In the 80s-90s of the 20th century, a record number of youth subcultures existed in the post-Soviet space. In connection with the fall of the "Iron Curtain" all sorts of symbols and pictograms that came from other countries were "snatched up" like hot cakes by representatives of various youth movements. And some symbols, which came from the West and the East, are still interpreted one-sidedly or stereotypically. This material will help you understand the true meaning of such "affected" cult symbols.
Pentagram
In one of the most popular books of the 21st century, The Da Vinci Code, writer and cultural scientist Dan Brown, through the mouth of the antagonist Professor Langdon, tells the true meaning of the pentagram or pentacle - a pictogram in the form of a five-pointed star, in which each line is equal in length to all others. This symbol is one of the most powerful images, which for thousands of years in many cultures was considered divine or magical. If you draw a pentagram and draw all the diagonals in it, then they are automatically divided into segments corresponding to the famous "divine proportion". It is for this reason that the five-pointed star has always been a symbol of beauty and perfection and was associated with Venus, the goddess of beauty, as well as with the sacred feminine principle. In view of the patriarchal nature of most religions of the world, the connection of the pentagram with Venus and the feminine principle was simply forgotten.
Due to the fact that in the 80-90s of the 20th century, a wave of shocking ritual murders swept around the world, committed within the sect that called itself Satanists, where the inverted pentacle was used as the main symbolism, people began to fear this sign, associating it with nothing but Satanists and brutal murders. In fact, the members of this well-known sect set themselves the goal of realizing their own sadistic inclinations, but not serving the Devil.
The pentagram is an ancient Slavic universal amulet. The pendant in the form of a pentacle is still recommended by East Slavic healers to wear it somewhere on yourself (under clothing as a pendant or in a pocket) as a universal protection from the evil eye and damage.
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Pacifist sign
In the 90s of the 20th century, the youth movement of informals was very popular in the post-Soviet space, whom the Novate.ru editors remember very well: they rarely washed their hair, wore plaid shirts and listened to Kurt Cobain. Informals (like their hippie forefathers) chose the international sign of pacifism as their main symbol, in connection with which some people still associate this most peaceful sign with rebellion against society, because the informals of that time loved to skip school, smoke, drink and quarrel with NOT informals. The association with a riot would truly surprise the creator of this symbol if he found out in 1958 what would happen to his brainchild in the views of a fairly wide audience.
This badge was originally created for the British nuclear disarmament movement by British graphic designer Gerald Holtom for the 1958 Direct Action Committee march against Atomic War. The march was held on 4 April from Trafalgar Square in London to the Nuclear Weapons Research Office in Eldermaston, England. After that, the symbol was adopted by the Movement for Nuclear Disarmament and in the 1960s became the international emblem of the anti-war movement and countercultures (hippies, etc.) of that time.
Yin Yang
Everyone believes that yin-yang (this is how the name of the symbol is pronounced correctly) is a symbol of the masculine and feminine principles and nothing more. But this is fundamentally wrong. This pictogram came from Buddhists around 2-3 centuries AD.
In the east, he is considered the model of all that exists. The word "yin" means "shadowy mountainside" and "yang" means "sunny mountainside". Therefore, the main interpretation of this symbol is the endless interaction of contrasts.
Star of David
The vast majority of people believe that the six-pointed star, in which all lines are equal in length, is exclusively a symbol of the Jews or everything that is associated with such a nationality as the Jews. This sign is indeed located on the flag of Israel and is revered by Jews around the world as sacred. But the sphere of influence of this symbol is not limited to this.
If you look at the sign carefully, you can easily understand that these are two isosceles triangles inscribed in each other. One is directed with its sharp part downward, and the second, respectively, upward. In many cultures of the world, the downward-looking triangle symbolizes the feminine principle ("the womb"), and the downward-looking triangle symbolizes the masculine ("sword" as a universal phallic symbol). Thus, this sign denotes the unity of the masculine and feminine principles (as the only ones conceived by nature or God) as well as the harmony of all that exists.
wind rose
Most people believe that this symbol means the direction of the winds and nothing more. But this is too narrow an approach. The first mention of this symbol dates back to around 1300 AD - the times of active development of navigation. The pictogram was a symbol of a guiding star and a talisman for all sailors. They tattooed their bodies in the form of a wind rose in order to return home from each voyage unharmed.
Jolly Roger
In reality, pirates never flew under flags with skulls and bones (or swords as an option) on a black background. This recognizable symbol, which is called the Jolly Roger, was generated already at a time when pirates went down in history, thanks to such an art form as cinema. But the truth is that sailors (not only pirates !!!) tattooed themselves on their bodies in the form of a skull, however, every sailor had a good reason for this. They believed that if Death itself came to them with a scythe and saw a skull on the body of a sailor who suffered from a storm or shipwreck, then he would decide that he had already died, which means he would pass by (the person would survive).
To this day, many tattoo lovers get themselves a tattoo with a skull, because they adhere to the same superstition (a tattoo as a talisman against death by accident). And in Mexican culture, the image of a skull is not negative, but purely positive, since it is a reminder of endless gratitude to the spirits of ancestors!
Images with skulls are placed in every home, as a rule, the skull is combined with red marigold flowers. It is by their petals, according to the beliefs of the Mexicans, that spirits find their way into the world of living people during the main holiday of the year - the Day of the Dead, which is celebrated on the same scale as, for example, in Russia - the New Year.
Masonic eye
Many people believe that as long as this image is on the banknote of such a religious country as the United States, it certainly means that it means the eye of God or the All-Seeing Eye of God. Only pipes!
This is a sign of such an intellectual and philosophical trend as the Masons. The main activity of masons has always been and remains charity, at the forefront for them is moral improvement (in most cases, requiring faith in the Supreme Being), as well as the development and preservation of fraternal friendship in a fraternal environment. Culturologist and writer Dan Brown is sure that under any ruling power in the United States, Masons have always been the most influential members of parliament, which is why this sign penetrated the main currency of the world.
Crescent
This symbol has a sacred meaning in many cultures. It originated around 4000 BC. Found in Egypt, Greece, India, Byzantium and Sumer, where it personifies rebirth and immortality. In Hinduism, the crescent represents the control of man over his mind. In Christianity, this is the sign of the Virgin Mary. In modern tradition, it is indeed most widely known as the sign of the Muslims (coupled with a star).
Swastika
The ancient international symbol of the sun, which was found throughout Eurasia and was a universal amulet and sign of the sun, was forever trampled into the mud by the fascists of the first half of the 20th century and their leader Adolf Hitler. In the name of this sign, millions of people were killed. The sun sign is unlikely to be rehabilitated in the next 100-200 years.
In the fictional universe of Harry Potter books by the English writer J. K. Rowling, there is such a character as the evil magician Grindelwald, who wants to enslave the whole world and kill a large number of social groups that he does not like (especially nonmages). There is an obvious parallel between the sign of Grindelwald, who wanted to enslave nonmages, and the Nazi swastika of Adolf Hitler, who exterminated non-Aryans.
Initially, both signs did not carry any aggression, remaining only symbols of bygone days. Rowling's circle in a triangle was originally a sign of the Deathly Hallows from a children's fairy tale, which at one time became a kind of flag for those who believed in the real roots of this story. The swastika is a solar (related to the sun) universal ancient symbol used by many ancient peoples of the world (from India to Russia), meaning the movement of life, sun, light and prosperity. Both signs, with the light hand of Grindelwald and Hitler, became symbols of oppression, persecution, violence and terror.