Symbol
Dictionary C-Cr
Cabala/Kabbalah:
This medieval Jewish mystical idea is influenced by Tantrism and Sufism
and is similar to the Christian idea of courtly-love during the medieval
period. The basic premise is that God’s loss of his female counterpart,
Shekina, created all the ills of the world, and universal harmony will
be restored when God and Goddess are once again “one.” Under
this belief, sexual union between people becomes a sacred act helpful
to restoring this divine union. As a symbol, the Cabala represents union
and connection of masculine and feminine. Barbara Walker, in her book,
The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983) stated, “universal
harmony must be restored by making God and his Goddess once more ‘one.’”
The Sefer ha-Zohar or Book of Splendor is the major cabalistic work and
was written by Moses de Leon of Guadalajara in the 13th century.
Camel: See Animals.
Candle: Candles have long been a symbol of light, during the short and
dark winter months and especially on the Winter Solstice, the shortest
day of the year. The Yule candles (longer than regular candles) in the
Christian tradition are left burning all night on Christmas Eve, according
to Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997), by John Bradner, they are
“symbols of good luck as long as they remain burning. According
to Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion
And The Unknown (1995), the birthday candles represented a persons life
“as a single source of light, a single fragment of the universe’s
store of light, stands for an individual person’s life as a single
fragment of life in the world.”
Candelabrum:
Many cultures use candelabras in temples and rituals for illumination
and symbolic meaning. They illuminated the temples and rites of the Greek
and Romans; they are one of the three main implements of Buddhist rituals;
in Mexico they are the Tree-of-Life candelabra with pagan and Christian
symbols and adorn Christian altars. The Menorah, a seven branched candelabrum
from the Jewish tabernacle, is used during important Jewish rituals. It
is shaped like an almond branch, symbolizing Aaron’s almond wood
staff. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols:
What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “the seven branches also
symbolize the seven pillars of wisdom, and the seven days of creation.”
According to Barbara Walker, in her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia
Of Myths And Secrets (1983) the Menorah, “probably represent[s]
the Seven Sisters or Moon-Horae, since it was decorated with yonic symbols.”
Menorah to the left.
Cancer: See Zodiac Signs.
Cannabis: Known as the “holy herb,” Cannabis is sacred to
Rastafarians who take the herb as a sacrament, with the result of altered
states of consciousness, according to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their
book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002).
Capricorn: See Zodiac
Signs.
Cast Systems, Hindu: Called the pundra, the Hindu cast system, consists
of lines, dogs, rectangles, circles, or triangles depending on the sect.
While they can be painted on any part of the body, there usually painted
on the forehead, and ascetics and holy men called sadhus have them tattooed
on.
Caste: The castle is one symbol in a larger system of hierarchy, established
to justify the relegation of people to certain classes. Placing some select
individual high up within guarded Castle walls gives the message that
not only are they more important, but also have divine ordinance, much
like India’s Untouchables. In her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia
Of Myths And Secrets (1983), Walker, explains, “the Aryan priests
devised the caste system to relegate native peoples to a lower status,
and to preserve this order with a claim of divine ordinance. Rowena and
Rupert Shepherd in 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002)
explain, “these symbols often reflect a devotion to just one attribute
of the deity, and so express adherence to that aspect alone.”
Castration: Castration is the removal of either just the gonads and/or
the penis, of the male sex organs. This has been done in different cultures
throughout time for different purposes. Today, within the US, repeat sex
offenders have the option of voluntary castration but the origins of castration
are much more spiritual in nature and go back to the days before men figured
out they had a hand in the magical and mysterious experience of birth.
In her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983),
Barbara Walker, explains, “before men understood their reproductive
role, they tried to ‘make women’ of themselves in the hope
of achieving womanlike fertility.” Myths and stories of the Gods
reflect this endeavor by the efforts of Gods, including the Egyptian Sun
God Ra, to have children through artificial means (like birthing a baby
out of his thigh) or actually removing the male reproductive organs so
that they appeared more female. When temples to the Goddess were common,
men who wished to serve could become eunuchs, a kind of respected servant
of the priestesses whose genitals had been removed in order to become
more feminine and also to protect the priestesses. Castration was also
practiced for monks who could not get beyond sexual denial. In India,
there is a “third sex” category called hijras, who are people
born biologically male or intersexed and upon deciding to become hijras,
receive castration in order to better serve their goddess. The hijras
have a socially constructed gender identity, cultural duties such as performing
rituals at the birth of children and specific religious obligations.
Cat: See Animals.
Cauldron: See Womb.
Cave: See Womb.
Cernunnos: See Gods.
Cerridwen: See Goddess.
Chakra: This Tantric symbol, according to Barbara Walker, in her book,
The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), represents
the “’rings’ or stages of enlightenment, visualized
as steps ascending the spinal column, as the inner serpent goddess Kundalini
uncoils from the pelvis upward to the head.” Each chakra has a corresponding
energy, number, and color, for instance, the 4th chakra is the heart center,
is green in color, and works with the energies of love and connection.
For more on Chakras, refer to the Chakras and Auras course, for specific
color meanings of chakras refer to the Colors and Symbols course.
Chalice: See Womb.
Chaos: The idea of chaos comes from the Greek word for the “undifferentiated
mixture of raw elements supposed to occupy the World-Goddess’s womb
before creation and after destruction of each recurrent universe,”
according to Barbara Walker in her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia
Of Myths And Secrets (1983). Chaos symbolizes the “eternal flux”
of the universe.
Charon: See Gods/Underworld
Guardians.
Cheetah: See Animals.
Cherry: See Fruit.
Cherub: Originally this Hebrew totem animal, called Kerubh, was represented
by a creature with eagle wings, lion feet, bull heads, and serpent tails.
According to Barbara Walker in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia
Of Myths And Secrets (1983), the Hebrew Cherub represented “the
four seasons, cardinal directions, and elements.” Probably this
Hebrew Cherub originated from an earlier mu-karribim, guardians of the
“shrine of the Moon-goddess at Marib.” Later the Cherub was
adapted by Christianity as the fat little naked babies with wings and
love-inspiring arrows who guard Heaven’s Gates, like Cupid.
Christmas Tree: See Tree.
Circle:
The circle is one of the most basic and widely used shapes in symbolism,
representing wholeness, oneness, and completion. Man, Myth And Magic:
The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995),
edited by Richard Cavendish states, “From ancient rites to astrology,
alchemy and magic, the circle is one of the most powerful and most widely
used of all symbols…If you want to depict a group of things, linked
together, complete in itself and separated from everything outside the
group, the shape which most effectively
expresses completeness and separateness at the same time is the circle.”
See One.
Circumcision: This custom of removing the piece of skin covering the head
of the penis called foreskin, is practiced in Egypt, Persia, and the Middle
East. This custom may have originated as a means of emulating menstruation,
as it was performed on teen-aged boys dressed up as girls. It was also
practiced as a substitute for castration as a way of honoring a deity.
According to Barbara Walker in her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia
Of Myths And Secrets (1983) circumcision is a “symbolic version
of the sacrifice of virility to a deity.” See Sacrifice.
Clover: See Shamrock.
Communion Wafer: The Communion Wafer, comes in the form of bread or cracker,
and is taken during a Catholic Mass ceremony as the body and blood of
Christ. According to Myth, Man And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia
Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish,
“The host, or communion wafer, is a symbol of Christ but when it
has been properly consecrated in the Mass, it also is Christ.” See Transubstantiation.
Convent: This religious center evolved from pagan “colleges”
of priestesses who were dedicated to religious service. These people were
unmarried, and consequently called virgins, although they were not necessarily
biological virgins. Both sexes, male monks and female priestesses lived
and worshipped in the convent under the rule of an abbess, who owned the
land, as it was customary for women to be landowners until the second
half of the first decade when the Catholic church used discrediting female
ownership of land as a way to gain power and property. Barbara Walker,
in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983)
explains that “as Christian laws encroached on women’s property
rights, many women of noble rank took vows to remain single, so as to
protect their wealth from the claims of husbands. Thus originated the
so-called convent of noble ladies, an independent mini-queendom…
The abbess conducted her own courts of law, kept her own seat in the imperial
parliament, and maintained her own standing army.” The Abbess became
canonized like Bishops and was able to retain the pagan structure and
customs of the convent (including sexual freedom.) The Abbess at times
held powers over not only the convent, but also surrounding towns and
countryside. Within these sanctuaries, education and culture were highly
valued and some of the finest intellectual and artistic ladies were schooled
within their walls. According to Walker (1983), “The world nun originally
meant a nurse, that is, a priestess of a healing shrine, like the ‘nymphs’
in colleges of Hygeia and Panacea in pagan Greece.” By the 12th
century the Catholic church was placing more restrictions on convents
and their nuns, cutting them off from the outside world and restricting
education.
Copper: See Metal.
Cornucopia:
A horn filled with flowers and fruit of plenty. Its origins are ambiguous,
perhaps coming from Zeus/Jupiter, who created it from the horn of the
nanny-goat Amalthea in thanks for her nurturing, perhaps it is from a
bulls horn. According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s
Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983) “A favorite Roman emblem
of the Goddess was the Cornucopia, Horn of Plenty: a cow’s horn
pouring forth all the fruits of the earth.” For the significance
of the cow, see Cow.
Cow: See Animals.
Cowrie Shell: See Yoni.
Crab: See Animals.
Creation: A universal belief among all people throughout the world is
that of a creation or birth of the universe and/or world. The qualities
of pre-creation, darkness, liquid, and movement are similar to that of
the uterus and menstrual blood of a creation Parent (most commonly a Mother).
According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia
Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “Most creation myths speak of a splitting
or opening in the dark, formless Mother. The beginning of the existing
world is signaled by the coming of light.”
Crone: See Goddess