Peter & Pavol Vozárik

SYMBOLS

An empty circle is the sign for unlimited abilities and an open semicircle symbolises 'filling from above' and indicates capacity.

Joining the two signs symbolises exceptional or unlimited capacity.

For the first agrarian cultures the Zodiac star sign of Taurus represented the beginning of the agricultural year. Between circa 5000 – 1700 B.C. in the vernal equinox, the Sun entered the gates of heaven 'ianua coeli', formed 'by the horns' in the constellation Taurus and introduced the vegetative cycle.

The bright red star in the Aldebaran constellation is the 'eye' of Taurus and was considered to be the central star in the vault of heaven. The name comes from Arabic الدبران ['ad-dabaran'] which means 'the one who follows'.

In one bronze statue, most probably of a domesticated young bull, there are iron inlays inserted into the surface of the body. On the forehead is a triangle, similar triangles on the hips, and an oblong stripe on the back running into the tail. Glass eyes were set in the eye sockets. Similar decorations can be seen on the head of a bull on a container found in Dunajská Lužná.

Roasted corn was found in the handle of a lid with a poppy shaped head. Corn symbolised rebirth in all areas dependent on growing wheat, barley, maize and other crops.

Roasted barley had been discovered from as early as the the Ice Age and can be found in the Eolithic and Neolithic Ages. Barley was already feeding the Egyptians in 5000 years B.C. and they considered it to be a 'sacred present from God'. Besides grains they used young plants of green barley for its strengthening effects. Young barley was used in Babylon as a common means of payment. In ancient China, barley was considered to symbolize man's potency and belonged among the five sacred plants which were symbolically sowed by the emperor himself. Roman gladiators protested if barley was denied them. The Celts used the juice of green corn grass to treat their injuries.

The symbol of an empty circle is one of the oldest symbols in the world. The circle is a sign of eternity or infinity, having no beginning or end. A number of variations of the Sun symbol were already in use since the times of early cave paintings.

The swastika is also a very old symbol of the Sun – the highest divinity and the highest power in life. The first preserved symbols were found in the Euphrates – Tigris Valley and in some places in the Indus Valley. These are more than 3000 years old. The swastika started to be used as late as circa 1000 B.C., for the first time perhaps in ancient Troy. It was used by the Sumerians and the Babylonians, the Assyrians and Egyptians and other Eurasian cultures seem to have used it too. The swastika was used in Iran, China, India, Japan and southern Europe before Christ was born.

The word swastika derives from Sanskrit su = good, and asti = to be, and the ending ka. The arms of the Indian swastika were extended clockwise. A swastika with anti-clockwise arms is called sauvastika. In Greece around 700 B.C. this symbol was commonly used on ceramic items, vases, coins and antique buildings. In Europe it was the Celts who used the swastika in its different variations. The range of meanings for swastika is centred around power, energy and transfer. In Japan during the Middle Ages, swastika – manji was used for presenting happiness and protection against the devil.

In animal motifs the rooster is frequently used as the symbol of fertility and as the bird whose voice flushed out demons of the night and drove away bad feelings.

The rooster typically represented accuracy and was recognised as the domestic animal that started each new day. The rooster along with the symbol of the Sun breaks the darkness of the night. It was ritualistically sacrificed for Asclepios, the son of Apollo and the God of medicine, because this bird was a messenger of the soul and the guide to the other world. Asclepios was the god who, with his healing powers, could heal the dead and bring life to Earth.