Adele Nozedar - The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols - The Ultimate A–Z Guide from Alchemy to the Zodiac

The phrase, “In vino veritas” links wine to the truth and is a reminder that those intoxicated by perhaps a little too much of that nice claret will be more likely to speak the truth than most, which can be good or bad, depending on the circumstances.

This is the globe surmounted by a cross, which is one of the Christian symbols of authority, and its symbolism is obvious. The orb represents the Earth, and the Cross, that major symbol of the faith, is Christ’s supremacy over it.

The Globus Cruciger is often depicted as an actual object but was also used purely as a symbol on Roman coins from the time when Christianity became the prominent religion, round about the fifth century AD. Prior to this, the lone orb had been used in the same way, to imply authority. The addition of the cross brought the well-known emblem into the Christian domain. In Britain, the Globus Cruciger appears as a physical object that is used during the coronation of the monarch. It is called the Orb and is part of the Royal Jewels.

Also called the Sigil of Baphomet or the Sabbatic Goat, this sinister-looking symbol features an inverted pentagram containing the head of a goat, the upward V of the star framing the horns. This symbol has become an icon of modern occultism, believed to be the very representation of the Devil himself, which was exacerbated when Anton La Vey adopted it in the 1960s for his Church of Satan.

Sometimes the symbol is encircled with a double ring, containing the Hebrew letters spelling “Leviathan,” the mythical sea monster that features in the Old Testament.

The ornately elaborate gateway into the Hindu temples, the Gopura carry the same significance as the Japanese Torii, marking a transition between the world of matter and the world of spirit.

Otherwise known as Lupus Mettalorum, in alchemy antimony is disguised as the gray wolf. This gray wolf is the penultimate stage in the making of the Philosopher’s Stone, so in terms of the spiritual and psychological development of man it symbolizes the condition that brings him very close to the enlightenment he seeks; however, both physically and metaphorically speaking, the final stage of making lead into gold is yet to come, so the gray wolf can symbolize either success or failure.

See United States dollar bill.

The symbol of the Green Man could be said to lurk in the subconscious minds of anyone with an affinity for leafy, wooded, and bosky places, although the term was not coined in the UK until the 1930s. Such a character—latterly interpreted as being the raw spirit of Nature—exists not only in the British Isles but in India, Asia, and Arabic countries too.

With a head seemingly constructed of leaves and vines, the Green Man is sometimes depicted as human, and sometimes as an animal. Despite his popularity as a garden ornament and its proliferation in garden centers, one of the oldest Green Man symbols discovered thus far is a piece of stonework on an Irish obelisk that dates back to 300 BC. Irish myth features a character called a Derg Corra, meaning “man in the tree,” and it may well be the case that he and the Green Man are one and the same. See Part 5, “Sacred Geometry and Places of Pilgrimage,” for an example of the Green Man made into a living maze.

Although many of the entries in this encyclopedia have an association with Freemasonry, many secret signs and sacred symbols belong specifically to this discipline, hence the need for a separate entry dedicated to the Craft.

The Catholic Encyclopedia describes Freemasonry as

a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated with symbols.

Many of the signs and symbols associated with this ancient brotherhood are necessarily to do with building and architecture, and the instruments of these disciplines are used to carry analogies. One of the central tenets of Freemasonry, however, is that there should be as little dogma as possible, and so the meanings of many of the associated symbols are deliberately oblique and can remain open to personal interpretation.

Represents the idea of initiation, and is also used in Masonic funerals as a symbol of rebirth. The martyred master mason who designed the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, Hiram Abiff, had his burial place marked with an acacia branch. See Acacia in Part 4.

Freemasons give this name to the Pentagram. Freemasons, like Pythagoras, regard the number 5 as sacred.

Many of the symbols within Freemasonry take their inspiration from the Temple of Solomon, the first temple in Jerusalem.

The structure of the Masonic Hall generally has two columns at either side of its main door that relate to the original columns set by the architect, Hiram, in the porch of the temple. These original columns were made of brass or bronze. The pillars are known by their Hebrew names and are also referred to in the Kabbalah; on the right is Jachin (meaning stability) and the left is Boaz (meaning strength). The columns also have a male/female polarity, Jachin often painted red to symbolize the Sun and fiery qualities of the active male principle, and the female Boaz painted white for the Moon and the passive feminine virtues. In rites, the columns are used to denote the grade of mason. Apprentices stand before the red column, Masons stand in front of the white column, and the Master Masons in the central space between the two.

One of the foremost symbols within Freemasonry, the compasses combine with the Masons’ Square. The letter G might be incorporated into the design, especially in older representations, and other elements might be added; a Sun and Moon, for example.

Although Freemasons prefer to leave many of their associated symbols open to interpretation, we can make some assumptions about this particular emblem simply by looking at its form and by bearing in mind how the tools are used.

Both the compass and the square are mathematical tools, used for precise measurements in disciplines that can leave no room for error: building, construction, and architecture. There is a natural symbiosis between these tools, since the circle is used to form the square, and the square can be used to give form to the circle; this is called squaring the circle and is a fundamental rule applied to geometry, sacred or otherwise. Any instruments used for measuring must, ergo, be symbols of judgement and definition.

Further, in this Masonic pairing, the feminine circle (which it is the sacred task of the compasses to create) forms a perfect union with the masculine square; therefore the spiritual combines with the material, Earth with Heaven. Another aspect of the compasses and the square delves even further into the symbolism of the circle and the square, with the former representing space and the latter, time. The mason, as “architect,” rules over all these aspects and dimensions.

Because they are used to draw a perfect circle, the compasses themselves have significance as a tool used by God as the “architect” of the Universe. This idea is represented perfectly in the William Blake painting The Ancient of Days Measuring Time in which God stretches toward Earth, compasses in hand, with the golden disc of the Sun behind him.