Symbol Dictionary Ma - Mas
Ma: See Goddess.
Magen David: Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “The original source of the Magen David was the Tantric ‘Great yantra’, which stood for union of the sexes; The downward-pointing triangle being female, the upward-pointing one male, the two signifying the eternal union of God and Goddess.” Taught to the Jews by Cabalistic sex-worshipers, the Yantra’s original meaning was later obscured. See Hexagram.
Magic: Magic was legal in Roman times and tolerated up to the early Middle Ages, when it assisted the nobility and church and was often employed in deciding affairs and warding off demons. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “Though the church condemned magic as a devilish art, the Ages of Faith were filled with magical beliefs and practices.”
Magic Carpet: The idea of a Magic Carpet appears in several cultures. It probably originated from an Eastern Shamanic tradition of initiates learning to “fly” during spirit-journey. In Asia, during the initiation process, the initiate was carried on a carpet by four priests (similar to the practice in ancient Egypt of four Sons of Horus carrying dead men). Also, learning to fly to heaven and back again in trance was an important part of death and resurrection ceremonies. A Magic Carpet became a symbol for being able to travel in the mind.
Magen David: See Hexagram.
Mama: See Goddess.
Man: The original Norse word man meant woman and wer meant man, (Walker, 1983). Man was also a title for the prime Creatress Moon in Scandinavia. In Rome Man or Mana was the mother of all manes (ancestral spirits). Even the Sanskrit root word man meant moon and wisdom.
Mandala: The mandala (Sanskrit for “circle”) is used as a meditation tool in both Hinduism and Buddhism. Usually circular, a mandala can also appear in other forms such as the lotus. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), states that as an “Oriental sacred diagram or meditation symbol… Contemplation of the mandala was supposed to lead to mystical insight.” Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), edited by Richard Cavendish further explains, “The mandala or circle is one of the most widespread of all symbols, found in religious art in all parts of the world. In the East, it so consecrated that space may be regarded as charged with the presence of deities who have been housed within it.” Often using repeating designs and colors, mandalas may also be split into sections with each section representing a different aspect, like a medicine wheel.
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Mandorla: A Mandorla, from the Latin word for almond, is the vesica, halo or aura that surrounds saints in medieval Christian art (including Christ and the Virgin Mary) and the deities in Buddhist art. According to Rowena and Rupert Shepherd in their book 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean In Art And Myth (2002), “Encompassing the entire figure, it symbolizes wholeness and healing. |
Manifest Destiny: Manifest Destiny was the phrase of early white settlers to North America who believed that it was their divinely appointed mission to settle the continent from sea to sea, “civilizing” the native peoples in the process. This “civilizing” process was, besides arrogant and greedy, was often inhumane and cruel. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), says that when Native Americans objected to Manifest Destiny, the General In Command’s solution “was to exterminate the buffalo, on whom the Plains Indians depended for food, shelter, and clothing. When the great herds were killed and left to rot, many Indian tribes died of famine. This was hailed as a working of Manifest Destiny.”
As well as endeavoring to inflict mass genocide on the Native peoples, the White settlers took it upon themselves to convert the Native peoples to their own religion. In response, a Seneca chief told missionaries in 1805: “Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you; we only want to enjoy our own. Brother, We are told that you have been preaching to white people in this place…; we will wait a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, makes them honest, and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have said” (Starkloff, as cited in Walker). The genocide of the Native American people is as horrendous as the Holocaust and the Inquisition, however, it does not usually receive the same awareness in the United States.
Mantra: A Mantra is a combination of “words of power” that are spoken repetitively to invoke divine energy. This belief is shared by the Egyptian idea of hekau and Neoplatonic theory of Logos. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), explains “The root word man meant feminine “wise blood” emanating from the moon; it was usually defined as Intelligence.” (See Man.) Mantras have been used by Egyptian, Hindus, Roman Pagans, Tibetan lamas, and Tantric yogis. The Mother of Mantras is considered to be matrikamantra, Kali’s Word of Creation, Om, as the word that brought into being the universe. Walker asserts, “Hindus believed anything could be accomplished if one only knew the correct mantras.” The Catholic Church had a similar belief which caused them to retain the Latin language for mass, long after commoners no longer spoke Latin, because it was believed that there was power invested in the very sound of the words. See Logos and Jewel In The Lotus.
Mars: See Planets.
Mascot: See Animals.