Symbol Dictionary R
Ra: See Gods.
Rabbatu: Title of the Semitic Goddess and her priestesses, rabbatu is the female form of rabbi and means “Holy One,” according to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983).
Ragnarok: The end times, doomsday of Norse legends, Ragnarok would come when Heimdall signified the last battle of the gods with a Last Trump of his horn. The earth would be destroyed, the sun would disappear, the gods would die, and chaos would again rule, according to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983).
Ram: See Animals.
Raven: See Birds.
Reincarnation: Meaning “re-fleshing” of the soul, this basic belief about the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth (in contrast to one life ending in either heaven or hell), is prominent in many spiritual paths from Hinduism to Paganism. In legends, reincarnation was controlled by a variety of Fate-goddesses from the Great Mother who controlled the Wheel of Becoming to Kali’s wheel of karma, according to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983). See the UMS course on Reincarnation for more info.
Revelation: Today revelation refers to any religious vision, opinion, or even fortune-telling, but its roots go back to the Latin revelatio, meaning to draw back the velum or veil. According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “It was the Goddess’s rainbow veil that concealed the future and the secrets of the spirit under the colors of earthly appearance,” that are revealed in death. Later, the Bible’s Book of Revelations, recounts St. John the Divine’s doomsday vision and similar doomsday revelations are held in the Scandinavian Voluspa or Sybil’s Vision.
Riddles: According to Man, Myth And Magic: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Mythology, Religion And The Unknown (1995), “The telling of riddles was once far more than an amusement for children: a condemned man might sometimes riddle his way out of the noose, while certain African tribes used them in connection with rain-making and in the Celebes it was customary to tell them only in the presence of a corpse.”
Rose: See Flower.
Rosary: This symbol, so often associated with Catholicism and St. Dominic’s “beatific vision,” was adapted from the pagans and has its roots in the Hindu japamala “rose-chaplet,” or Rosary of the Mantras, worn by Kali Ma. The rosary is used to count repetitive prayers or mantras, like a portable prayer wheel. According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “Its alternately red and white beads symbolize her Mother and Virgin forms” and the Buddhist Rosary Upanished addresses its uses. The Arab’s adapted red and white roses as symbols of femininity, calling their rosaries wardija or “rose-garden,” and in Latin it was called a rosarium and was associated with the cult of the virgin Mary into the 14th century. In Germany a wreath of roses called a Rosenkranz was the symbol of virginity for maidens and in the east, this same wreath represented sacred marriage and was worn by the phallic god. See Prayer
Beads.
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Runes: The sacred runic alphabet originated from a Norse tale of Odin gaining the knowledge of runes in return for his self-sacrifice—a common demand in myths in return for male acquisition of feminine wisdom. Odin hung in a Yggdrasil tree for 9 nights, the traditional childbirth period for women, according to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983). Originally called the Elder Furtharc, the runic alphabet has 16 to 33 symbols, although originally starting with 24. The runes became a tool of divination for the pagans by “casting the rune,” consequently Christianity demonized the practice. |