Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Solomon's Seal Legend

Joseph Jacobs and M. Seligsohn wrote in the Jewish Encyclopedia:
The legend that Solomon possessed a seal ring on which the name of God was engraved and by means of which he controlled the demons... is especially developed by Arabic writers, who declare that the ring... was partly brass and partly iron. With the brass part of the ring Solomon signed his written commands to the good genii, and with the iron part he signed his commands to the evil genii, or devils...The legend of a magic ring by means of which the possessor could exorcise demons was current in the first century, as is shown by Josephus' statement ("Ant." viii. 2) that one Eleazar exorcised demons in the presence of Vespasian by means of a ring, using incantations composed by Solomon.
The Arabs afterward gave the name of "Solomon's seal" to the six-pointed star-like figure (see Magen, Dawid) engraved on the bottom of their drinking-cups.

Koch Fractals

Koch Fractals HexagramKoch Fractals look like six-pointed stars.
Picture is coied from Wikipedia (I slightly edited it with Photoshop).
In the Wikipedia entry for Fractal they say
a fractal is a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole.

Massiah Borochoff Building

Star of David above the window of the magnificent building of Bucharian merchant Massiah Borochoff which was built in 1908, in Jaffa Street, Jerusalem, Israel.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

My Beloved is Mine and I am His

Song of Songs David's ShieldDid you know that the shadow of the Star of David is in the shape of a heart?
Picture is courtesy of "jennifer.white" who published it on Flickr and wrote in the caption
Song of Solomon 2:16 "My Beloved is Mine and I am His" . To me that is really what love is about.

Arab House near the Temple Mount


Picture of a Hexagram on an Arab House near the Temple Mount is courtesy of "keithwills" who published it on Flickr and wrote in the caption:
The Arabs will tell you that they were the first to have posession of the temple yet here we see the star of David on one of their buildings. They built most of their area of the temple from rubble from the old temple.

It seems to me that these Stars of David, about a meter below the roof of this building, are not that old but keithwills surely chalenges the experts to explain where did these emblems come from...

Church in Brazil

Many hexagrams on Badass Catholic Church in Niteroi, Brazil.
Picture is courtesy of "Biyah" who publihed it on Flickr. I'm waiting to see if Biyah will find the story behind these beautiful white hexagrams...

Monday, March 12, 2007

Fools of Prophecy

A Magen David surrounded by pomegranates on the announcement about the show of the Israeli rock band called Fools Of The Prophecy. I guess the Magen  David is meant to emphasize the word Prophecy since the band is dealing with Judaism and humor.