The swan’s feather appears in the cloaks of druids; because the swan is the bird of poetry, its feathers magically confer these powers on the bard.
Used at the end of the arrow as a “flight,” feathers have a practical as well as symbolic use. Additionally, feathers are a symbol of sacrifice. This is because, when chickens and other birds were ritually slaughtered, all they left behind was a few feathers, fluttering to the ground.
The other major symbolic meaning of the feather associates it with vegetation and with hair, primarily because of a similarity in appearance.
FETISH
Although, latterly, the fetish has erotic connotations, the origins of the word are from the French fétiche and the Portuguese feitiço, meaning charm. In sorcery, a fetish is something that is believed to have a spirit of its own, used for magical purposes. It is likely that the first fetish objects were stones of some kind, not necessarily small ones. The Black Stone at Mecca and the Stone of Destiny are good examples of fetish objects whose power, as such, has accumulated over the centuries that people have revered them. “Lucky” or “unlucky” numbers are fetishes, as are “lucky” or “unlucky” days of the week.
Bodily fluids or parts such as fingernails and teeth are fetish objects, considered to contain the energy of the creature of origin. Smaller fetish objects were carried in pouches or bags, a practice that continues today in many forms. These fetish or medicine bags should never touch the ground. The reason for this is that contact with the Earth is sacrilegious in some way for these empowered objects. It is for exactly the same reason that flags, symbols of national identity, also never touch the ground.
FIRE WHEEL
See Tomoe.
FIVE PILLARS OF WISDOM
Islam is conceptualized as a building, which is raised on five “pillars.” These are: the tenets of the faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage (or Hajj) to Mecca (which each adherent of the faith must carry out at least once in his or her lifetime.)
FLEUR DE LYS
Seen regularly as a heraldic symbol, the stylized flower-inspired Fleur de Lys is much older than many people may realize, appearing in Mesopotamian art, on Ancient Egyptian reliefs, and even on Dogon objects. The literal translation is the “flower of the lily” and it is a symbol of purity, being associated with the dove and the Virgin Mary. At Rennes-le-Château, the Fleur de Lys is a prominent symbol, too, in the Church of Mary Magdalene.
FLOWER OF LIFE
The ubiquity of this beautifully satisfying geometric symbol is astonishing. It appears at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in a Buddhist temple at Ajanta, India, in the Louvre and at Ephesus. It has been embroidered onto the robes of Sultans. It can be seen in Cordoba, in Marrakech, in Beijing, the Lebanon, in Egypt, and Japan. It is chiseled into wood in Holland and carved into stone in Scotland and Austria. The oldest example of the Flower of Life is believed to be 2500 years old.
The Flower of Life design is deceptively simple. It consists of a series of evenly spaced interlinking circles. As more circles are added, the pattern emerges. The design has been favored by religions, architects, and scientists alike.
Flower of Life showing Kabbalistic tree of life
Despite the seeming simplicity of the design, hidden within it are subtle complexities that have such a profound meaning for some that they believe the Flower of Life depicts the fundamental forms of time and space.
The most obvious symbols inherent within the Flower of Life are the circle, the hexagon or six-pointed star, and the vesica piscis. Furthermore, three intersecting circles alone form a Borromean Ring which is also known as the Tripod of Life symbol.
Some important symbolic sequences can be derived from manycircled versions of the design, for example Metatron’s Cube can be derived from the Flower of Life, and the five Platonic solids can then be “extracted” from Metatron’s Cube. As if these fundamental principles of sacred geometry were not enough, the Kabbalistic Tree of Life can be discerned within the Flower of Life, as can the Seed of Life.
For many, the Flower of Life is an object of mystery which may well unlock the secrets of the Universe, since they believe that it contains a record of information about all living things. The Flower of Life is used as a focus both for study and meditation.
FORKED CROSS
See Y of Pythagoras.
FRUIT OF LIFE
The Flower of Life pattern, if constructed of at least five circles down and across, holds another symbol within it. This is the Fruit of Life, formed from a six-rayed star of five circles in all directions. There are 13 circles in total. This star shape then gives the foundation for the construction of Metatron’s Cube, from which, in turn, the five Platonic solids can be made.
FU
In China, the Fu is an ancient symbol of good luck, and is still popularly used in talismans and charms. The word “Fu” sounds like the word for bat; so, by association, bats are auspicious, too, especially if they are five in number. The actual ideogram of Fu shows a God blessing a farm, which is an analogy for the Earth; the farm is split into four parts, the four parts resembling the four directions and the four elements.
FURKA
See Y of Pythagoras.
GAMMADION
The gammadion is a form of swastika, but with shorter arms, and is so called because it is constructed from four Greek “gamma” letters. This sign was widespread, appearing across Europe and through to India. Like the swastika, it is a solar symbol, and the four arms of the symbol represent all the universal objects and concepts that come in groups of four: the directions, the seasons, the elements, the solstices, and the equinoxes.
GAR
See Gungnir.
FOOD MAGIC
Every week of the year, on most continents around this planet, millions of people participate in a profoundly magical ritual whereby two very basic everyday foodstuffs, which are available in supermarkets or on stalls pretty much anywhere you care to mention around the world, have a spell cast over them by means of a sacred incantation. The person officiating over this ceremony makes symbolic gestures with his or her hands and arms. This spellbinding usually takes place in a language very few fully comprehend, a language full of secrets, and as a result these mundane objects are transformed into something as mystical, sacred, and awe-inspiring as anything you could ever imagine.
In addition, this ritual generally takes place in a building whose architecture and design has been informed by knowledge of the directions, shapes, and patterns that link the Heavens with the Earth in an arrangement of the sacred symbols which