The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols: The Ultimate A–Z Guide from Alchemy to the Zodiac. Adele Nozedar
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DOT
See First signs: Dot.
DOUBLE HAPPINESS
This good-luck symbol, ubiquitous in China or in places where there is a strong undercurrent of Chinese culture, comprises the character meaning happiness, written twice, hence the name, Double Happiness. The meaning of the sign is inferred in its name, and it is a popular symbol for practitioners of Feng Shui. The sign is effective if placed in the sector of the home that relates to relationships. It is also said to be particularly lucky for newlyweds.
DREAMCATCHER
The forerunner of the Dreamcatcher was a Native American spider’s web of feathers and beads, a simple little charm made from a small hoop of flexible wood, such as willow, with an interlacement of plant fibers designed to look like a cobweb.
This little amulet was used particularly as a protection for babies and small children. Hung over their cradles and beds, it was thought to entrap any negative spirits that came in the form of nightmares. These malevolent entities, entangled in the web, were sizzled in the heat from the rising Sun. The spider’s-web shape gave homage to Asibikaasi, the mythical Spider Woman, whose magical webs could catch anything.
The elaborate Dreamcatchers of today, an essential part of the kit for any self-respecting New Ager, were invented in the 1960s and ’70s as part of the resurgence in Native American culture and belief.
DREIDEL
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, the usually strict rules forbidding any kind of gambling are relaxed slightly. The Dreidel is a wooden spinning top, its four sides
inscribed with letters. These letters form an acronym that reminds the players of the meaning of the holiday. The initial letters, nun, gimel, heh, and shin, stand for a phrase which, when translated, means “A great miracle happened there,” and the top is spun to win small treats such as sweets and chocolate coins. The Dreidel is symbolic of fun and of the holiday period but carries a serious message at the same time.
DRILBU
The Drilbu is the bell-like object that appears sometimes in the right hand of Buddhist statues, and is the female counterpart of the male Vajra or Dorje. Its Sanskrit counterpart is called the Ghanta.
The Drilbu symbolizes knowledge, emptiness, and wisdom, and the notes of its bell are a reminder of the transient nature of everything. The actual object is made of an amalgamation of seven different metals, each of which is associated with the planets and is a magical symbol in its own right. The Drilbu is a musical instrument as well as a ritual object. It is chimed three times to focus the attention of the people attending any ceremony. Its sweet-sounding resonant note also welcomes in good spirits and drives away any evil ones.
The Drilbu has the same feminine symbolism as the chalice in the Western tradition. It is called the Ghanta in the Hindu faith.
DRUZE STAR
This five-pointed upright star, comprised of five distinct diamond shapes, is the emblem of the Druze faith, an offshoot of Islam. Each segment is often colored according to its meaning.
The five points of the star remind followers of the religion of the five universal principles of the faith:
1 The masculine element, the Sun and the mind. This segment is often colored green.
2 The feminine element and the Moon, colored red.
3 The Word, considered the mediator between the Divine and humankind, colored yellow.
4 Will and the realms of possibility, colored blue.
5 Finally, the white segment of the star represents actualization, the manifestation of the Word and the Will.
EGG
The egg is as powerful in its symbolism as it is potent as a life-force. The World Egg is a ubiquitous symbol for the egg from which the Universe is said to have hatched, an idea that appears in creation myths from all parts of the world. The Celts, Hindus, Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians, and many more all agree about this idea.
The form this cosmic hatching takes is variable though. Often, the egg rises from primeval waters and is incubated by a bird; in Hindu belief, this is the Hamsa, a goose. When the egg hatches, the yolk and the white become Heaven and Earth.
The Shinto tradition says that the Universe resembled a giant hen’s egg that broke open, with the heavier parts becoming the Earth and the lighter, the Heavens. There is also a theory that the entire Universe is contained in a huge egg that stands upright.
The egg is a symbol of new life, and this idea is borne out with chocolate eggs at Easter, which in itself is a celebration of the pre-Christian fertility Goddess, Eostre, who also gives her name to the hormone estrogen. The subsequent celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection meant that the egg kept its significance as a symbol of new life and hope. Archeologists have found clay eggs in Russian burial sites, reinforcing the belief in the egg as a symbol of immortality and of rebirth.
In alchemy, the Philosopher’s Egg symbolizes the seed of spiritual life, and depicts the place wherein a great transformation takes place.
The ancient riddle of what came first, chicken or egg, was deftly if disappointingly answered by Angelus Silesius, who said:
The chicken was in the egg and the egg was in the chicken.
ELVEN STAR
This seven-pointed star has several different names and occurs in many different magical traditions, including Sacred Geometry. Most prosaically, it is known as the septagram. For wiccans and pagans it is also called the Faerie star, for others it might be referred to as the star of the Seven Sisters since it is associated with the cluster of seven astronomical stars called the Pleiades (or Flock of Doves). These celestial sisters were believed to guard the Axis Mundi as depicted by the Pole star.
Wherever it occurs and by whatever name it is known, the Elven star is a reminder of the sacred significance of the number 7; the seven days of the week, the seven planets of the ancient tradition, the seven magical metals, and the seven pillars of wisdom. For the Egyptians this star represented the seven spheres of the Afterlife and the seven wise people that the soul would meet on the journey.
The septagram is also an important symbol in the Kabbalah where it corresponds to the sphere of Netzach or Victory. Here, too, it acts as an aide memoire for all the things that come in groups of seven.
Like the pentagram, the Elven star can be drawn without the pen leaving the paper, a tell-tale quality of a protective symbol. Specifically, the Elven star is said to defend secrets from the outside world.
Aleister Crowley adopted a seven-pointed star as the seal for his Astrum Argentum (Silver Star) Order.