Old St Theodosia Church was built in
Istanbul in the late eleventh or early twelfth century to honour the memory of Virgin Martyr Theodosia. It is said that when the city was captured on May 29, feast of the Saint, the church was decked by roses, hence its Turkish name Gül Camii meaning "Mosque of the Roses". Another theory is that its turkish name comes from the dervish called Gül Baba burried here.
I found this picture of 12th century Hexagram from the Rose Mosque of Istanbul on Les Eglises de Constantinople, Jean Ebersolt, Adolphe Thiers. Paris, 1913.
I found this twelfth century Hexagram picture on Les Eglises de Constantinople, Jean Ebersolt, Adolphe Thiers. Paris, 1913Since the byzantine name of this former church has not been established with certainty, we use the turkish name here. It has been identified with the churches of Saint Euphemia, Saint Theodosia and that of the Euergetis Monastery. The church is a construction of the twelfth century which stands elevated on an artificial terrace and appearently does not replace an old predecessor. It lay partly in ruins after the ottoman conquest and had to be restored heavily when it was rebuilt as a mosque
During World War II The Germans produced an Anti-semitism propaganda issue (Operation Bernhard) of the then current stamp of King George VI with a Star of David replacing the cross on top of the crown and a (Communist) sickle replacing the "D" in the value tablet.
Picture of Blavatsky’s-Hexagram with Swastika seal is copied from Wikipedia. The Australian Theosophical Society Newsletter explains:The five prominent symbols in the [Theosophical ] Seal are:
1. The Star of David
2. The Ankh
3. The Swastika
4. The Ouroboros (Serpent swallowing its tail)
5. Aum.
Also known as King Solomon’s seal, in India known as the seal of Vishnu and viewed by Pythagoreans as the symbol of creation. The interlaced triangles signify the polarity of nature and spirit, male and female, light and dark. The six points of the star reach toward the serpent of eternity, changing and evolving through time.
Picture of Jewish Star design is courtesy of nzdzeni. It shows Wire and tubes fractal made in a computer program.
Picture of Jewish star design is courtesy of nzdzeni who created these "wires and tubes". nzdzeni already contributed one of her works to this blog in August and now she sent me three more.
Elegant design for Yom Hazikaron, Israel's National Memorial Day for the Fallen and the Victims of Terror, on the day preceding Israel Independence Day which is celebrated annually, according to the Hebrew calendar, on 5 Iyar.In a pamphlet, dated 1836, reprinted in 1888 by the "Theosophical Publishing Society" we read: "The pamphlet purports to have been written by the Wandering Jew, and describes how at the fall of Jerusalem he took the Jewish Talisman, the signet of Solomon (interlaced Traingles) from the Temple, and how by its power he secured the rise of the Jews in all lands throughout history, till by finance they obtained entire control of the Gentile kings and rulers." (Patriot, September 8, 1927)
The Stormfront White Nationalist Community is listed 4 as a hate site.
Ethiopia 1930. Coronation Symbols. Notice the Star of David on the right side of the stamp, as part of the coronation symbols.
Another emblem of the Ethiopian royal house, worn also by the Emperor's Guard, was the Jewish Shield of David (Magen David)- the six-pointed star - which was called the "Shield of Solomon." The Lion of Judah and the Shield of Solomon both are featured as symbols of the empire on the set of seven stamps issued November 2, 1930 (Scott Nos. 210-216), to commemorate the coronation of Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia.
Thirty-six years later, the Shield of Solomon was again visible on a set of three stamps (Scott Nos. 463-465) is-sued on November 1, 1966, to commemorate fifty years of Haile Selassie's leadership. The basic design depicts a map of Ethiopia, the Emperor seated on his throne, and a curtain from which dangles the Shield of Solomon.
in 1991 Iranian government issued this postal stamp for WORLD CHILDREN'S DAY. It is hard for me to accept the fact that there are in our world STATES that preach violence to their children so bluntly.
Hex signs are found on Pennsylvania Dutch barns since 1830's
The symbolization of the six-pointed hexagram is a zodiacal representation with the astronomical intent (K.V.Ramakrishna Rao, 2002). The concept of the hexagon is … related to the theory of squaring a circle and circling the square …The number six expresses the fullness of the cosmos. The six directions; North, South, East, West, up, and down are considered to be surrounded by the God’s six faces…The astronomical interpretation of this deity has a powerful association with Indian Tantras, Yantras, Mantras and the five elements (Ether, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth) and God Murukan permeates the sixth, the whole thus the six faces of the deity are represented.The connection between the hexagram and the zodiac appeared also in western civilization and I think it is worth exploring.
... The hexagram symbolizes the six pilgrimage centers of Murukan…
Saturn → Saturday [Saturn- Day], Sun → Sunday, Moon → Monday, [in French moon is lune and thus monday is Lundi] Mars → Tuesday,Mercury → Wednesday, Jupiter → Thursday, Venus → Friday
"Little One," Moses says, "Do you remember how I came to you first in 1991. You begged for a teacher and came daily praying at 4:00 AM, rain or shine...
"Why are you here, Moses?"
"To bring you this."
"It is a Star of David, attached to a ribbon."
"Little One, this is no ordinary Star of David, and this ribbon is no ordinary ribbon."
"I look at this, which you have placed around my neck; and I feel a Star of David. It glows with a white fire and sticks to my chest. When I touch The Star, it sticks to my fingers like a cube of frozen ice. Indeed, it is cold to the touch. The ribbon of green, red and white has melted into my shoulders and neck and has disappeared. This Star of David sticks to me and will not come off my chest. It is strange that it feels cold yet radiates such light; but as my fingers rest on it, it gets warmer and warmer, until it is hot to my hands. Steam begins to rise. What is going on? I fear that I shall be burned."
The ancient thinking of the Indus Valley Civilization, placed the male and female principles as equals. The male principle, Shiva or D united with the female, Shakti or Ñ to form the Y hexagram or mandala. The hexagram was a symbol of the Sacred Marriage.
The earliest evidence of this symbol was found among coins from the excavation of the city of Ujjain in India. The coins have been dated to be 2000 - 3000 years old. These coins came into the possession of Colonel James Tod, the Political Agent to the Western Rajput States of India in the early 1800s.
Picture of 14th century stone Hexagrams on Abbey Gateway Bury St Edmunds Suffolk is courtesy of "Running in Suffolk" from Flickr.
Star of David Picture is coutesy of artist Shane Rickman who wrote in the caption:The Star of David is within you... Use your will to turn a two dimensional star into the vessel of your consciousness. Use your imagination to turn paper into the Milky Way.
Picture of one of the Hexagram of Ajax (the Amsterdam soccer team) fans is courtesy of uruandimi who published it on Flickr. He shot it in a shack frequented by youngsters at a holiday park in West-Amsterdam. Ajax fans use Jewish and Israeli symbols even though they are non Jewish.
Picture of Hexagram on St. Agnes' Church, Amsterdam is courtesy of "towncalledfrank" who published it on Flickr.
Ivan Sache published on the website of allstates-flag.com that the war lord Cheng-Chi-Tsai established an autonomous province in Xin-Jiang (1933-1942) and designed a yellow flag with a red six-pointed star. He later changed his flag to a red field with a yellow six-pointed star.
Hexagram Picture from Hisham's palace is courtesy of "markuscuel" who published it on Flickr. Picture of IDF emblem is copied from Wikipedia.
Picture is courtesy of "markuscuel" who published it on Flickr.
This is not the only hexagram in Hisham's Palace:
…the use of the Star of David in an indisputably hostile context was deliberately provocative. The Star of David is the most complexly emotive of all Jewish symbols: it has profound, ages-old religious significance as the most ubiquitous and recognisable of such symbols.
Mark Sensen wrote on Flags Of The World website about Command and Rank flags in The Dutch Navy since 1815A Lieutenant-Admiral has four white sixpointed stars in the red stripe near the hoist of the tricolour…
A Vice-Admiral has three …A Rear-Admiral has two (side by side) …A Commodore has one.
Why do Jews use the symbol of a hexagram or Magen David?
All we have is a statement by someone [Gershom Sholem], who is into kabbalah, who did not supply any proof to support their theories.
Hexagram surrounded by six hexagons in a grid called Jali (indian term of "mashrabia").
Picture is courtesy of Suzanne Olsson who published it her Website together with an article about THE STAR OF DAVID where she wrote:The above yantra was carved nearly 10,000 years ago into a rock near Adam's Peak in Sri Lanka. Adam was thought to have visited there, and Noah was believed to have brought the remains of Adam and Eve on the Ark for reburial. If the star was first associated with Hebrews that far back, then Solomon was not the first priest-king to continue it as a family symbol. This leaves several ways the Star symbol was brought into India and became the yantra.
I have lost the source that dated the black rocks in Sri Lanka and India...I recall it was the Department of Antiquities in India....it's been about five years since I first came across the information...I wish I had saved the sources...You might be able to recover them eventually through internet searches...
The Star of David exists for more than 5000 years ago. It existed even before the ancient Hebrew letters were invented…
So what is your point? We do not live in that time now, furthermore 'Do you actually have proof of the origin of the Star of David?'
That's not a "seven", that's a Gimmel. Plus the two big Daleths ==> 6*3+2*4 = 18+8 = 26, the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton. Also, six Gimmels + six little Daleths = 6*(3+4) = 6*SEVEN = 42. (Six=man; seven=God).
…Arabic numerals, adopted relatively late in human history by Europeans & Middle-Easterners. [The Jews had one numerical system, the Latins another, and the Greeks had equivalents for both -- but something like ten-base Arabic numerals were inexistent (not that there aren't similarities, but these similarities do not account for the number seven having that particular form {"7"}, neither do they permit a summing of the ciphers of the number, since they {Latins, Greeks, Jews} didn't have ciphers, but reserved different letters for -let's say- 6, 60, 600; or 9, 90, 900)].
What is a six-pointed star emblem doing on a beer glass? The Hexagram was intended to symbolize purity; folklore has it that it represented the six aspects of brewing: water, hops, grain, malt, yeast, and brewer.
Picture is courtesy of "maxnathans" from Flickr.
Picture is courtesy of "maxnathans" from Flickr who wrote to me:Sabra Cactus is the name I call this cactus- not the official name. My reasons are:
a. that it shows the Star of David which is the Israeli Sabra national emblem
b. That it grows here, in Kibbutz Metzuva, in the north of Israel.
The first time I was ever exposed to the Star of David was when I saw it painted on the gleaming metallic bodies of the Fantom jet fighters that were flying low overhead as they bombed and strafed the outskirts of our village … during the 1967 war...
The first Jew that I had ever seen in my life was an alien looking figure, who was standing atop a tank, which also had the Star of David painted on it
The Star of David was not a religious symbol to me and other Palestinians. It was symbol of oppression and fear.
The sanctuary was empty except for a handful of visitors listening to a young man giving the day's last tour. He was leading them in a single-file line along a well-known route on the floor-an invisible pathway linking six key architectural points within the sanctuary. Generations of visitors had walked these straight lines, connecting the points, and their countless footsteps had engraved an enormous symbol on the floor.
The Star of David, Langdon thought. No coincidence there. Also known as Solomon's Seal, this hexagram had once been the secret symbol of the stargazing priests and was later adopted by the Israelite kings-David and Solomon.
Picture of Sabra Cactus Hexagram is courtesy of "maxnathans" who published it on Flickr and wrote to me:The cactus in question belongs to the Cereus family. they grow meters high in my garden .
A few years ago a piece broke of because of stong winds, put the piece on the ground next to my garden and after a while, little plants started to grow and now as you can see they get bigger. The plants you can see are some years old . From the top they look like a Magen David really. When they get bigger they change a bit.
Picture is courtesy of "Tobyotter" from Flickr who wrote to me:MY father is Jewish and My mother was Catholic - So i was raised around both faiths. I always liked the Star of David - in pottery class I had a bit of clay left so I made this - as a reminder of Father.
A six-sided magic star is constructed using 12 numbers, where all the edges add up to the same number
Edge A+C+F+H = edge A+D+G+K = edge B+C+D+E = ...
Beit-Hagefen (House of the Vine)is an Arab Jewish Center that was established in 1963 to promote coexistence issues of Jews and Arabs and Christians in the northern part of Israel.
Sevilla Cathedral Hexagram picture is courtesy of "nirakara" who published it on Flickr and wrote to me:As for the story on it I don't have too much on it, though if you search for the Cathedral of Sevilla you'll find it easily online. I think it's the largest in spain and like many of the larger churches in the south of spain it used to be a Mosque and was converted when the area was conquered. It gothic in nature and so in that way it uses a lot of visual detail employing all kinds of geometric symbols and wether this particular one was used with meaning is probably anybody's guess.
Magen David, Peace Dove, Car Air Freshener, white and blue as the Israeli flag, and on the bag there is also a Jewish Prayer For The Road- all these for 5 NIS. No wonder I see it on many cars. The Hebrew white on blue letters say: I haven't got another country.
Rabin Square, Tel Aviv. General view of Yigal Tomarkin's Statue: triangle on triangle create a Magen David or a Yellow Badge.
While I don't regard myself qualified to judge the artistic quality of the paintings, I would like to give you a few examples of the works of art: A map of the world and on it hands engraved with a Star of David and blood dripping from them. A Star of David combined with a Swastika. Two red canvasses, on one of them two small circles with the Star of David, on the other a small circle with a Swastika. I happen to remember that this masterpiece is called "settlers".
The hexagram or Star of David has been used in many historical, religious and occult contexts. Its origins are lost in the sands of time. In Hinduism it is a mandala symbol that has been found in Hindu temples built thousands of years ago. It represents the perfect state of balance between Man and God. But according to well-known scholar Gershom Sholem the Star of David can be traced to Aristotle, who used triangles in different positions to represent basic elements. This theory finds some support in the interesting fact that two of the three Hebrew letters in David's name are Daleth. In ancient times Daleth was written in a form that resembled a triangle. In Greek the letter Delta is also shaped like a triangle. So we have two triangles
(two Daleths or two Deltas) which are interlaced to represent balance out of chaos. That could be the Greek connection found by Professor Sholem. As you probably know the triangle that points upwards represents the fire element (color red) and the male principle in kabbalistic symbolism. The triangle that points downwards represents the water element (color blue) and the feminine principle. You must have seen some Star of David symbols where the upper triangle is red while the lower is blue. Tradition says that by balancing the opposite elements of fire and water in the hexagram David was able to unite the 12 Tribes of Israel. In Kabbalah the hexagram is associated with the sixth sphere of the Tree of Life (Tiphareth) that represents the sun.
Hexagrams have also been found in cosmological diagrams in other religions, such as Buddhism and Jainism. And, surprisingly enough, the hexagram can also be found in mosques and on other Islamic objects. The hexagram also appears in Solomon's fabled seal so that it could presumably have been known to him.
But it is also possible that because it is a simple geometric shape, like the square and the circle, the triangle may have been used in many ways, including the hexagram, by many different peoples across the ages.
In the central panel of corridor 2, the round medallion within square contains a star of David formed by the interlacing triangles, one in cable and the other in guilloche
Renaissance summerhouse built in the years 1555 – 1556 by Ferdinand I of Tirol, by his own design, in the shape of a hexagram according to cosmological ideas influenced by alchemy. In Europe similar buildings can be found, even though not frequently, only in Italy and France.
Researcher Uri Ofir claims that the Magen David is part of the Tabernacle Menorah, but here it looks like the Menorah is part of the Magen David. This is what happens when you go straight ahead on the globe - soon you find out that you are in the opposite direction...
Picture of Wood Carving from a church in Ranworth, Norfolk, England is courtesy of "LeoL30" who published it on Flickr a. Notice that the hexagram is standing on two points. We are used to see it standing on one point. I don't know (yet) if there's a different meaning to each such position.
The six-pointed star sometimes occurred in pre-Islamic floor mosaics but mainly as an isolated motif. In some mosaics, the star was used as a frame for large compositions, or as a dominant subject, while in others it is just an isolated detail among a great variety of other geometric motifs. Three such examples are found in mosaics uncovered here:Bethlehem,Roglitand el-Makr.
Its ornamental use was continued for a long period, and can be seen on some fragments of stone carving in the synagogue o Capernaum, though probably unconnected to the Jewish symbol adopted in recent times…
it appears on funerary slabs from the second century of the Hijra, either completely isolated , or three in a row, or next to a slightly different motif of crossing squares.
A wood carving from Takrit in Iraq, perhaps a sarcophagus, dated to theAbbasid period 9th century C.E. has a particularly elaborate decoration including six-pointed star is kept at the Metropolitan Museum 33.41.la.de
Another wood carving bearing the star motif is part of the minbar (pulpit) of Kairouan, dated A.D. 786-808 and also said to be from Mesopotemia.
Whithin the Umayyad period this motif is found at Khirbat al-Mafjar.
It exists as an isolated item and also in an overall pattern, as in our mosaic, in a grille decoration of a stucco window…Umayyad carved marble slab from the Grewat Mosque of Damascus.
A wooden panel from the Al Aqsa carvings …(A.D. 780)…http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/33.41.1a-e
Picture is courtesy of Matthias Trum who wrote for Technical University Munich a thesis titledHistorical depictions, guild signs and symbols of the brewing and malting handcraftMatthias' caption for this picture is
oldest depiction of a brewer is Pyprew (old german word for brewer) Herttel from 1425. The text on the picture states: "The 46th brother, who died here, was named Herttel Pyrprew" …One can see the brewing kettle with two rings attached to the sides plus two wooden vats. Above the brewer on a stick the hexagram...
Speaking about Israel and David stars, Egypt was full of ornaments taking a six-sided-star shape. That reminded me of one of the funny memories about my university days in Baghdad. The municipality asked the Architectural department to send out all the students, and I was one of them, to check the streets of Baghdad for "David Stars". It was so stupid and ridiculous because the six-sided-star is more a middle Eastern symbol than a Jewish one, and neither myself nor the professors in the department thought it's a good idea to go and check for such stars on houses and ask the owners to destroy them. No one liked the idea, but no one dared to say No of course. Everyone said the famous statement "Good morning, Mr President, thank you for everything. Thank you very much for everything. I like you", but in Arabic at that time.
In order to make the glyphs more legable, someone traced them with white paint. This should not be done.
Hexagram inside a hexagon in a latticework in the Humayun's Tomb
Picture is courtesy of William Lebovich, architectural historian/photographer, who is its copyright holder. It appeared on the Washington Post in an article by Frank Van Riper with the following caption:Lobby of 19th Street Baptist Church still has mosaic floor from when it was B'nai Israel Congregation. Stained glass window at back now features a praying Jesus.
…[the Star of David] is the symbol of the arrangement of the first three quarks and antiquarks; Thus, the Seal [Seal of Solomon, Star of David] belongs to quantum physics, or even to a deeper region which Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli called the psychophysical reality, a reunion of the split between matter and spirit/psyche, outer and inner world, masculine and feminine principle (and especially important for your country: a reunion of Judaism/Christianism with the Islam). It is the symbol of the 21st century, since at the beginning of it we will have to deal with this reunion – or go under in an apocalyptic catastrophe.
This entry doesn’t explain why the Nazis designed the yellow badge in the shape of a Star of David and not in any other shape. It also doesn’t describe who decided to design the yellow badge, where and when.
To fill these gaps see: “Under the Nazis the term "yellow badge" first appeared in Robert Weltsch's article "Tragt ihn mit Stolz, den gelben Fleck" ("Wear the Yellow Badge with Pride"), published in the Judische Rundschau on April 4, 1933, in reaction to the anti - Jewish boycott of April 1, 1933. At that point no official Jewish sign was in existence and there were no plans to introduce such a sign. Weltsch was apparently referring to the slanderous and abusive inscriptions painted on the windows of Jewish - owned stores and businesses in "Operation Boycott" of April 1, and the relapse to medieval times that it signified.
The proposal to impose a distinctive mark on the Jews was first made by Reinhard Heydrich at a meeting held in the wake of the Kristallnacht pogrom, in November 1938.
Tip Site of the Week:So here is what I already collected about this subject:
For all of you interested in Jewish Hexagrams, check out the Star of David blog. These show up in all sorts of places that you might not expect. There’s some nice work and pics on Zeevveez’s blog. He’s also interested in the Templar use of hexagrams, if you have any information or insight on this, email me and I’ll let him know.
An ancient relievo of the Star of David, which Chinese archaeologists believe may date back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) or Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), has been unearthed recently in east China's port city of Quanzhou.
Carved in a piece of white granite that measures 65 cm in height and 63 cm in width and was obviously a component of a building, the relievo takes the form of a six-pointed star, a symbol of Judaism, which remains part of the national flag of Israel.
Archeologists say the relievo and the original relevant architecture indicate the influence of Judaism in the ancient times in Quanzhou, a port city in Fujian province.
The relievo was unearthed under the Deji gate to its ancient city wall.
