Monday, December 13, 2010

Star of David in an Endless Loop

Star of David in an Endless Loop

Mural at Plovdiv Synagogue Bulgaria


Courtesy of 
Michael Kandel

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Mughal Six Pointed Star, Jaisalmer, India

Mughal Six Pointed Star 
At Jaisalmer rajasthan India 
Unique disign - Flower in a Hexagram surrounded by Rhombs
all carved in a sandstone so that  most of the artifact is actually a shadow
Courtesy of
(c) 
Lesley Bearman Lahm

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Star of David in Akiva Kenny Segan's Drawing

Star of David in a new Drawing by Akiva Kenny Segan
(c)
From the album:  The Rita Rosani memorial drawing  
Watch the amazing 30 second video

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Mayan Star of David at Copan, Honduras

Mayan Star of David -Copan, Honduras
Dated between 400 and 800 C.E
Photographer: Cheesman, Paul R., 1921-1991
Cortesy of
Russ Taylor Supervisor of Reference Services Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University

Other Mayan  Stars of David were found at
Uxmal Yucatan Mexico
Dated 1000 C..E

Tikal Guatemala

Campeche Mexico



See also pictures of Star of David wooden moulds used for salt production on
 Maya salt production and trade by Anthony P. Andrews 
Published 1983 by University of Arizona  

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Bell Tower in Strade italy 1610

Christian hexagram in a 
Bell Tower in Strade italy from 1610
CC picture from 
it.wikipedia.Santa Maria in Strada Monza
by Francescogb
(c)

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Six pointed star in heraldry

Estoile is a Six Pointed Star with wavy lines
CC picture from Wikipedia entry  Estoile





Mullet is is a Six Pointed Star with srtaight lines
Also called rowel (spur) and it seems that its origin is not the celestial star but the small spur
Picture taken by me
Showing the Montefiore coat of arms
In Yemin Moshe neighborhood
Jerusalem

Saturday, October 02, 2010

American Hexagrams  

One dollar bill since 1935  shows 13 pentagrams arranged in the shape of a
Hexagram as on the Great Seal of the United States
Photographed by me





13  
Hexagrams on the Great Seal of the United States
arranged in the shape of a
Hexagram
From 1782 untill 1841
(In the 1841-Die there are 13 pentagrams for the first time)
Picture from 
en.wikipedia
Entry: Great Seal of the United States




13  
Hexagrams on the Presidential Seal from1885
arranged in the shape of a
Hexagram 

Picture from en.wikipedia
Entry: Great Seal of the United States

Hexagrams were a common motif in the 18-19th century also on
American coins stamps and  flags

 SILVER DOLLAR Hexagram 1891 
  Copyright: Oded Israeli




Black Hexagram around the number 5 on James A. Garfield stamp 1881




Braggs Corps flag 1862
From Wikimedia Commons File:Braggs_Corps


Friday, October 01, 2010

Solomon's Seal & Crescent on Riff Banknote

Issued in 10 October 1923
Solomon's Seal & Crescent on Riff Banknote

Tetraktys with Hexagrams

From Emblem book about Alchemy 
by D. Stolcius von Stolcenberg, 
Viridarium Chymicum, 
1624

Monday, September 27, 2010

Hexagrams in the Rosicrucian Museum, San Jose California 

Hexagram in the Rosicrucian Museum, San Jose, California  
CC picture by fritz liess from Flickr


Hexagram and Rose Cross in the Rosicrucian Museum, San Jose, California  
CC picture by Michael Gray  from Flickr

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Hexagram & Ouroboros

Hexagram & Ouroboros Tattoo
Cc Picture by m0n3d4 (c) from Flickr


Hexagram Ouroboros Alchemy

Cc Picture by vaxzine(c) from Flickr 


Hexagram Ouroboros Alchemy
With Signs of the planets
which represent Alchemical compounds  
(C) 
Dr. Amir Zohar

Blagaj - 16th century Dervish monastery in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Hamam Ceiling Stars
some hexagrams
imitating the natural stars  in the skies
I saw this motive in other Hamam pictures
CC picture by korom (c)  from  Fickr who shot it at
 Blagaj 
 16th century Dervish monastery on the Buna River, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Six pointed star with moon

Blagaj Monastery  
CC picture by KOKONIS (c)  from  Fickr


Info needed about a JMPRESA VIVERI Token

JMPRESA VIVERI  Token
Photo by Luca 
(c)







Patrizia Di Monte from Italy  searches information about an old token with a six pointed star.

The face reports "JMPRESA VIVERI" surrounding the star of David, with a 5 pointed star on 6 o' clock, and on the other side a number "20".

This may be a token for food distribution from/to Hebrew community during second world war, in concentration camps. The strange thing is that in italian "IMPRESA VIVERI" is for "food business" but they use the "I" and not the "J" as first letter. There are some other token with "J" in place of "I" as the first capital letter, and they are mint in Germany. 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Bosnia and Herzegovina Stamp

Right stamp sports a Solomon’s Seal pattern

Michel #309-10 (interior painting on Mosque, Hadzi Sinan Tekija, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Muslim part, issue from 2003).
Sent to me by Chastven Miloje (c) From Ashdod, Israel

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Hexagrams in Diwali Decorations

Happy Diwali

Diwali Light festival is celebrated on the first day of Kartika month
(on October or November)
The frequent usage of hexagrams as one of many star motives in Indian culture
seems to relate to the most basic connection between
 the shape of the stars in  the skies
and their light

  CC picture by pangalactic gargleblaster from Flickr
See my Gallery

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Hexagrams in Indian Sandpainting

Hexagrams are only one of many motifs of the Indian geometrical sandpainting made usually with rice powder. It is created by millions of Hindu women every morning in front of their houses in order to bring prosperity to their families. Rice powder is used to invite ants and birds to eat it… the idea is to contribute to the harmony of the world.



Hexagrams in Indian Sandpainting
Courtesy of Raji.srinivas from Wikipedia entry Kolam

Other names for Indian Sandpainting are: Alpana, Aripana, Madana, Rangoli, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chowkpurana, Muggu.



Kolam made from Lentils
Courtesy of preetamrai from Flickr


Hexagram made from elements ordered as palindrom rows: 1-4-3-4-1
 Courtesy of kalyan from Flickr



Hexagram Pattern - Indian Sandpainting
 Courtesy of arimoore from Flickr


Monday, September 13, 2010

Indian Hexagram and Swastika


pattern indian women use everyday to make pictures or rangoli/kolam in front of the house or near the diety
Courtesy of 
Nagashree Naveen who published this picture on Flickr
with the caption
sudarshana chakra/mandala


Sunday, September 12, 2010

Algeria banning a Koran because it has a Star of David on it


David referred me to a news story about Algeria banning a Koran because it has a Star of David on it
and added  that
Comment number 9 is interesting, it says: They will have to demolish the Dome of the rock because it has Stars of David all over.Comment 8 says the Star of David is common in Islamic art

Thanks 
David 

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Nessim Sibony: 700 Stars of David on youtube

Nessim Sibony collected over 700 Stars of David and displayed them on 33 posters. He created a cd-rom slideshow of his collection, and video-taped  a small part of it to display on youtube

Star of David on the wall of Jerusalem's Old City

Star of David appears on at least four reliefs in the wall of Jerusalem's Old City. Actually it is a six-pointed star which is called by Muslims Solomon's Seal. the wall was built from 1535 to 1538 by Turkish Sultan Suleiman I (the Magnificent), whose name is an Arabic translation of the Hebrew Biblical name Solomon. These reliefs are not the only reliefs which decorate the old city walls - there are more than one hundred designs, some of them showing other symbols such as the Octagram, the star with eight points.
Photographed by Zeev Barkan


Solomon's Seal opposite the entrance to the Rockefeller Museum
Its triangles turn at forty-five degrees
So that it leans at its base on two points. 
A flower with six petals appears in its center and
outwardly, there are three leaves between any two points





Solomon's Seal  at Lion’s Gate opposite the police station
On both sides there are Octagrams (stars with eight points(
In the center there’s a small Solomon's Seal surrounded by six arrows
Each of the six triangles apex is placed on the center of a circle
Thanks to Dobush who referred me to this Solomon's Seal


Solomon's Seal West to the New Gate
hexagon inside Solomon's Seal surrounded by  triangles that turn at a forty-five degrees
So that it leans at its base on two points



Solomon's Seal in the parking lot opposite the entrance to the Rockefeller Museum
The Stars shape is made of two parallel lines, just like in the Israeli flag - only 500 years before it…
A flower with six petals appears in its center




Solomon's Seal in Jaffa Gate
In the center
 Surrounded by another Solomon's Seal







Saturday, August 21, 2010

Hexagram as part of a Mandala from Tibet

Hexagram as part of a Mandala from Tibet
19th century
Vajrayogini at the center
Rubin Museum of Art
Copied from Wikipedia entry: Vajrayogini

Gudrun Bühnemann is a Professor at the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her book, Mandalas and Yantras in the Hindu traditions (2003) there’s a chapter about the hexagram, where I found some info that was new to me (but I didn’t find an answer to the question about the origin of the Indian hexagram).

P, 43

The hexagram (satkona, sadara, tara) - Begley [1] 1973:85 notes that the word star, Tara, appears as a synonym for satkona

My Note (zeevveez): the sound of the word "sadara" id also close to he sound of the word "star".

[1] Begley Wayne Edison, Vishnu's flaming wheel: the iconography of the Sudarśana-cakra, New York University Press for the College Art Association of America, 1973

P. 44

In Budhist Tantrism the word "evam" is thought to be represented by two intertwined triangles...Kolver discusses the shapes of the letter e and the va which were remeniscent of downward pointing and upward pointing triangles around the sixth century C.E. and were visualized as hexagram... when Vagra-yogini is described as situated in evam” this means that she is visualized inside a hexagram.

In descriptions of the symbolic shapes (mandala) of the elements the hexagram represents the element wind.

In the hexagram the deities are often worshipped at the points of intersection of the two triangles…

P. 45

In Budhist traditions hexagrams appear especially in mandalas of Vajra-Varahi / Vajra-Yogini.

According to Nath 1975-1976:78 the hexagram is also found in Indian temples, especially in Rajastahn were it is believed to have been associated with the worship of Siva and Sakti.

The hexagram appears in Islamic monuments of North India. Its center features a point (bindu) a lotus or a dancing peacock. (Nath 1975-1976:74-75).

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Hexagrams at the Herakleion Museum Crete

Hexagrams at the Herakleion (or Heraklion or Iraklion) Museum in Crete


Hexagrams at the Herakleion (or Heraklion or Iraklion) Museum in Crete

Perhaps the first appearance of two interlaced triangles (the exact image of what we recognize as the Star of David) is in several stone seals found in Festos palace in Crete by an Italian archaeologist of Jewish origin, Doro Levy. At the latest, they are from 1700 B.C.E, the date at which the palace was destroyed and a full seven hundred years before King David was even born. These seals are now exhibited in the Herakelion Museum in Crete.

In 1902 Arthur Evans discovered two stars of david’ on a mural plaster at the Court of Distaffs in a palace in Knossos. Now they are exhibited in the fresco storeroom of the Herakleion Museum.

Source: Mark A. S. Cameron, Stars Of David’ on a Mural Plaster Fragment From Knossos, Kadmos. Volume 18, Issue 1, Pages 40–46, 1979

Singapore - Six-pointed Star Body Piercing

Singapore - Six-pointed Star Body Piercing
During festival
Photo by amateur_photo_bore from Flickr



Singapore - Six-pointed Star Body Piercing
During festival
Photo by amateur_photo_bore from Flickr

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Navaho Hexagram 1904

Navaho Indian seems to have a hexagram on his chest
1904
Thanks to SaReGaMa for referring me to this image

Navaho Indian seems to have a hexagram on his chest
1904
Thanks to SaReGaMa for referring me to this image

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Hexagram on Costa Rica stamp

Hexagram on a Costa Rica stamp
Courtesy of Stephanie Comfort (c)

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Star-of-David Object

A present I got from my friends Stephanie & Jim Comfort from

Monday, August 02, 2010

Crunk Gang Hexagrams

The following images were sent to me by Rhys Alton from

Rhys wrote to me:
Two graffiti tags at the train tunnels, both downtown Olympia, Washington, USA. I'm under the assumption that the following two tags are related to the 'Gangster Disciples,' a street gang which has co-opted the Hexagram:


White Hexagram
Photographer: Rhys Alton (c) 2010
-

Black Hexagram
Photographer: Rhys Alton (c) 2010

Hexagram on a Barber shop in Kyoto

Hexagram on a Barber shop in Kyoto
Photographer: Kathy Chiron

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Medal - Info Please

Front: Star of David made from dots
with the Hebrew word Zion inside the hexagon
© Dawn Kosinski

Back: "Saint Christopher Protect Us"
© Dawn Kosinski

Dawn Kosinski sent me the following message to my readers:

When going through my father-in-law's things we found a St Christopher's (Catholic) Metal with a Star of David metal on the back. The Star of David is slightly off center, which makes me wonder if someone just glued it to the back of the St Christopher. I don't know the age but suspect that it is pretty old. Maybe from WW II.

Can you give me any ideas on this

?