Symbols of Rebirth

THE MOON

Primitive Philosophers, taking their cue from the waxing and waning of the moon, postulated that mankind was fated with similarly endless cycles of death and rebirth.When the new moon appeared, elders among the San Juan Capistrano Indians of California would gather to recite 'As the moon dieth and cometh to life again,so we also having to die will again live' And the locals of the Congo clapped their hands and cried out 'So many I renew my life as thou art renewed'

THE SUN

Rising each day from the womb of Mother Earth, the sun was hailed by primitive man as lord,master and shining exemplar of the process of Reincarantion

THE WHEEL

An unadorned version of the wheel of life,that as well a well tried metaphor of the Eastern Religions, turn man through revolution upon revolution of birth & death

THE LOTUS

Eastern symbol of Spiritual Rebirth

THE PHOENIX

THe most ancient and cross-cultural symbol of rebirth is the phoenix, a mythical bird of gorgeous plumage which lived in the desert for five hundred years.Immolating itself on a funeral pyre, the phoenix rose anew from its own ashes to live another cycle.From India to Persia, from Ireland to Egypt, the phoenix appears in myth and legend.To the Japanese,the fabled bird is 'Kirin' - to the Turks - 'Kerkes'

THE PEACOCK

In the East, the peacock represents rebirth in the imagery of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam

EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS

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