User blog:Horsyqueen/Symbolism through animals

Okay, I will go through around 5 of these and this is about symbols. A symbols shows something in a discrete manner and usually one symbol has many meanings.

Today I am going to talk about animal symbolism.

Animals can be symbols. Many of these are called omens. All through history humans have taken animals as symbols. Here i will talk about a few.

Magpies: A raven like bird but is black and white known for stealing shiny objects. The main thing a magpie symbolism is this old rhyme. In which there are three variations, one is this:

One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy,  Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told, Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a bird, You must not miss.

Dove: peace, pureness and love. This comes from the bible when Noah sent two doves to look for land and has been used in Christianity since then. Doves also come from Chinese mythology with the story of two lovers who tuned into doves so they could be together.

These symbolism travel in many cultures but also connected with the moon and magic. Other symbolism is stamina, mobility, strength, power, coping under difficult situations, love, devotion, loyalty, the land, life, death, intellect, wisdom, power, nobility, energy, freedom, wildness, fertility, divination, prophecy, war like, vanity.

Many of these have come from Epona/Hipona the goddess of horses and  fertility. When dealing with the symbolism of the horse remember people in the past had to rely a lot on this animal for nearly everything.

Dogs: A dog will symbolism guidance, protection, loyalty, faithfulness and the hunt.

The black dog is  a symbol of death and the hunt. People would fear them in med-evil times. seeing one on a cross roads was very bad luck. hearing it bark once was a warning, twice run, three times death.

Cat: vanity, lust, pride, magic, desire and liberty. This is very much used in metaphysical terms and anchaint Egypt.

Black cats are very debatable as they can be ether bad luck or good luck.

Tiger: This is well known in the Hindu religion to symbolize strength and power as some of their deities will be seen in pictures riding one. It also symbolizes creation, anger, destroyer and power of earth. The white tiger also symbolizes  purity.

Unicorn: the most pure symbol of all. Used in many cultures and in all forms have the same symbolism. peace, magic, healing, dreams, virtue, strength and freedom. In Japanese and old Chinese mythology this is the most powerful of beasts and hold high and worshiped by emperors. The unicorn also symbolizes fertility and maternal instinct.

Something to think about. This is the animal of Scotland. In the Crest of the UK the unicorn is tied up. As the symbolism of all of above and its tied up why do you think so?

Wren bird: magic, spirit witchcraft.

Serpent: Life, rebirth, resurrection, wisdom, passion, healing, poison, preserver, distoryer, malice and fertility. Some of this symbolism will come from genesis in the Christian bible.

Stag: price, independence. The white stag has a connection with the unicorn and therefore purity. Many stags are hunted because of the pride of killing one.

Owl: this creature is known for it seeing in the dark. wisdom, truth, patience and a totem of clairvoyants and mystics. This is supposed to be the symbol of Lilith and Athena as it is the creature of knowledge and all knowing.

Ram: sacrifice, the sun, creativity. Also shown in the sign of Aries.

Rabbit: alertness and nurturing.

Wolf: mystic, path finding success, stability, thought, teacher, intuition and the shadow. This may be why wolves are loved so much through many culture and their howl so special to some.

Swan: grace, innocence, balance, faithfulness, solute, retreat and poetry. This is the queens animal and in England only the royal family may eat and kill this animal by law.

Spider: Creative, pattern of life, connects with past and future. This would probably be because of the webs they spin.

Salmon: instinct, wisdom, perseverance, determination and rejuvenation. Just watch a salmon run to see why.

Raven: trickster, horder, healing, intuition, protection, shamans power, transformation and shapeshifter. This animal can also mean bad luck but over all a very mystical symbol.

Lion: Majesty, solar, strength, power and nobility. This is the animal of England chosen a very long time ago when England was very powerful.

Jackal: associated with the dead and cemeteries  probably because of their scavenging nature.

Ape/monkey: mischief, mimicry, humanity, nurture, benevolence.

Bee: immortality, rebirth, industry, order, purity, soul, chastity, messenger between world, secret wisdom, mother and priestess, community.

The bee is very special to us as we rely on it. They work in communities over over 5000. In Greek honey was supposed to have been eaten by the gods.

Birds: the soul, transcendence, spirits of the air, ascent, communication, freedom, sight. People will often think of birds as the common symbol of freedom as they can fly.

Bull: wealth, destructive force, potency, strength, kingship and animal nature. Shown in the symbol of torus the ox.

Crane: messenger from the gods, higher consciousness, wisdom and knowledge.

Dragon: power of earth. breathe of life, supernatural power, magic, strength, wisdom, knowledge and guardian. Very famous and the symbol of wales. This creature is used so much its not possible to write a short bit about it.

Fox: cunning, provider, intelligence, feminine magic, diplomacy and wiliness. Also the best trickster foxes were kitsunes who changed into women to trick men. http://www.mytelekinesis.com/horsy--s-mythology-series--kitsunehorsyqueen.html

Those are just a few animals for more try here: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/animals2.htm