The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols. Adele Nozedar

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      These days, the corn dolly generally gathers dust in gift shops, an innocuous souvenir for tourists in rural areas, particularly in the United Kingdom. However, its origins as a powerful magical symbol go back thousands of years to pre-Christian times. It may come as a surprise that the corn dolly hanging on the kitchen wall can trace its roots back to a particularly bloody ritual.

      In any agrarian culture, the success of the crop is all-important and in Northern Europe the harvest produce was essential to survival during the winter period. It was the generally held belief that the spirit of the harvest—in this case, the versatile grain crop—resided in the plant, and once the plant was cut down then the spirit effectively became homeless. In order to provide a new home for this spirit, the farmers made a corn dolly from the very last stalks of the crop. The dolly would spend her time indoors over the winter, waiting to be ploughed back into the ground at the start of the new season. In places where the corn dolly custom was not established, the last few stalks of corn were violently beaten into the ground, thus driving the spirit back into the Earth.

      The dolly was made into the shape of an old woman, representing the Crone aspect of the Harvest Goddess. She was drenched in water as a further propitiation to the Gods and to ensure that plenty of rain would feed the harvest to come. Different areas had different styles of corn dollies.

      However, the custom of preserving the spirit of the harvest was not always carried out in such a genteel way. The Phrygians, who lived in central Asia Minor and worshipped the Mother of the Gods, Cybele, carried out a different sort of ceremony. Their “corn dolly” was formed from thickly plaited sheaves of corn formed into a tall column. Any stranger found in the vicinity was captured in the belief that his presence there would mean that the spirit of the harvest had possessed his body and caused him to wander into the area. The hapless stranger was then trapped within this cage of corn and then beheaded in the belief that the blood that fell upon the ground contained the valuable “soul” of the crop.

      CORNICELLO

      An amulet designed to protect the wearer, the cornicello features the effigy of the horn, is made of horn, or is horn-shaped. “Cornicello” comes from an Italian word meaning “little horn.”

      CORNUCOPIA

      Also called the Horn of Plenty, the cornucopia is often depicted in paintings and on friezes where it symbolizes the notion of boundless abundance, as flowers, fruits, sheaves of wheat, and other produce spill out of a hollow horn or a twisting basket woven in the shape of the horn. The origin of the cornucopia is found in the Greek myth of Amalthea. Amalthea fed the infant Zeus a drink of goat’s milk and was given the brimming goat’s horn as a reward. Sometimes the infant Zeus is depicted being fed the milk from the horn itself. The Cornucopia, as a symbol of a bounteous harvest, is also associated with Ceres, the Goddess of corn, and also with Fortuna, Goddess of good fortune.

      The idea of a bottomless, bounteous container has similarities to the symbol of the cauldron.

      COSMIC EGG

      See Egg.

      COSMOGRAM

      This is a flat graphic symbol that represents the cosmos, and is often used as a meditative focus. The mandala is a cosmogram, as are the elaborate depictions of tortoises holding up the planet.

      Cosmograms commonly feature the most basic shapes of the circle (representing the planet, and unity) and the square (the Earth and the directions).

      COWRIE SHELL

      More than any other shell, the cowrie has a marked resemblance to the female genitalia or yoni. Because of the ancient idea of the Doctrine of Signatures, the shell is therefore endowed with magical powers of fertility, good luck, and wealth. Originating from the Malaysian area, cowrie shells were used as currency for some time. Their use in decorative masks, headdresses, and other items was widespread, where it had the new addition of being a status symbol because of its use as small change.

      The cowrie also represents another body part: the eye. Therefore, along with other objects from the natural world that have a similar appearance, the cowrie is considered to protect against evil.

      CRESCENT MOON AND STAR

      The crescent Moon is possibly the most distinctive Moon symbol; it shows the changing shape of the Moon and also the return to the same shape. Like the Moon, it is connected to the female principle and the element СКАЧАТЬ