15
votes
Accepted
Does Hercules have a tail?
It was a trophy.
A Nemean Lion's Tail.
It was the 1st labor of Hercules- it was Hercules' first great deed.
The first of Hercules' labors was to kill the Nemean lion. Hesiod, in his Theogony, wrote
...
- 7,133
11
votes
Accepted
What is the symbolism behind Psyche's tasks?
The beautiful mind (soul) only finds pleasure (happiness) in unconditional love (heart).
The heart (unconditional love) likewise only finds happiness (pleasure) in the soul (beautiful mind).
...
- 416
10
votes
Accepted
Why is Lucifer three-faced?
Why is the Devil also known as Lucifer (and other names) three-faced?
To understand this symbolic meaning of Dante in his Canto XXXIV, we have to have a basic understanding of the beliefs of the ...
- 2,863
9
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of this rune/symbol?
The symbol is a form of a the triquetra, a sort of loop with three "leaves". It's close in form to the triskelion, which is a sort of spiral with three symmetrical heads.
Those are just general names ...
- 6,037
8
votes
Why is Lucifer three-faced?
It's worth looking further down Canto XXXIV (I'm using a slightly different translation) to see just who is stuffed into Lucifer's mouths:
"That upper spirit,
Who hath worst punishment," so spake ...
- 7,133
8
votes
Accepted
Anyone know what this symbol means?
Looks like the Adinkra "Aya" (fern) symbol:
Adinkra is not Egyptian, though. It originates from the Ashanti and Baoulé peoples, in the neighborhood of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire (respectively).
- 9,261
7
votes
Accepted
What is this symbol on my necklace?
This is the dove with a halo, as a christian symbol for the Holy Spirit or the soul.
The colour red is associated with the blood of Christ and with the Holy Spirit.
The fact that you bought it in ...
- 186
7
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the male order and female chaos trope?
My understanding is that this is more of an observation Peterson claims to have identified in ancient literature. I'm not really sure how much of a trope it really is, but if we suppose that this ...
- 7,877
6
votes
What is the significance of the three stars in Ruben's Saturn painting?
I'm afraid the stars do not have mythological significance. According to the listing for the painting on the Prado Museum website, the stars are probably the planet Saturn, whose rings were believed ...
- 17.1k
6
votes
What is the symbolism behind Psyche's tasks?
I see the stages of spiritual awakening reflected in each labor:
Stage I: Labor of Sorting Seeds - Beginning. Journey of intentionally creating internal order through disciplined action with an aim. ...
6
votes
What do the four living creatures represent?
They represent the Tetramorph, the 4 classical elements in the West. More info:
A tetramorph is a symbolic arrangement of four differing elements, or the combination of four disparate elements in ...
- 61
5
votes
Accepted
Why is Dante using Geryon as a symbol of fraud?
Translator-poet John Ciardi (Dante, The Inferno, Signet Classics, 2001, p. 139) offers the following annotation:
GERYON. A mythical king of Spain represented as a giant with three heads and three ...
- 1,391
5
votes
Accepted
What culture does this duality symbol belong to?
I don't think it would be possible to know for certain unless we ask the artist who drew it, but the symbol looks like a very simplified version of the Chinese taijitu, the "yin and yang symbol":
- 17.1k
5
votes
Accepted
What deities/creatures personify the universe in the aspect that it manifests as varied duplexity (that serve the same symbolic function as Yin/Yang)?
Dionysus is a great place to start—Baphomet is almost surely based, in part, on this figure.
Dionysus is sometimes depicted as the "horned god", encompassing the human/animal binary.
Dionysus the "...
- 14.2k
5
votes
Accepted
Did the ancient Egyptians worship Cats and Dogs deities at the same period?
Dog and Cat deities were worshiped together as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BCE) in the forms of Anubis and Bastet, but the recorded worship of Anubis dates back to even the First Dynasty (3100 ...
- 5,388
5
votes
Are forests and trees considered self sufficient and self reliant? Or is there any lore on caretakers of the forests?
Well, I know that with the Ancient Celts the tree of life was a big thing to their culture, to the extent they believed they were trees, or came from trees. They saw them as the symbol for balance, ...
5
votes
Are forests and trees considered self sufficient and self reliant? Or is there any lore on caretakers of the forests?
To the ancient Celts, certain trees, especially the oak, ash and thorn, held special significance.
To the Celts, Druids and many other peoples of the old world, certain trees held special ...
- 4,068
5
votes
Are there any examples of gods or people boasting of their ability to engage in multiple acts of sex in succession?
Heracles is said to have had intercourse with the 50 daughters of Thespius or Thestius in one night, all of whom bore him sons (Diodorus Siculus, Library 4.29.3) In another version, one daughter ...
- 695
5
votes
Accepted
What bird species is associated with Pallas Athēnē?
The animal that is commonly associated with Athena is the γλαῦξ (glaux), which is often translated simply as 'owl', but actually refers specifically to the Athene noctua. See for example the γλαῦξ ...
- 2,073
4
votes
Accepted
Why do snake (serpent) and bull often come together as symbols of deities?
This is only a partial and working answer until I can look into Cerunnos, Veles, and Shiva.
My first inclination is that this is a case of the Texas sharpshooter fallacy. These four gods have ...
cmw♦
- 7,401
4
votes
What is the meaning of the star symbols appearing on seal VA 243?
Apparently, either my research jiu-jitsu is flawed, or the first cylinder is a forgery. First of all, it does not resemble any of the Cuneiform writings that are historically known, secondarily there ...
4
votes
Accepted
Why is the left-hand path in regards to Baphomet associated with the female side?
It's a hermaphrodite because it symbolically combines both particles of material principes that need to be re-united in spirit through mutual alchemy between the male and female.
The dark wings ...
4
votes
Are there any stories or fables in mythology that have an anarchist message?
If memory serves, Mikhail Bakunin was particularly fond of the story of Prometheus, the Titan of forethought. Prometheus defied the Olympians (the ruling class), stole fire from Zeus (the king) and ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
Are there myths, folklore, tales, or other traditions/tales about monsters regaining their humanity permanently?
In Fairy Tales
I am sure you are familiar with the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. There are many variants of the tale, all belonging to the "Beauty and the Beast" folk motif (tale type ATU ...
- 2,073
3
votes
Did a pagan cult remove the gallbladder of animals before sacrificing them?
My esteemed brother-in-law just emailed me an answer. He wrote:
Shalsheleth Haqabbalah may not be as good as a bona fide dead clock
which (assuming it is analog) is exactly correct twice a day, ...
- 1,327
3
votes
How did so many cultures come up with their own swastika?
The swastika is one of the oldest symbols in Rock Art and its many derivative forms date back tens of thousands of years. At one time virtually all cultures used it to signify either the four cardinal ...
3
votes
Why is Dante using Geryon as a symbol of fraud?
Symbolically, Dante's rendering is a metaphor for fraud: a human face (honest and just) atop a monstrous personage
Multiple heads or bodies in the Classical depiction can indicate deception ...
- 14.2k
3
votes
Are there any negative connotations associated with the Caduceus?
The kerykeion, or (Latin)caduceus is a symbol of Hermes. Hermes is the god of travel, borders, thieves, trade, messages, sports/athletes and is a guide to the Underworld.
So, apart from thievery and ...
- 6,755
3
votes
Accepted
A unified understanding and description of a "spirit"?
Let me try to answer your question by example of Eastern mythology and philosophy as I'm most familiar with those academically.
The origin of much the confusion is that the first translations from ...
- 5,388
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