About the Author
Raymond Buckland has been interested in the occult and matters metaphysical for over fifty years, has been actively involved in various aspects of the subject for over forty years, and has been writing about it for over thirty years. He has written more than thirty books, has lectured and presented workshops across the United States, and has appeared on major television and radio shows nationally and internationally. He has written screenplays, been a technical advisor for films, and appeared in plays, movies, and videos. Ray comes from an English Romany (Gypsy) family and presently resides, with his wife, Tara, on a small farm in north-central Ohio.
Llewellyn Publications
Woodbury, Minnesota
Copyright Information
Signs, Symbols & Omens © 2003 by Raymond Buckland.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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First e-book edition © 2014
E-book ISBN: 9780738716619
Book design by Donna Burch
Cover design by Kevin R. Brown
Editing by Andrea Neff
Interior illustrations © 2003 Raymond Buckland
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Nancy Mostad, for suggesting this book. Thanks also to Andrea Neff, Donna Burch, Kevin Brown, Hollie Kilroy, and all at Llewellyn for producing this book.
Dedication
To my wife, Tara, who always encourages and supports me.
Contents
Introduction
Alchemy
Ancient Egypt
Astrology
Australian Aborigines
Aztec and Mayan
Buddhist
Celtic
Ceremonial Magic
Chinese
Christian
Freemasonry
Gnostic
Greek and Roman
Hindu
Islam
Judaic
Magical Alphabets
Native American
Norse
Rosicrucian
Runic
Shinto
Sikh
Voudoun
Witchcraft
Omens
Bibliography
Introduction
The metaphysical field is replete with symbols and sigils, many of them incomprehensible to the uninitiated. In the field of Witchcraft alone there are degree symbols, athame sigils, pentacle signs, and many more. Ceremonial or Ritual Magic contains a host of signs and symbols together with such things as magical alphabets, magic squares, and talisman markings. Voodoo has its vevers, and alchemy possesses another host of symbols. From the well-known zodiacal signs of astrology to the intricacies of the Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs, there are many fascinating secrets to be uncovered.
Speaking of religious symbols, Carl G. Jung said that their role is “to give a meaning to the life of man.”1 Symbols are one thing, but symbolism is much more. Many symbols can be found in various cultures, yet the symbolism of those signs may be very different from one culture to the next. A good example is the swastika. This simple symbol is found as far back as 10,000 b.c.e. The name comes from the Sanskrit, meaning “so to be.” It is found on ancient Indian coins, on Japanese Buddhas, and in ancient Greece, China, Persia, Scandinavia, and throughout Europe. The Christian Cramponée Cross is a swastika. Frequently the swastika symbolizes the sun. The fact that the Nazis of Germany, in the Second World War, adopted it as their symbol does not make the swastika itself “evil.” No symbol is good or bad in itself; it is what the symbol means to the person using it that is important. Another example of that is found with the pentagram. An inverted pentagram (with the point downward) is not in itself evil or a symbol of the Christian Devil. The inverted pentagram, again, is found in many places. When used by Satanists it may well be symbolic of evil, yet when used by, for example, Wiccans, it is a symbol of good. So no symbol in and of itself is good or bad. It is how it is used, and how it is regarded by the person(s) using it, that matters.
In this book I try to cover as many signs and symbols as I can in the space available. Obviously it is not possible to cover every single symbol of every country and belief system from all civilizations, but I have tried to include a good representation. I’m sure there will be many I miss and some that belong to the normally hidden inner secrets of various organizations to which I am not privy. Any reader with knowledge of symbols I have neglected, who feels they should be included, please feel free to contact me, care of the publisher, so that we may consider them for inclusion in future editions of this book.
The symbols as I have drawn them are as true as possible to the way they would normally be drawn and used. Some other sources show examples of symbols that are neatly drawn obviously by mechanical means (such as with a compass and straightedge) or that are even computer-generated. I have avoided that and have done virtually everything freehand. The alchemists of old did not use drawing instruments any more than did the Native Americans, the Travelers, the Australian Aboriginals, or most of those from whom I have taken the symbols. So, for the signs and symbols depicted here I have striven for that same “natural” appearance.
—Raymond Buckland
[contents]
Alchemy
Some scholars say the name alchemy comes from the Greek cheo, meaning “I pour” or “I cast,” since much of alchemy has to do with the working of metals. But many believe the word comes from the Egyptian Khem, meaning “the black land” (land with black earth), and see that as indicating Egypt as alchemy’s place of origin. The Arabic article al was added to Khem to give alchemy. Later, as the science (some call it a pseudoscience) progressed, the article was again dropped, to become chemistry. Alchemy certainly is the early history of chemistry.
There was an early Egyptian alchemist whose name was Chemes. He wrote a book, called Chema, about his experiments trying to turn base metal into gold. Some few believe that the word alchemist comes from his name.
Whatever the origin of the word, it s
eems certain that the practice of alchemy had its beginnings in the Hellenistic culture of Alexandria, Egypt, which was the center of the world of learning at that time. In fact alchemy is a blending of Egyptian technology, Greek philosophy, and Middle Eastern mysticism. The first alchemists were the metallurgical workers who prepared precious metals for the nobles but also produced cheap substitutes for the less affluent. These cheaper substitutes were often disguised to look like the more precious metals. It didn’t take long for the idea to develop that it might be possible to actually produce the precious metals themselves. This idea, in fact, was backed by Aristotle’s theory that there was a prime matter that was the basis for all substances. Astrology added the concept that the greater outer world of planets and stars reflected the inner world of humankind: a macrocosm and a microcosm. It was believed that under the proper astrological influences, it should be possible to change one metal into another; for example, lead into gold. In the same way that humankind perfected, going through death and rebirth, so might metals perfect and grow from one base form to another higher form.
The Philosopher’s Stone was the term given to a stone that—if it could be developed—would serve as the catalyst to transform metals and other raw material into gold. Although referred to as a stone, it was not necessarily an actual stone for it was believed that it might be a combination of fire and water, or other unlikely mixtures.
So the original alchemy became an operation of passing substances through a series of chemical processes. The actual workings were noted, but in symbolic form to protect them from the dabblers and the uninitiated, and also to protect the alchemists themselves from charges by the Church that they were involved in heresy. The metals were represented by the astrological sign of the controlling body, and frequently the components and the actions were assimilated with Greek and Roman myths and mythological beings. The more the individual alchemists tried to hide and protect the results of their experiments, the more obtuse and confusing became much of what they did and said. In describing necessary actions, they used language such as: “When we marry the crowned king with the red daughter, she will conceive a son in the gentle fire . . . the dragon shuns the light of the sun, and our dead son shall live. The king comes forth from the fire and rejoices in the marriage.”1
Hermes Trismegistus, also known as “Thrice Great Hermes” (it is from his name that the term the hermetic art was given to alchemy), has been variously described as an earthly incarnation of the Egyptian god Thoth and as an Egyptian priest, or a pharaoh, who taught the Egyptians all their magic. He is credited with having written several thousand books, including the Emerald Tablet, or Tabula Smaragdina, which contained all the hermetic teachings—the thirteen precepts—including the fundamental principles for the Grand Arcanum, or “great secret.” There are many references to the Emerald Tablet in alchemical writings.
Instruments
Crucible
Dropper
Grille
Receiver
Instruments (continued)
Retort
Scull
Still
Wick
Weights and Measures
Ounce
Dram
Scruple
Pinch
Weights and Measures (continued)
Pint
Pound
Spirits
Copper
Mercury
Silver
Tin
World of Spirit
Seasons
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Materials
Gold (i)
Gold (ii)
Gold (iii)
Gold (iv)
Gold (v)
Gold (vi)
Gold (vii)
Silver (i)
Silver (ii)
Silver (iii)
Alum
Antimony
Materials (continued)
Arsenic-Sulfur
Aqua Vitæ
Bismuth
Borax
Brass
Burned Alum
Burned Hartshorn
Caustic Lime
Materials (continued)
Chalc
Cinder
Cinnibar
Clay
Copper
Cribbled Ashes
Crystal
Eggshells
Materials (continued)
Ginger
Glass
Gravel
Iron
Iron Filings
Lead
Lime
Magnesia
Materials (continued)
Manure
Mercury
Nickel
Niter Flowers
Niter Oil
Nitric Acid
Potash
Red Arsenic
Materials (continued)
Rock Salt
Sea Salt
Soapstone
Soot
Steel
Stone
Sugar
Sulfur
Materials (continued)
Tin
Urine
Verdigris
Vinegar
Vitriol
White Arsenic
Wine Spirit
Wood
Materials (continued)
Yellow Arsenic
Yellow Wax
Zinc
Processes
Blackening (melanosis)
Whitening (leucosis)
Yellowing (xanthosis)
Reddening (iosis)
Processes (continued)
Amalgam
Amalgamation
Boil
Compose
Distill
Essence
Fumes
Filter
Processes (continued)
Mix
Powder
Purify
Pulverize
Rot
Solve
Sublime
Take
Processes (continued)
Torrefaction of Gold
Torrefaction of Silver
Animals, Birds, etc.
Blackbird (blackened mass)
Lion (acid)
Moon/Lunar
Ouroboros (completion)
Animals, Birds, etc.
(continued)
Stag (soul)
Sun/Sol
Unicorn (spirit)
Birds (volatilization)
[contents]
1. Tractatus aureus (1610). The Tractatus aureus is an alchemical treatise in seven chapters attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.