Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The emergency medical services' Star of Life features a rod of Asclepius In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; Ancient Greek: Ῥάβδος τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ, Rhábdos toû Asklēpioû, sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, [1] is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with ...
In Buddhism, the symbol of a wheel represents the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth that happens in samsara. [6] The symbol of a grave or tomb, especially one in a picturesque or unusual location, can be used to represent death, as in Nicolas Poussin's famous painting Et in Arcadia ego. Images of life in the afterlife are also symbols of death.
Some healing temples also used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of sick petitioners. [37] In honor of Asclepius, a particular type of non-venomous snake was often used in healing rituals, and these snakes—the Aesculapian Snakes—slithered around freely on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. These snakes were introduced ...
In religions where a single god is the primary object of worship, the representation of death is usually that god's antagonist, and the struggle between the two is central to the folklore of the culture. In such dualistic models, the primary deity usually represents good, and the death god embodies evil.
Historically, serpents and snakes represent fertility or a creative life force. As snakes shed their skin through sloughing, they are symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. [11] The ouroboros is a symbol of eternity and continual renewal of life. In some Abrahamic traditions, the serpent represents sexual desire. [12]
A symbol invented by John Dee, alchemist and astrologer at the court of Elizabeth I of England. It represents (from top to bottom): the moon; the sun; the elements; and fire. Ouroboros: Ancient Egypt and Persia, Norse mythology: A serpent or dragon consuming its own tail, it is a symbol of infinity, unity, and the cycle of death and rebirth ...
Amulet from the tomb of Tutankhamun, fourteenth century BC, incorporating the Eye of Horus beneath a disk and crescent symbol representing the moon [2]. The ancient Egyptian god Horus was a sky deity, and many Egyptian texts say that Horus's right eye was the sun and his left eye the moon. [3]
Human beings, observing the growth and death of trees, and the annual death and revival of their foliage, [1] [2] have often seen them as powerful symbols of growth, death and rebirth. Evergreen trees, which largely stay green throughout these cycles, are sometimes considered symbols of the eternal, immortality or fertility.