Symbols and Their Meanings
CIRCLE Eternal; neverending. Wholeness, completion, Self, and Spirituality.
CHAIN Continuity of life with past, present, future; the interrelatedness of all living things.
CROSS Protection symbolized by the four directions of the cross; union of elements and opposites.
ANKH Physical life in harmony with spiritual life.
CELTIC CROSS The Earth and her four quarters; the union of Earth with the spiritual world.
FIGURE 8 Eternity, the dynamic balance between solar and lunar forces.
SQUARE Square, the foundation of the home, the material world and material security.
SPIRAL Evolution, growth and progress, the flow of energy through space, landforms, and living things.
STAR (5-POINTED PENTAGRAM) The energy generated when the four elements are bound together with the fifth element, spirit.
STAR (6-POINTED STAR OF DAVID) Union of opposites and harmonious balance of creative forces make this the Star or Creation.
TRIANGLE Creative focus of body, mind and spirit.
BAT Asian charm depicts five bats as the blessing of health, wealth, love of virtue, old age, and a natural death.
BEAR Childbearing, powerfully protective mother instincts, hibernation symbolizes introspection and self-renewal.
BEES, BEETLES, WINGED INSECTS Harbingers of Sprint, Earth's fertility, social cooperation, industriousness.
BUTTERFLY Ancient symbol of the soul, exemplifies transformation; represents and early and happy marriage in some Asian cultures.
CAT Personal pride, self-assurance, love of beauty and comfort. Black cats are especially lucky (associations with bad luck come from the Medieval Church, which reviled cats because they were the totem animals of the Love Goddess); embody the Spirits of Place because of their attachment to their homes.
COW Earth mother, nourishment, taking care of physical needs, the wealth of the Earth, fertility cycles of the Moon.
COYOTE Cleverness, guise of the trickster, surviving by ones wits.
DEER Maternal affection, healing touch, grace and gentility.
DOG Companionship, fidelity, household guardian.
DOLPHIN The connection between human sentience and that of the animal kingdom.
DRAGON The raw, powerful, flowing, energies of the Life Force as it courses through landforms and the elements of Fire, Water, and Air.
DRAGONFLY Ethereal, illusionary beauty.
FISH The Water element, fertility and richness.
FROG Transformation, evolution, small impulses that lead to meaningful things; also, the herald of nourishing rain and the beginning of spring.
HORSE Great power coupled with great gentility, personal power in both physical and spiritual domains.
LADYBUG Good luck coming from the gifts of the Love Goddess.
LAMB Innocence, the playful vitality of youth.
LION The raw power of the Fire element.
LIZARD Basking habits show the lizards love of the Sun, and the Sun returns that love; symbolized the solar powers that value and nourish even the small things.
MOUSE The importance of the small things in life.
PIG Their rounded shape suggests pregnancy, fertility, and abundance, their rooting around also associates them with the Earth mysteries.
RABBIT Fertility, sexuality, abundance.
SCARAB BEETLE Transformation, rebirth into eternal life.
SERPENT Associated with the healing arts because of self-renewal and spiraling coils suggesting the flow of the life Force; and going into the ground represents knowledge of the mysteries.
SPIDER The web of life (ancient symbol relevant to modern ecology), personal skill, good luck for craftpersons and witches.
TOAD A spirit of place that confers well being to a home; recognizing beauty in homely things.
TURTLE Longevity and protective security; in Native American lore.
UNICORN Purity, innocence, justice, the untouched state of Nature.
WOLF Finding new energy by making contact with the inner, wild, and primitive level of being.
BIRDS (GENERAL) Thought, imagination, intuition, freedom.
BIRDS (WATER) Associated with abundance, fertility, and transformation.
CHICKEN Security and prosperity of a cozy homestead.
DOVE Peace, love and fertility.
EAGLE Spiritual power, the ability to soar beyond all limitations.
HAWKS Alertness, awareness, ability to see the heart of the matter.
OWL Wisdom, knowledge, go-betweens twixt night and day, life and death, the Middle Earth and the Underworld.
PARROT A love for exotic places, communication, and sociability.
PEACOCK Personal pride, love of beauty.
ROOSTER Courage; the victory of light over dark.
SEA GULL Ability to travel through many dimensions as gulls are at home in three elements: Earth, Air, Water. An appropriate symbol for the Shaman.
STORK Believed to bring babies because it is an ancient symbol of incipient life. Symbolizes good parenting and a reciprocal devotion to ones own parents.
SWALLOW Bird that embodies the playful Spirit of Air, a harbinger of Spring, traditionally a good luck amulet.
SWAN Feminine grace and beauty that stirs Divine inspiration.
ACORN Concentrated potential, youth, good health, and growth.
DAISY Youth, aliveness, the qualities of the archetypal maiden.
EDELWEISS A test of love and courage - to obtain it for your beloved, you must climb craggy mountain slopes where it grows.
EVERGREEN TREE Contains the same symbolism of the tree, but emphasizing the reconciliation between the transitory and the eternal, promising eternal life and the continuity of life.
FOUR LEAF CLOVER The four leaves are said to stand for health, wealth, happiness, and true love.
MOON A powerful symbol with many layers of meaning, the feminine mysteries; the night side of Nature and the call of the Wilderness; the measure of Time and the tides of Life; the cycles of fertility, growth, fulfillment, and going within; the realm of magic; the unconscious mind.
MUSHROOM Symbolic of the borders of consciousness and the awareness of other worlds (states of consciousness), traditional association with the Faery Realm. PINE CONE Concentration of life, fertility, growth, and prosperity.
ROSE The fulfillment of Love.
SHELL Historically the worlds most popular amulet, with many layers of symbolism. The Water element, love, fertility, and female sexuality. Growth and the spiraling flow of vital energy, wealth, and perfection. Moon tides and lunar phases.
SNOWFLAKE The manifestation of the Mother Rune, Hagiel, which maps the matrix of life.
STAR Affirms you are guided by a lucky star (help from spiritual sources); each person is a breathing star, scientists point out that we are made of the stuff of ancient star dust.
SUN The Life Source, radiant, warm, active, expansive, life-stimulating qualities. Conscious mind, intelligence, personal pride,
TREE Another ancient, honored, and complex symbol; the ability of the Self to reach into heaven while still having roots in the Earth.
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