Symbols, a universal non-verbal method of expressing ideas and concepts, have been used since the earliest history of man. They have the distinct advantage of being able to convey varying levels of information to the observer. Diverse cultures at various times have incorporated specific symbols to transmit traditional concepts.
There was a single Sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck, according to Hesiod a daughter of Echidna and of Orthrus or, according to others, of Typhon and Echidna — all of these chthonic figures. She was represented in vase-painting and bas-reliefs most often seated upright rather than recumbent, as a winged lion with a woman's head; or she was a woman with the paws, claws and breasts of a lion, a serpent's tail and eagle wings. Hera or Ares sent the Sphinx from her Ethiopian homeland (the Greeks remembered the Sphinx's foreign origin) to Thebes and, in Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus, asks all passersby history's most famous riddle: "Which creature in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" She strangled anyone unable to answer. The word "sphinx" comes from the Greek Σφινξ — Sphinx, apparently from the verb σφινγω — sphingo, meaning "to strangle". This may be her proper name, but The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology states that her given name was Φιξ — Phix. Oedipus solved the riddle: man — he crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age. Bested at last, the Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died. An alternative version tells that she devoured herself. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the story and was not standardized as the one given above until much later in Greek history. Thus Oedipus can be recognized as a liminal or "threshold" figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the Sphinx, and new, Olympian ones.
Mem, the Hebrew symbol for water.
Inverted triangle is also symbolic of the feminine.
"The earth was formed out of water
and by water" (NIV).
Aeons ago, the ice receded. The great deluge that followed cleansed the earth
and made way for the rise of man.
Shin, the Hebrew symbol for fire.
Triangle is also symbolic of the masculine.
When combined as two interlocking triangles (see Mem Page 6), forms the Seal of
Solomon or Star of David (Hexagram).
Since its discovery by man, fire has
been considered one of the most powerful, and important elements in the
progression of humankind. One of the four classical elements, Fire is of great
symbolic significance. In Judaism candles are lit to usher in holidays and to
separate Shabbat from the rest of the week, as well as to remember the dead.
Another important fire symbol is the Eternal Flame, which was a fire kept in the
First and Second Temples and will always be kept burning.
In Christianity, fire is a symbol of the Holy Ghost. Fire is also the great
purifier.
Yod, the 10th and smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, corresponds with the English letter J and is the initial letter of and is taken to connote the ineffable name of Deity as revealed to Moses. Yod enclosed within an equilateral triangle is emblematic of the three essential attributes of Deity—omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. Thus we have both alphabetical and geometric allusions to Deity.
The Tetragrammaton (Greek:
τετραγράμματον;
"word with four letters") is the usual reference to the Hebrew name
for God, which is spelled (in the Hebrew alphabet): י (yodh)
ה (heh) ו (vav) ה (heh) or
יהוה (YHWH). It is the ineffable Name of God.
When Moses asks, in response to the calling of God, "Suppose I go to the
Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and
they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" He is first
given a description and told to tell the sons of Israel that "I AM the One
I AM" אהיה אשר
אהיה, or "I AM whatever I need to
become".(Exodus 3:13) This phrase is shown to be the meaning of the name
when, in poetic parallel "I AM (אהיה ) has
sent you." is replaced by the name. "Say to the Israelites, 'YHWH, the
God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of
Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is MY NAME forever, the name by which I am to
be remembered from generation to generation."(Exodus 3:15).
The word infinity comes from the Latin
infinitas or "unboundedness." It refers to several distinct concepts
which arise in philosophy, mathematics, theology and everyday life.
The infinite nature of God invokes a sense of being without constraint, rather
than a sense of being unlimited in quantity.
In real analysis, the symbol 8, called "infinity," denotes an
unbounded limit. X > 8 means that x grows beyond any assigned value, and X
> - 8 means x is eventually less than any assigned value. Points labeled 8
and - 8 can be added to the real numbers as a topological space, producing the
two-point compactification of the real numbers. Adding algebraic properties to
this gives us the extended real numbers. We can also treat 8 and - 8 as the
same, leading to the one-point compactification of the real numbers, which is
the real projective line. Projective geometry also introduces a line at infinity
in plane geometry, and so forth for higher dimensions.
The 21st or hidden page is the rear inside cover, containing a simple mirror.
Alexander Winston
(919) 693-2796