the smooth earth and spitting it out in mounds, majestic peaks such a Japan's Mount Fuji are widely revered as symbols of spiritual loftiness one oneness with God.
  
  
• Myrtle: Emblem of undying love, this fragrant plant was sacred to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, who used it to commune with her dead lover, Adonis. Thereafter, wands of myrtle became a popular means of trying to contact the departed.
  
  

  N

• Navel: Just as the navel at the center of the body links unborn child to mother, it also stands for the cnter of the world and the passageway to the domain of the gods.
  
  
• Nimbus: In cultures both East and est, the nimbus, or halo, signifies divinity, saintliness, enlightenment, or other extraordinary virtue.
  
  
• Numbers: To Pythagoreans and other mystics, numbers are symbolic of the universal world order that underlies all of magic. To them, evry form in the cosmos, including even the human body, can be expressed in numerical form.
  
  

  O

• Olive: Besides its common use as a sign of peace and friendship, the olive has been a symbol of protection against witchcraft.
  
  
• Oven: To those who used them, alchemical ovens were seen as being analogous to the human body, so would metals be transformed from base to noble in the oven.
  
  
• Owl: The owl represents evil in many cultures and is often linked with sorcery. In Botswana, the bird is so dreaded that if one alights on a home, a witch doctor is called in to perform purification rites.
  
  

  P

• Peach: A symbol of longevity in ancient China, the peach later came to represent female sexuality.
  
  
• Peacock: Its gaudy tail inspiring universal wonder, the peacock is an important symbol to many peoples. For early Christians it stood for immortality and the Resurrection. Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims all see it as a symbol of rebirth.
  
  
• Pelican: Pelicans were long ago thought to tear open their own breats to feed their blood to their young. Though later debunked, this belief led medieval Christians to see the bird as a symbol of Christ's self-sacrifice.
  
  
• Pentagram: Widely viewed as a magical emblem, the pentagram--upright--also represents the human body, the upper triangle being the divinely inspirited head. Inverted, the figure symbolizes evil, the two points being the horns of the devil.
  
  
• Phoenix: This fabulous bird symbolizes the mystical idea of deah and rebirth. In legend, a phoenix ready to die builds itself a special nest, which the sun ignites into a deadly blaze. The bird perishes, only to rise again from its own ashes.
  
  
• Pomegranate: The fruit's many seeds and blood-red juice lend it a symbolic association with fecundity and menstruation. Brides in classical Rome wore wreaths of pomegranate blossoms as a fertility charm, and Turkish brides use the fruit for divination. Dahing one to the ground, a bride counts the number of seeds scattered to foretell how many children she will bear.
  
  
• Pyramid: Some present-day occultists see pyramids as symbols of powerful supernatural earth energies that, when recognized and properly controlled, can bestow on human beings both joy and wholeness.
  
  

  Q

• Quadriga: As with many subjects involving the number four, in a quadriga, or four-horse chariot, the horses symbolize earth, air, fire, and water, the building blocks of the cosmos.
  
  

  R

• Rabbit: The rabbit is a symbol of a soul reborn, through death, to life eternal. Prolific breeders, rabbits also are commonly associated with fertility and the generation of new life.
  
  
• Ring: On the hand of a monarch, a ring was traditionally a symbol of great power, both wordly and supernatural. When given in marriage, the unbroken circular band stands for a vow of fidelity that has no end.
  
  
• Rose: Though at times emblematic of secrecy and death, roses bearing the name of Muhammad and Allah are also symbols of divine love and perfection long associated with conceptions of paradise.
  
  
• Round Table: Supposedly created by Merlin for King Arthur, the round table is a symbol of harmony and egalitarianism. All the knights who sat at it were the same distance from the central rose, a symbol of concord.
  
  
• Rune: Runes represent Germanic deities and mystical notions about humans and the cosmos. According to myths, priets and magicians of old learned the wisdom of the runes from the god Odin.
  
  

  S

• Salamander: The salamander
  
  
• Scarab: Scarab beetles were believed by ancient Egyptians to be all males, reproducing within the tiny balls of dung they rolled up, and thus self-generating.
  
  
• Shell: The shell is a symbol of fertility and conception. Like the goddess, whose Greek name, Aphrodite, means "foam born," the shel is associated with the seas, source of all life.
  
  
• Skull: Widely believed to be the dwelling place of people's souls and the center of their psychic powers, skulls serve as reminders of the impermanence of life and the inevitablility of death.
  
  
• Snake: Because it regularly sloughs its old skin, th snake is a symbol of renewal and longevity. Yet, as represented in the story of Adam and Eve, it also represents evil and guile.
  
  
• Sphinx: With a mighty lion's body and the head and intellect of a young pharaoh, the sphinx is a symbol of earthly power and divine wisdom. The creature's wide-open, all-seeing eyes connote its otherworldly ken.
  
  
• Spiral: A symbol of eternity similar to a circle or a mandala, the spiral represents the development of the universe from an infinitely distant, central point of absolute beginning.
  
  
• Sun: Throughout the world, the sun long represented an all-seeing god.
  
  
• Swan: Because the swan's inverted reflection--an emblem of death--is often seen in calm waters, the bird is associated with mortality. Yet when paired with eggs, the swan represents rebirth.
  
  
• Swastika: Though reviled in the 20th century as the emblec of Nazi Germany, the swastika is an age-old symbol of infinity and good fortune. Swastikas depicting the daily path of the sun, the rotation of the seasons, and other mystical conepts have been found worldwide. Far from symbolizing evil, it is associated with Ganesh the pathfinder, Hindu god of wisdom, prudence, and learning.
  
  
• Sword: For magicians the sword was a protector against evil sirits, for alchemists a symbol of puifying fire.
  
  

  T

• Tarot: Ancestors of modern playing cards, tarot cards like the High Priestess and High Priest were suppressed by te Church for their supposed pagan symbolism. They are held to have special powers, used in divining the future.
  
  
• Tiger: A symbol of wrath and cruelty, the tiger is feared as a maneater taht forces the ghosts of those it has devoured to walk before it in the jungle to lure additional victims.
  
  
• Tortoise: Although tortoises are emblems of immortality and perseverance, they can also symbolize nonviolent stalemate: The advantages and constraints of the tortoise's armor mean that neither it or its enemies can harm the other.
  
  
• Tower: Intended to display man's almos godlike ingenuity, The Tower of Babel became a monument to hubris, for in aiming to reach heaven, humans sought to achieve through cleverness what could be done only by divine will.
  
  
• Tree of Life: An age-old symbol of the cosmos, the tree of life is said to pass through the center of the world and bloom in other realms. The tree's fruit are said to confer immortality.
  
  
• Triad: Groups of three often convey mystical import. In a triad from the Cabala, the old Jewish mystical system, a triangle denotes they eyes and forhead of God, while the letter within is one of three "mother" letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  
  

  U

• Unicorn: An obvious phallic symbol, the unicorn nontheless has also been portrayed as an emblem of purity. It supposedly is immune to capture except by a virgin.
  
  

  V

• Vampire: In books, plays and works, the vampire has been a popular horror figure since the 1800's. But the creature symbolizes an older, almsot universal fear that te dead will seek to regain life by drinking human blood.
  
  
• Vitriol: The vitriol is an alchemical symbol of the ascent from a low to a high plane.
  
  
• Vulture: All vultures were believed by the Egyptians to be female and to be impregnated by the wind, thus symbolizing both pristine motherhood and the means of rebirth for the dead.
  
  

  W

• Water: A symbol of spiritual cleansing, water also represents the source of life.
  
  
• Werewolf: Werewolves embody the idea that humans have a dual nature, changing at night from those God made "a little lower than the angles" to bloodthirsty beasts.
  
  
• Whale: The story of Jonah being swallowed by a "big fish" and spat out a changed man forever linked the whale with the idea of resurrection. Yet the whale can also signify evil, its mouth the gateway to hell.
  
  
• Wheel: Wheels have meaning beyond that of mere circles. Because they rotate, they symbolize dynamic subjects: the sun in its daily passage, for instance, or the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
  
  
• Wine: An inescapable analogy for blood, wine has symbolized both the menstrual flow that indicates fertility in women and divine blood--whether that of the god Dionysus, or of Christ in Christian communion.
  
  
• Witch: As an enduring symbol of men's fear of the power of women, the idea of witches perhaps sprang from lore of ancient goddesses who could create and destroy. Over time, they came to represent invulnerability and the power to cast spells.
  
  

  Y

• Yin/Yang: The Chinese god Pangu holds the Egg of Chaos, comprising the yin and yang, the classic symbol of duality. The yang is male, light, and positive, the yin female, dark, and negative, yet each contains a portion of the other.
  
  

These definitions come from the Master Index and Illustrated Symbols volume of the Mysteries of the Unknown series.