By Rachel Dares
For thousands of years, symbols have been used as an expression of cultural and religious ideas. Over time, the sacred meanings conveyed by many religious symbols have been appropriated by dissenting groups in society and distorted to represent the opposite. But in some cases, the graphic distortion is so subtle that many people fail to make the distinction or even consider a difference in meaning.
Instead, what often happens is that the more widespread meaning prevails in people’s minds as the sole meaning for the original symbol.
An unfortunate consequence of this is that if the appropriated symbol acquires a widespread negative meaning, the original symbol and those who use it, acquire a negative reputation, or, at the very least, are misunderstood.
In its previous issue, Centretown News ran a story (“Not just black magic and broomsticks”) that attempted to break down some misconceptions about Pagan religions such as Wicca. These religions are often mistakenly associated with Satanism because in popular culture, devil worshippers are sometimes called witches and warlocks. But witch is also the term for Wicca practitioner.
The illustration for the story was supposed to show children dressed as typical Halloween witches (with pointy hats and broomsticks) knocking on a door that displayed the Pagan symbol of the five-pointed start, called the pentacle. This symbol represents the perfect universe encompassing the four elements and the spirit.
Unfortunately, as if to perpetuate the misfortune of those whose symbols have been appropriated and negatively distorted, Centretown’s illustrator, Matt Goerzen, mistakenly drew the pentacle upside down, unaware that the reversed pentacle is actually a symbol of Satanism, and the newspaper’s editors did not notice the mistake. The incorrect illustration went to print, which ended up defeating the purpose of the story. But the mistake serves to illustrate the power of subtle distortions of religious symbols that end up surpassing the original symbol in spreading its meaning.
“The pentagram I drew was probably from playing with video games with devil worshippers and the like in them,” says Matt Goerzen. “What I drew was a pure regurgitation of the pop culture depiction of witchcraft,” he says, “I didn’t know there was a difference.”
Another example is the swastika, which is widely recognized in Western society as a symbol of racism, white supremacy, and both the Nazi and neo-Nazi movements. These negative connotations have persisted since the swastika was adopted by the Nazi Party in Germany in 1920.
But from its early origins as a recognized symbol, the swastika has been a good luck charm in many Eastern religions. For instance, it’s a symbol of stability in Hinduism and represents one of the saints in Jainism.
Unfortunately, the positive meanings of the symbol have practically been wiped out in certain parts of the world because of people’s association of the swastika with the death and destruction during the Holocaust. In Germany, the symbol was outlawed following the Second World War. And in Canada, the Ontario government tried to change the name of a small, northern mining town in the province named Swastika, but the move was rejected by residents.
With each belief system, it is important to examine the original and intended meanings of its set of religious symbols before prematurely arriving at false conclusions.
Keep in mind that a simple twist to a symbol may mean a twist in the reputation of an entire religious community.