Mike Reed Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) Not in Jewish Kabbalah.Really?I thought the Zohar says, "Come and behold: the tree of life, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, is attached from above downwards."See Michael Berg, Simeon bar Yohai, and Yehuda Ashlag's The Zohar: Bemidbar. Nasco. Beha'alot'cha (Kabbalah Center International, 2003), 374. Is this an incorrect translation? Edited October 6, 2011 by Mike Reed
Zakuska Posted October 6, 2011 Author Posted October 6, 2011 Okay. I thought I had missed something that would be interesting to me (some evidence that LDS used symbols in that way as many other traditions in the States and elsewhere have done...I love seeing the protective signs on barns and such, can't remember what their official label is.)Like the lucky hourse shoe over the barn doors, Or the Lucky rabbits foot?
Zakuska Posted October 6, 2011 Author Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) Barn StarsMaybe thats why the Kirtland temple was used as a barn for a while. Edited October 6, 2011 by Zakuska
mfbukowski Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Inversion symbolism can be suggestive of heavenly images/forms. You may remember that the Kaballa Tree is inverted. Also notable may be that, according Plato's Republic, "reflection" is the second of the three stages of cognigion. Perceiving 1) Shadows, 2) Reflection, 3) The Thing (or Sun) itself. I find inversion symbolism very fascinating... which is the avitar I chose has an inverted head and inverted star.Ah yes, - sorry I missed this first time around. An interesting point!
Mike Reed Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Goethe's Faust has an interesting passage that utilizes pentagram folklore:Mephistopheles. Let me own up! I cannot go away; A little hindrance bids me stay. The witch's foot upon your sill I see.Faust. The pentagram? That's in your way? You son of Hell explain to me, If that stays you, how came you in today? And how was such a spirit so betrayed? Mephistopheles. Observe it closely! It is not well made; One angle, on the outer side of it, Is just a little open, as you see. Faust. That was by accident a lucky hit! And are you then my captive? Can that be? By happy chance the thing's succeeded! Mephistopheles. As he came leaping in, the poodle did not heed it. The matter now seems turned about; The Devil's in the house and can't get out. Faust. Well, through the window- why not there withdraw? Mephistopheles. For devils and for ghosts it is a law: Where they slipped in, there too must they go out. The first is free, the second's slaves are we.
Zakuska Posted October 6, 2011 Author Posted October 6, 2011 In white magic is not the pentagram drawn around the individual in salt to protect them from evil. Protection against evilThe pentagram has long been believed to be a potent protection against evil, a symbol of conflict that shields the wearer and the home. The pentagram has five spiked wards and a womb shaped defensive, protective pentagon at the centre.http://www.angelfire.com/id/robpurvis/pentagram.html
mfbukowski Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Dante had progressed far enough that what is down is up and what is up is down.That's "deep"!Seriously- I wonder if that is where that expression came fromOr not. Maybe Levi simply made up the idea. Is there any credible evidence to suggest that the inverted pentagram was given negative meaning prior to Eliphas Levi? I don't know of any.There's this:Sigil of BaphometThe inverted pentacle with a goat's head is called the Sigil (or Sigl) of Baphomet. The second word may have come from two Greek words, baphe and metis, meaning "absorption of knowledge." It has also been called the Black Goat, Devil's Goat, Goat Head, Goat of Mendes, and Judas Goat. Its first appearance appears to have been during the vicious interrogation of members of the Knights Templar by the Roman Catholic Church during the Inquisition. There was little consensus among different victims' descriptions of the Baphomet. It can probably be safely assumed that their description of the Baphomet is more a product of the Inquisition's torture methods than of any actual statue that was in use by the Knights.
Mike Reed Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) Right. I believe it was Eliphas Levis who first made the connection between baphomet and the inverted pentagram. Themplars used the star, and were accused of worshipping baphomet... But equating the two (the star with baphomet) didn't come come till later. At least, this is what the evidence seems to suggest to me, and I am far from being alone with this conclusion. I think most credible scholars (who have studied this topic) agree Eliphas Levi was probably the first to make the connection. Edited October 6, 2011 by Mike Reed
Mike Reed Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 As interesting as this thread has been, I have to get back to work and return to my cave.
Zakuska Posted October 6, 2011 Author Posted October 6, 2011 Right. I believe it was Eliphas Levis who first made the connection between baphomet and the inverted pentagram. Themplars used the star, and were accused of worshipping baphomet... But equating the two (the star with baphomet) didn't come come till later. At least, this is what the evidence seems to suggest to me, and I am far from being alone with this conclusion. I think most credible scholars (who have studied this topic) agree Eliphas Levi was probably the first to make the connection.That is correct from my reading of it as well. And he didn't make this connection until the 1850s. 10 years after the Nauvoo temple was built.
Calm Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Like the lucky hourse shoe over the barn doors, Or the Lucky rabbits foot? I've never understood the whole lucky rabbit's foot. What could be more unlucky for the rabbit? Why would it then be lucky for the next owner? Maybe if the rabbit died of a very old age....but otherwise.
Zakuska Posted October 6, 2011 Author Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) I've never understood the whole lucky rabbit's foot. What could be more unlucky for the rabbit? Why would it then be lucky for the next owner? Maybe if the rabbit died of a very old age....but otherwise.Seems to have been a right of passage...Rabbit's footFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaIn some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in many parts of the world including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. It is likely that this belief has existed in Europe since 600 BC amongst Celtic people. In variations of this superstition, the donor rabbit must possess certain attributes, or have been killed in a particular place, or killed by a particular method, or by a person possessing particular attributes (e.g. by a cross-eyed man).It is widely believed that a rabbit's foot possesses power to bring good luck to its holder. This is believed to have stemmed from the pre-Celtic tradition of hunter clans rite of passage for their adolescent members. These young males were first introduced to hunting rabbits, as an introduction to his apprenticeship as a hunter. If they were successful, one of the hind feet of the rabbit was presented to them in a ceremony which would welcome them to manhood within the clan.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit's_foot Edited October 6, 2011 by Zakuska
Zakuska Posted October 7, 2011 Author Posted October 7, 2011 The Carthage Jail has pentagrams all over it...Proof positive that the Devil did it!
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