The Day of the Dead is celebrated annually in Mexico on November 1st, coinciding with the Catholic observation of All Saint’s Day. The Day of the Dead is a uniquely Mexican

celebration, a cultural festival resembling Halloween in many ways, but with more cultuiral and spiritual meaning. The holiday combines elements of Catholicism with ancient Aztec symbolism, and honors the spirits of departed ancestors and loved ones who are believed to return to earth to join in the celebrations.

Outlined below are some of the more common emblems of this important cultural holiday:

 

 

Jose Posada / Public Domain

 

Calaveras- Mischievous Dead

Calaveras (skulls) are probably the most recognizable emblems of the Day of the Dead. Calaveras are whimsical caricatures-most commonly drawings- of skulls or skeletons. In most cases, calaveras are depicted in humorous settings, often in scenes depicting traditional activities. Common images include churches, weddings, musicians, dancers,politicians, policemen, and revolutionary soldiers. The Calaveras are often accompanied by mocking “epitaphs” of persons living and deceased, in the form of satirical poems.

The iconic image at left comes from artist José Guadalupe Posada, whose work has become an integral part of Day of the Dead celebrations, and who may have initiated the tradition in the nineteenth century. She is “Catrina,” a caricature of a wealthy woman of the nineteenth century, and she mocks anyone who takes materialistic pleasures too seriously.

Calacas

Like Calaveras, Calacas are mischievous renditions of skeletal firgures. Calacas include paper mache skull masks and figurines of popular calaveras, such as Catrina. They are popular items for tourists to purchase as souvenirs. Calacas are sometimes adorned with the names of the deceased.

 

 

Sugar Skulls

A common rendition of the Calaveras come in the form of sugar skulls, decorated confections of sugar and egg whites which are exchanged as gifts or incorporated into offrendas. You can find directions for creating sugar skulls here.

 

Offrendas

Perhaps the most serious emblem of the holiday is the Offrenda, an altar honoring the dead. Offrendas are most often created in honor of one’s ancestors or loved ones, and contain a number of traditional elements, many drawn from indigenous Mexican traditions:

• Crosses and other religious emblems, including statuettes of saints
• Water, sacred to indigenous pre-Columbian cultures, and a symbol of baptism and new life in the Catholic church.
• Salt, a preservative and purifying agent
• Copal, a native incense used by the Aztecs
• Candles, whose light guides the dead
• Flowers, particularly the Cempazúchitl, or flower of the dead- the marigold, sacred to Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of the dead.
• Offerings of toys and sweets for children, alcohol and cigarettes for adults. Common food offerings include fruits and pan de Muertos, a sweet egg bread shaped to resemble skulls and bones.

Papel Picado

Papel picado literally means “perforated paper,” and refers to the lacy, elaborate pierced tissue decorations popular during the holiday. Papel picado are created from layers of colorful tissue (or sometimes even plastic), and feature many of the same th3mes as other Day of the Dead decorations.

Links:

• The Calaveras of Jose Posada
• Remembering the Dead
• The Origin of Holiday Symbols

{ 0 comments }

Jachim and Boaz are the pair of symbolic pillars (with Boaz on the left) described in the biblical account of the Temple of Solomon and featured prominently in Masonic temples.

In the Jewish mystical kabbalah, Joachim and Boaz are the left and rightmost pillars of the tree of life- mercy and severity, or strength. Jachim represents the male polarity of the universe, light, motion, activity, the electron. Boaz represents the female polarity of the universe, darkness, passivity, receptivity, and silence. The pillars are similar in concept to the Eastern Yin Yang, representing opposites in balance.

Like much Masonic symbolism, the pillars are described in the old testament story of King Solomon, as the most significant feature of a grand temple. The story has traditionally been viewed as symbolic, and to Freemasons represents the spiritual development of man.  One Masonic legend avers that the philosopher Pythagoras discovered the pillars, and together with Hermes Trismegistus, used them to discover all of the secrets of Geometry.

Jachim and Boaz

Related Symbols:

{ 1 comment }

The keystone is a significant symbol in the York Rite of Freemasonry, where it figures in the unfolding symbolic tale of Hiram the builder. In masonic lore, Hiram is the inventor of the keystone, and its significance is lost upon his assassination. The ritual narrative centered around this stone recalls the biblical “stone the builders refused,” as the uninitiated, not knowing the purpose of the oddly-shaped stone, consign it to the rubbish heap. It is only rediscovered when King Solomon inquires after its whereabouts.

The letters inscribed are short for the coded phrase: “Hiram The Widows Son Sent to King Solomon,” an obvious cipher, the meaning of which is likely lost.

In masonry, the keystone is the stone that holds together a stone arch. The oddly-shaped keystone is a feat of early engineering, allowing builders to incorporate windows, doorways, and other building elements to a building without sacrificing strength.  The main benefit of this innovation is to allow for much more natural light in a structure.

Symbolically, the stone is the last placed, completing the arch created by the pillars Jachim and Boaz. It is analogous to coagulation in the alchemical process, an emblem of completion.  Astrologically, the keystone represents the summer solstice- the sun entering the sign of Cancer at its highest point in the northern sky, as illustrated below:

Related Symbols:

Related resources:

• Masonic art & clip art
• Vitruvian Man
• Freemasonry Resources Masonry is not a religion, but shares many of the same aims- the betterment of the human condition and the dispersion of ignorance.

   

• Hermetic Tradition

{ 0 comments }

This image represents the early Mesopotamian Tree of Life. In Babylonian mythology, the Tree of Life was a magical tree that grew in the center of paradise. The Apsu, or primordial waters, flowed from its roots. It is the prototype of the tree described in Genesis: the biblical Tree of Paradise evolved directly from this ancient symbol; it is the symbol from which the Egyptian, Islamic, and Kabbalistic Tree of Life concepts originated.

The stylized images may also represent the spine and branches of the human nervous system. Its design is similar to that of the Egyptian djed and the Norse Irminsul.

The Epic of Gilgamesh describes a plant with powers of rejevenation; the hero acquires the plant- only to lose it to a passing snake, which obtains the ability to shed its skin and renew itself.

The intricate Tree of Life may represent the spinal cord and energy points.

See also: The Tree of Life: Uniter of Worlds

Related Symbols:

{ 1 comment }

“From the roots of his hair to the bottom of his chin is a tenth of a man’s height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. ”

~ Notebooks of Leonardo

Although made famous Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci, the figure known as the Vitruvian Man is actually named for the man who created him, the Roman architect Vitruvius. Vitruvius, a proponent of the Sacred Geometry of Pythagoras, designed temples based on the proportions of the human body, believing them to be perfect. This perfection, wrote Vitruvius, was evidenced by the fact that the extended limbs of a perfectly proportioned human fit into both the circle and the square.

According to Pythagorian tradition, the circle represents the spiritual realm; the square, material existence, so the human body represented the perfect marriage of matter and spirit, which was is reflected in its proportions.

Leonardo was one of many artists who attempted to depict Vitruvius’ perfect man, and the only one who succeeded; his version is considered the most accurate depictions of the human body.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, one of the most well known images in the world.

An earlier attempt at rendering the perfectly proportioned man, by Cesar Cesariano.

Related Symbols:

Related Links:

• Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio
• Vitruvian Man and the planning of temples (Offsite)
• Da Vinci Code Research Guide

Related resources:

• Vitruvian Man View more artist’s renderings of the Vitruvian Man.

{ 2 comments }

The Dreidel is an easily recognized symbol of the Jewish holiday Chanukkah. The dreidel (the word dreidel is a corruption of the German word for ‘top’) is a four sided spinning top inscribed with Hebrew characters, adapted from an old German gambling game. As rules prohibiting gambling games were traditionally relaxed during the holiday, the dreidel became inseparably associated with Chanukah.

Over time, the dreidel began to be seen as a means of teaching the meaning of the holiday: the letters are used form an acronym: (nun, gimel, heh, shin), which stands for “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham,” A great miracle happened there, referring to the miracle of the oil (The exception being dreidels used in Israel, which read: “,” for: “A great miracle happened here.” )

The dreidel is a traditional gift at Channukah, and used to gamble for candy, raisins, or coins (chocolate ‘gelt’ coins are popular). Players ante into a pot, and take turns spinning the dreidel:

Nun, (nisht, nothing): player gets nothing

Gimel (gantz, all): player takes

Heh, (halb, half): player takes half the pot.

Shin, (shtel, give): players ante into the pot.

Related Symbols:

Related Resources:

• Cults Get the skinny on the often controversial, sometimes dangerous New Religious Movements- including Scientology, Moonies, Hare Krishnas, The Branch Davidians, and Aum Shinrikyo. As many viewpoints as possible will be explored.
• Religious Holiday Calendar An interactive, illustrated calendar of religious holidays encompassing more than 300 annotated entries. Includes the Holy days of more than thirty faiths and traditions, as well as astrological and celestial events.
• New Age Learn about the varied beliefs and philosophies known collectively as “New Age.”
• Rosicrucianism The Rosicrucians are the fabled Hermetic brotherhood of the Renaissance.

{ 0 comments }

The image at right is the most common of several decorative devices referred to as “Solomon’s Knot,” a simple design of interlaced, endless loops.

This particular design is very ancient, and appears all over the architecture of the ancient world, and further back, in stone-age carvings.

The design is frequently used in the designs of ancient synagogues, which probably gave rise to the symbol’s association with King Solomon.

Interlaced designs of this type took much skill to execute; reportedly, this symbol was a particular hallmark of the medieval Italian stonemasons known as the Comacines,* who imbued it with mystical meaning, a symbol of eternal motion and the intertwining of space and time.

Solomon’s knot is related to the swastika and the shield knot; the knot is often interchangeable for these solar emblems.

* According to Masonic lore, the Comacines were the forerunners of the Freemasons.

Related Symbols:

Related Links:

• Solomon’s Knot and the planning of temples (Offsite)
• Da Vinci Code Research Guide

{ 0 comments }