Abrahamic Religion Symbols: Stars, Moons – and an Execution Device

Judaism has a star for its symbol. Every time you see someone wearing that star around their neck, you know they are Jewish. Muslims have a star AND the crescent moon as their symbol, but I don’t know if they wear it as a pendant. What do Christians have? — an execution device. We wear crosses around our necks “so people know I am a Christian” I told my young daughter today. She frowned. I know, I know, it’s odd to wear an execution symbol, I added. Technically I doubt Jesus likes our choice of that symbol, he’d probably prefer the ancient fish symbol. But because of thousands of years tradition, wearing a cross is the only symbol we have to clearly designate our spiritual choice. Some people don’t feel a need to make an outward statement of their allegiance to their God/Goddess, but I am not one of them. I am stuck with this notion that my Creator, my Deity, deserves my courage to wear my beliefs on my sleeve (sorry for mixed metaphor).

My daughter paused and said, “I wish we had a star or something like that from the sky for our symbol, too.”

I said, “The Jews chose a star and the Muslims added the moon to that so they use a moon and a star. All that’s left for us to use is the sun.”  The sun, of course! I thought inside my head. How fitting since Christianity was long called a Solar Cult. How amazing the sun, moon and stars could basically sum up all three desert religions if Christians hadn’t obsessed over Yeshua’s death for our sins. On Winter Solstice I had just explained to this same daughter (ironically as she lay in her hospital bed) and later to the other two daughters how Jesus’s birthday is equated with the Sun’s annual “birthday.” This dark time of the year — she had noticed the sun going down “so early” out her hospital window — is when people all around the world look for the Return of the Light. Yeshua was called the Light of the World, etc. I didn’t go into the Sol Invictus stuff with Constantine and the details behind Jesus’ birthday change, the 12 Apostles being like the 12 houses of the Sun, nor the other evidence we are at least in part a solar religion.

We teach the solar nature of Christianity in our Mystery School with the help of books such as Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism. I am not sure if we also ask our seminarians pursuing Holy Orders to read that book.

If we started wearing suns around  our neck everyone would think we worshipped Apollo or Helios, though, eh? Hmmm, that reminds me: Helios is pronounced Elios with “El” — the same God-name used by ancient Hebrews and earliest Muslims (El and Al-ah). But don’t get me going on another tangent…it would be too much fun, I love this topic.

 

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Katia

Katia is a consecrated independent sacramental bishop. She directs the online Esoteric Mystery School and Interfaith Theological Seminary. Check it out at NorthernWay.org.

3 thoughts on “Abrahamic Religion Symbols: Stars, Moons – and an Execution Device”

  1. Margaret Starbird, my “teacher” and the one who originally set me to reading Jesus Christ: Sun of God years ago, wrote to me just now as follows:

    Hi, Katia–

    Hope your new year is off to an auspicious start!

    I read your blog and wanted to remind you that worship of the sun/son/666 needs to be off-set with its “complement”–the 1080 (lunar principle, feminine….)–i.e the “sacred marriage.” The solar principle (masculine orientation and preferences) are what has caused the “burn-out” on our planet. Balance is needed— which brings us back to the six-pointed star of Judaism. Another symbol with the same meaning (but not well known!) is a circle (sun) with a crescent moon outline inside it– (an “eclipse”= “conjunction”)….

    I love David Fideler’s “JC-Sun of God”–and cite it in several of my books. He was a “disciple” of John Michel (one of my heroes)–and used John’s work to illustrate some of his points in “JC-Sun of God,” especially the “153 fishes in the net” (John 21). What BOTH gentlemen failed to notice was the gematria of “H Magdalhnh” is 153… so the metaphor for the “church of the fishes” was actually pointing to HER!
    The Book of Revelation (21) prophesies the mystical marriage of Christ and his “Bride”–the “New Jerusalem” (i.e. the “Church”).”

    Bountiful blessings in 2012!
    and lots of love–
    Margaret

  2. Hello Bishop,

    That is a wonderful book! Informative, interesting, and thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and highly recommend it to anyone taking an interest in such matters. And after the text proper there is a hundred pages or so of specific cases examined in greater detail.

    The Sun

    I agree the Sun would be a very nice symbol for Christianity, especially given the very ancient roots of the Sun God, and how so much of that mythology is relived in Christianity. But I can’t help but wonder if perhaps that is exactly why the Sun was *not* chosen. While it may OK to take on a number of the mythological dressings of other religions, to also take on one of their key Symbols is perhaps too much?

    Signs and Symbols

    Regarding the Fish, I live in the Midwest and I see the Fish quite often. I find it seems to have continued its symbolic representation of Christianity. Perhaps more so than the Cross. The Fish is still seen infrequently enough to retain a significant degree of mystery about it. But I question this air of mystery about the Cross. I wonder if perhaps it has lost this quality. When we see it, do we assume we know what it is all about? Is the sense of mystery gone?

    A “Stop Sign” is a Sign. It conveys information, but no degree of mystery. An active Symbol on the other hand triggers something within, which we recognize as pointing toward an idea/image larger than our ability to grasp in its entirety. A Symbol stokes our unconscious fires!

    For me at least I generally think of the Cross as more of a Sign. Of course, this depends upon the viewer. Others may find a great deal of Mystery behind the Cross. And I too can sense this if I look deeply enough and really ponder what was going on behind the scenes that fateful day. Was it really a human blood sacrifice demanded by the Father? Or was there something else going on? This is the path along which the Cross regains its Symbol status in my mind, because it kindles a Mystery once more.

    Crosses, Ankhs, and Chakras… oh my!

    Now of Crosses, my personal favorites are the Ankh, followed by the Celtic Cross. The Ankh because I identify with the “Breath of Life” theme. Of all our life functions, I find Breath is the element nearest to the Divine.

    And often it is seen as a package with the Heart and Lungs, which would be emphasizing the 4th and 5th chakras, the Heart (most strongly) and Throat (secondarily), which are the first two “conscious” chakras, leading us toward the 6th Third Eye (of Wisdom). And it is these upper chakras which distinguish us from animals….

    ….what were you saying about tangents? 😉 heheh

  3. The Christian sign of the cross has an occult meaning. It is about putting the ego and the energy of the lower bodies to the cross, meaning giving the Spirit of Christ dominion over the decisions one makes in life. Recognizing we all have the Christ Awareness inside, will make us behave in a good way to our fellow men.
    The Roman-Catholic church teaches us the sign of the cross, better would be : East to West, to North to South. Meaning reunion of left and right, ying and yang (East, then West), then consult the spirit of God within (North) and then executes whatever needs to be done (in the South).
    Namaste,
    Leo.

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