Sunday, January 14, 2007

The Star of David is a Homoform

I asked on Yahoo Answers:
How do we call the same shape when it has more than one meaning? Can you give an example?

On the details question I explained:
When the same word has different meanings we call it a homonym.
My example: The Star of David is a shape that has different meanings in different cultures...

In a few hours I got the following answers:
Garypopki:
The symbol that was appropriated by the Nazis, the swastika, was an old an honorable one before the Nazis dishonored it. It was used as the logo of some European beer, but after the Nazis made it famous, the beer company changed its logo.

Rammohan:
Cross is used in churches and it has a different meaning when you see it in the hospital.

lubylou91:
Oblongs and rectangles. the natzi symbol was also a sacred hindu thing or something like that. I don't understand this question!!!

carebears
How about "O"? Can be used as a circle, a zero, the alphabet O.

I chose the first answer as best and rated it 3 out of 5. In the feedback section I wrote:
Very good example but no name - I'll have to invent one myself - I'll call it a homoform.

Margaret Starbird

Margaret Starbird wrote a chapter about the Star of David in her book The Woman With the Alabaster Jar (Bear and Co, 1993).
She also wrote an article titled: The Archetypal Mandala of the Star of David. Here is an excerpt from that article:
The Star of David... is a reminder that we are not alone--that we are part of a whole and that the Living Force of the Cosmos is with us. Equality, mutuality, community and wisdom are all summed up in this beautiful mandala whose ultimate archetypal meaning is harmony in diversity.

Brand Name

Jewish Star appears on the belly of a Teddy Bear. Picture is courtesy of The "Rhett" who published it on Flickr and wrote in the caption: 
Judaica Bear and his blue octopus to the rescue!
It seems that the Jewish Star became a brand name and it can help sell anything...