Brewers’ Stars and the Star of David

 Brewers’ Stars and the Star of David in:

Jacob Linckh, Landauer Band I (1659), Seite 118v

It is a well-known fact that the Brewer's Star (on brewery signs, inn signs, beer kegs, beer guild logos, beer cups etc.) looks exactly like the Star of David, but it is important to notice that even though every Star of David is a six-pointed star - not every six-pointed star is a Star of David. For example, there are natural hexagrams like stars, snowflakes and flowers; and there are artificial hexagrams like police badges, Chinese checkers etc.

Matthias Trum claims in his thesis [1] that the oldest depiction of a brewer is in a 1425 painting from Nuremberg, Germany. Later on Matthias Trum tries to answer (without arriving to any clear conclusion) the question: “How could one symbol in the course of history get two so different meanings? Might there even be a connection between both forms, e.g. do they have the same origin, or is the similarity merely coincidental”?

There are two facts about the connection between the hexagram and the alcohol industry, which might help answer Matthias Trum’s question: the first is that James Bennett Pritchard found a few hexagrams engraved on some wine jar handles from the 8th century B.C.E. at Gibeon, Israel [2]. The second is that hexagrams were found as Greek emblems for the marking of wines in Thasos and Carthago.

Another point that seems relevant here is that in alchemy the hexagram is composed from a triangle that points up representing fire while the triangle that points down represents water. Fire and water (needless to say) are opposites. In the hexagram they interpenetrate, and together they represent the unity of the opposites or (in alchemy)- the fiery water, the alcohol, the brandy etc.

Folklore has it that like the SIX points of the hexagram the brewers’ star represented the SIX aspects of brewing: water, hops, grain, malt, yeast, and brewer.

Notes:

[1] For Technical University in Munich titled: Historical depictions, guild signs and symbols of the brewing and malting handcraft) http://www.schlenkerla.de/biergeschichte/brauerstern/html/brauerdarstellungene.html

[2] The Water System of Gibeon, 1961, Page 47, 48 ISBN 0-934718-14-8

[3] Kadmoniot, 1973, Israel pp. 2-17

Stars of David in a Roman Mosaic in Tuscany

On oct 6 2015 Rossella Lorenzi, archaeology correspondent for Discovery News, published an article about an Ancient Roman Mosaic found in a small village named Capraia e Limit, in Tuscany, dating to the second half of the 4th century AD, including few Stars of David in a repeated pattern. These Stars of David are white hexagons with black triangles and in the middle of each hexagon there's a red square surrounding a red cross.

Roman Hexagrams Black & White

Photographer: (c) asnoetuh

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26061352@N06/4725476034/

Star of David in Fun Math Art Animation

http://benice-equation.blogspot.ro/2013/06/nested-stars.html

Thanks to 

 Lucian Craciun

For referring me to this link

Signum Salomonis - Introduction

Signum Salomonis

(Study of comparable Etnography)

by

Leite De Vasconcelos

(1858 – 17 May 1941)

Published in  (1918)

Translation from Portugese

(of most of the introduction - some words or sentences
were omitted for the sake of clarity)

Signum Salomonis [Solomon's Seal] which spread over a vast part of the globe since ancient eras, enjoys great vitality in Portugal’s beliefs and culture, and has, there and overseas, different shapes, such as those shown in the following illustrations:

1. pentagram [1]

Fig. 2 is Fig. 1 but upside-down:

3. hexagram (six-pointed star) [2]

our people gave the name "Folded Solomon's Seal" to the following shapes or to some of them:

 —————

[1] Pentalpha, from penta, meaning “five”, and alpha, name of the first letter of the alphabet. It shows “five alphas” - according to the shape’s appearance. Pentalpha is a word used by several scholars, like, for example:

Chr. A. Lobeck, Aglaophamus sive de theologiae mysticae Graecorum causis, 1829, p. 1346;

Minervini, Novelle dilucidazioni sopra un antico chiodo magico, 1846, p. 23;

Le Blant & Renan, in Revue Archéolog., II, 345;

Teixeira de Aragão, Moedas de Portugal, I, 147;

Head, Historia nummorum, p. 465 (pentagon or pentalpha).

Scholars also call it: pentagram, pentagon and starred-polygon.

The English say pentacle (see Webster’s Dictionary).

In Magic books you can find it as Mercury’s star, as in Secrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du Petit Albert, translated from Latin, Lyon, France, 1791, p. 147. 

Model of Mercury talisman

From the above mentioned book

And there are other names as well.

People also gave, pretty improperly, the name Solomon's Seal to an armillary sphere* which you can see in certain Portuguese coins from the XVIII and XIX centuries

[3] See O Archeologo Portugues, x, 171.

The page from Vol. X (1905) of O Archeologo Portugues mentioned above
Which is the journal of the Porugal Ethnological Museum
Edited by Leite De Vasconcelos

* "An armillary sphere is a model of objects in the sky consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centred on Earth, that represent lines of celestial longitude and latitude and other astronomically important features" (Source: Wikipedia)

[2] Hexalpha, from six and alpha. Synonym: hexagram.

Hexalpha

Designed by Ze'ev Barkan

 

Etruscan Hexagram

Hexagram on a ball held in the hands of a Fate Godess. From an Etruscan mirror. 

Etruscan mirrors date between 530-200 B.C.E

-

Source:

A. Jeremias, Handbuch der altorientalischen Geisteskultur, 1929, p. 196, Abb. 115.

The Star of David as an Astral Symbol

The shape of the hexagram, two interwoven triangles, doesn't convey necessarily an association of a star or a shield or a seal, but during the course of history Jews called it the Shield of David, Muslims called it Solomon's Seal and Christians called it The The Star of David. It seems that not this SHAPE but these NAMES made people start drawing the Shield of David on shields, Solomon's Seal on Seals and night stars in the skies as The Star of David.

Archaeologists discovered hexagrams as stars or on shields or on seals, and their "proofs" helped dividing the meanings of the hexagram into these three main categories, while actually it is an abstract shape, invented by geometers, and its main meaning, protection, is not depending on any physical thing.

Here's an example for The Star of David as an Astral Symbol Archaeological interpretation:

Herbert G. May reports in his book Material Remains of the Megiddo Cult, (Chicago 1935, p. 6.) about the discovery of a Magen David from ninth or eighth century B. C.  incised on the wall of a temple of Anat, Queen of Heaven, at Megiddo. Professor May explains that "on the south face of the south wall of Room 340, near the southeast corner... is incised a "shield of David" (See above). In view of the religious associations of this building, this sign may be interpreted as the symbol of the fertility goddess, whose model pottery shrines were so numerous in this district. The five-pointed seal of Solomon and the six-pointed shield of David are probably of astral origin with their roots in the fertility cult. This is confirmed in part by the occurrence of both a five- and a six-pointed star on an Astarte plaque from Tell es-Safi. [In a note Professor May refers to a six pointed star made from six lines, not a star of david]:

 Astarte plaque from Tell es Safi

:Source

Bliss & Macalister, Excavations in Palestine, London, 1902, Plate 67 No. 15s

Hildegard Lewy, brings the Megiddo artifact as one of the proofs to her main claim in the introduction to her article Origin and Significance of the Magen Dawid, (Archiv Orientalni, Vol. 18, 1950, 330-65) that "the Magen Dawid can represent only one of three planets ... Jupiter Mars and Saturn".

Oldest Prehistoric Hexagram

The BBC News reported on 10 January, 2002, about the "Oldest" prehistoric art unearthed". In the Blombos cave, 290 kilometres east of Cape Town, South Africa, archaeologists found, among 8,000 other pieces of ochre, one which is engraved with a pattern that includes a rude hexagram. This piece is from Middle Stone Age layers which are at least 70,000 years old.

Photo source: Wikipedia entry Blombos Cave

Star of David on a flag from 1253

Source: Lapidario (1253 ) by Alfonso X (the Wise),  

King of Castile (1221 –1284)

Star of David on a Seal of a Christian Notary from 1340

This Seal belonged to a notary named Dominique Delchambronet (1340)

Source: Fig. 74 from Signum Salomonis by Leite De Vasconcelos (1918)

who copied it from:

L'origine de la signature et de son emploi au moyen age par M.C. Guigue, Paris, 1863

(Plate. xix, n° 1) 

Star of David in Pompeii

This Mosaic floor, from the 1st century C.E., at the House of Triptolemus in Pompeii is mentioned, along with many other simillar designs, in M.E. Blake’s ’The pavements of the Roman buildings of the Republic and the Early Empire’, Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. VIII, 1930, pl. 39,3, VII, VII, 5, but her spelling of Triptolemus is different (Casa di Trittolemo) and her photos are low resolution b&w. I hope that in time I"ll publish here all her photos in a higher relolution and in color.

In  this design we notice that the center is filled with the symbol of the six petals, which are actually more geometric product of using the compass than a vegetative motif. this six-petals symbol is surrounded by several hexagons, and, along with the star of David by three circles, which are surrounded by squares - so, all in all, we are confronted here with a complicated combination of geometrical elements.

This combination raises the question whether a symbol (like the Star of David) maintains its original meaning when it stops standing alone. A good illustration to this problem is the addition of two blue stripes to the blue Star of David in the Israeli flag, which changes the Jewish symbol (Star of David) into a symbol of the Jewish State.

the six- petals symbol combined with the Star of David symbol appears also, as mentioned by my teacher, Dr. Ze'ev Goldmann,  in another three Mosaic Floors at the same place:

1. M.E. Blake, ibid. pl. 33, 4, Pompeii VI, VIII, 20

2. M.E. Blake, ibid. pl 38, 3. Pompeii VI, XVI, 7

3. M.E. Blake, ibid. pl 33, I. Pompeii VIII, V, 16 and 38

as well as in:

4. Ein Yael    

Mosaic Floor, where it is surrounded similarily by a hexagon, but in combination with the apotropaic pelta symbol (Amazon Shield) , the Ivy symbol and with the geometrical elements of the Guilloche and the successive stepped triangles.

5. In Capernaum the six- petals symbol appears with the Star of David symbol on the same lintel along with many other symbols.

Thanks to Karl from

https://www.flickr.com/photos/70125105@N06/14300318027/

for letting me publish his photo here. 

New Book- The Mystical Hexagram

The Mystical Hexagram - The Seven Inner Stars of Power by G Michale Vasey and SC Vincent, Datura Press, 2012

Hidden Six pointed Star on the British 20 Pound note

Hidden Six pointed Star on the British 20 Pound note

(The Red Lines are mine)

Symbol Researcher Andrew Noble Wrote to me:

"The 20 Pound note... clearly displaying the Hexagram, though disguised or

hidden... I'm not sure why the British like to hide their use of the Hexagram though... Certainly the Hexagram was used by Constantine along with the double cross & the Caduceus & possibly the Swastika."

Japanese town Emblem

 Japanese town  Emblem: Otaru,  Hokkaidō

The kanji 小 (o) inside a star of David symbolizing snow
Source: wikipedia entry- Otaru

Japanese town  Emblem: Matsumoto Nagano

 Pine (matsu) needles encircle the kanji 本 (moto)
Source: wikipedia entry Matsumoto 

Hexagram from the Gallo-Roman Period

Hexagram (top right) and 6-petaled flowers (bottom left) 

from the Gallo-Roman Period 123 BCE - 486 CE

Exhibited at The Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie

 (Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology)

 in the French city of Besançon

 CC Image by "heroesbed" from Flickr

A six-pointed star on a flag from 1545

A six-pointed star on a 1545 depiction of the flag of the city of Maastricht

From Wikipedia entry: Star_(heraldry)

1504 Book printer William Faques

Six pointed star on the device of 

book printer 

William Faques 

1504 
==

Source

A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898 

by Henry R. Plomer, 1900



A

Nevada Desert Google Maps

Hexagram in the middle of Nevada Desert 

Google Maps - Aerial Photography

CC picture by Rob Dupuis from Flickr 

Hexagram snowflakes - video clip on youtube

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiHlXEkhlEE

Polarities

Picture is copied from Wikipedia and it shows a hexagram from 15th Century, gouache on cloth from 'Jain Cosmology', Ravi Kumar, 2005, ISBN 8187330082

The following paragraph is from Dr. Asher Eder’s book The Star of David, which was published in 1987 in English in Jerusalem by Rubin Mass Ltd. The publication here is courtesy of Oren Mass

One of the most conspicuous characteristics of the created world is its multiple polarities. Following the original polarity of Creator-Creation, there are polarities in every dimension of Creation, such as spirit and matter, North and South pole, male and female, positive and negative in electricity, and so forth. The Chinese principle of yin-yang also expresses aspects of polarity.

A striking example of two opposing forces forming in their balance a very beneficial energy field are the centrifugal energies of the planets held in their positions by the gravitational pull exerted by the sun. Without the latter, the planets including our earth would spin somewhere in the void of the space; and without the former, they would plunge into the sun and melt in its atomic furnace.

When looking closely at any of these examples, we notice that some of them consist of two related power fields, such as male-female, while others are two sides of the same force, as in the case of electricity. Without flow, the latter would exist only as potential. In fact, physics gives each case its specific properties, but for our purposes, we shall group all of them as polarities, and concentrate on the relating force between their respective "poles".

No pole could exist without its counterpart, nor could there be poles without this relating force. For instance, an atom would not be an atom without the force between its positive and negative particles, nor could the species continue to exist without the force between its male and female partners.

On the other hand, we will not find any polarizing force between statues of a male and female, or between a male fish and a female bird. Properly understood, all polarities, including that of spirit and matter, are categories of relationships, and not contrasts. Thus, poles are not antagonistic sites; they are opposite yet related points in a field of energy. The bar magnet with its field of force made visible by iron filings demonstrates this clearly.

Interestingly enough, the very first statement in Holy Scripture indicates polarity: "In the beginning God created Heavens and Earth." Here, the word heavens (שמים , shamayim) denotes both the sky (רקיע , raqi'a) which at a later stage is also called heavens, שמים (vs.8); and a spiritual entity, often referred to as "The Kingdom of Heavens." This Kingdom of Heavens exists on Earth - its material pole. Obviously, all of us are exposed to, and permeated by, this polarity, whether we recognize it or not.

An interesting question was raised already in ancient times: "Where do the heavens begin? Beyond the clouds? Beyond the atmosphere? Beyond the moon?" The answer was: "Approximately a yard above the ground" - that means to say in the area of the diaphragm of an adult, whether he lives high up in the Himalayas, or whether he works as a miner hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth. All the organs below the diaphragm are carnal while those above it can, and should, express also spiritual or Divine qualities (as e.g. voice; intellect; self reflection; mercy; forgiveness). The "lower" are to be guided and treated by the "upper" organs and the qualities they carry. The heart with its double nature , symbolically located just above the diaphragm, plays the role of the connecting "chakra", as mentioned in Chapter 2 - THE SIX-POINTED STAR IN OTHER CULTURES and in Chapter 7 - THE KABBALISTIC TREE OF LIFE.

Dr. Asher Eder's notes to this chapter:

1) In the state before Creation - ein soph - no polarity exists.

2) Cf. Rashi Gen.2:7. Heavens, as distinct from firmament (רקיע , raqia), and sky (,שחקים

shehaqim). However, from Gen.1:8 on, the firmament is also called heavens.

3) The word שמים , shamayim, can be derived from the word שם , shem, name, referring to the Name of the Lord. The dual form שמים, would then refer to both the Lord's Name and to the priestly tribe of Shem, which bears the Divine Name on Earth (Hirsch, Genesis; also Num.6:22-27, note 15 of chapter 8, note 3 of chapter 12). However, שמים can also be derived from the word מים, mayim, water, and would then mean "that which is water". Allegorically, water can stand for truth (cf. Baba Kama, 17, p.I), and for nations (cf. Ps. 124:2-4; Is.17:12). Even in this case, the waters below the firmament would, naturally, "be gathered together into one place", but might finally rejoin the "upper waters" in the Name of Names, i.e. in the "Kingdom of Heavens". - In Kabbalistic thought, the word שמיםis a combination of the signs, standing for ,אש esh, fire; and מ, mem, water.

Some scholars see the word שמים as deriving from שם, sham, there (i.e. that which is beyond or far from the earth), but this would not explain the dual form of שמים , shamayim. It would also contradict the prophetic teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, which is to be established on the Earth, and not somewhere outside. However, see also note 13 of chapter 20.

4) The Hebrew language knows two words for heart: לב, lev; and לבב, levav. In the latter, the doubling of ב may indicate this double nature. We should love the Lord our God with all our (double natured) heart (לבב - Deuter. 6:5; 1.Kings 8:61) so that we will serve him willingly “with a perfect heart” (לב , 1.Chron. 29:9)