Eight-pointed star: the meaning of the symbol in Orthodoxy, Islam

/ Amulets / Eight-pointed star in the religions of the world

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Among the many symbols that perform a protective function, there are those that are present in several religions. Among such signs, the eight-pointed star especially stands out. The mystical meaning of the symbol is closely related to numerology and ancient religions.

Eight-pointed star in world religions

General meaning of the symbol

The eight-pointed star has another name - an octogram. Its meaning is deciphered as the combination of the spiritual and material into one whole. There is also a close connection with numerology, in which the number 8 (by the number of rays) symbolizes the embodiment of infinity, the constant movement of energy throughout the Universe. The previous number - 7 - denotes death, the completion of processes, while 8 represents symbolic rebirth, resurrection. The eight-pointed symbol signifies the unification of higher energies and divine embodiment.

In the structure of the star pattern you can see 2 crosses superimposed on one another. The cross is a symbol of the equality of all elements that make up the real and invisible part of the Universe. The combination of all the meanings of the sign is reflected in various religious movements and in the occult.

The image is used on icons, implements, holy books and amulets. In many countries it is present in the design of the order of military or public merit.

Homeland of the plant

Poinsettia today is distributed throughout the world, but Mexico is still considered its homeland. There it has completely different sizes and appearance. In its homeland, the plant is not considered a flower - it is a bush.

Poinsettia in nature

Under natural conditions, this plant reaches 1.5-4 meters, the branches below are thick and hollow, and its leaves can be up to 15 cm. Most of the year the bush has a completely ugly appearance, these are just bare branches.

Poinsettia grows under trees, which with their large branches create shade and keep the soil moist for a long time, but also thrives in bright light. Flowering, as at home, occurs in December and February.

Star in Islam

Muslim beliefs also use the eight-pointed star sign in Islam's holiest book, the Koran. It is depicted as 2 squares superimposed on each other and is called rub al-hizb. This sign is also found on the flags and coats of arms of some Asian countries.

In Turkmenistan, many modern buildings are built in the form of rub al-hizb. In other countries, the image of a star is used in ornaments. In such cases, it denotes the throne of Allah, which governs the entire sublunary world and stands on the shoulders of 8 powerful angels. So in Islam, higher powers indicate the 8 main cardinal directions and the same number of groups of letters in the alphabet. The stars are used to designate the promised paradise, where the soul ends up after 7 earthly incarnations.

Bethlehem icon meaning and what it helps with

One of the revered icons of Orthodoxy is the Bethlehem Icon of the Mother of God. This image of the Virgin Mary has a little history. Some historians believe that this image was painted in ancient Rus'. There is also an opinion that it was written by the prophet icon painter Luke during the life of the Virgin Mary. It is for this reason that it is believed that this image shows as accurately as possible what the Virgin Mary looked like during her lifetime.

Back in 463, the Scythians tried to capture Constantinople. In order to enlist the support of the Lord and gain success in the intercession of the city, the Emperor’s wife brought an icon of the Mother of God of Bethlehem. Thanks to prayers and faith, the city was defended and not given to the Scythians.

This was the first miracle created in a holy image. Since then, the miracles created by the face of the Mother of God have not stopped. Everyone who comes to him with prayer finds success in business and all kinds of help.

The meaning of the Bethlehem icon

The Bethlehem icon of the Mother of God is of great importance for Orthodox believers. Since ancient times and to this day, it has been located in the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The holy image is located a few meters on the right side of the descent into the cave, which is called “The Nativity of Christ”.

On the Bethlehem icon, the Virgin Mary is depicted with the Child in her arms, who has an orb in her left hand. She is a symbol of royal power. With his right hand He blesses all those praying in front of the image. In turn, the Mother of God points to the Savior as the right path in life.

That is why She is the Guide from sin to salvation. It leads us to faith in Christ.

Today, many believing pilgrims from all over the world come to Bethlehem to pray before the icon. It should be noted that she is very revered in the house of the Lord. And only once, at the request of the Ukrainian church, she left the holy place in Bethlehem. It was in 2010 that the icon was brought to Kyiv for Easter along with the Holy Fire, so that the Orthodox believers of the capital of Ukraine could bow before it.

Icon Veneration Day

Like any holy image, the Bethlehem Icon of the Mother of God also has its own celebration date. On this day, many pilgrims visit and pray there. Since it is believed that it is on the day of veneration of the image that the prayer offered in front of it has the greatest power. According to the new style, the day of celebration falls on August 28, according to the old style it is August 15.

What do people pray for to the icon of the Mother of God of Bethlehem?

Many Orthodox believers come to the miraculous icon to pray for blessings, tranquility, and peace. They also pray to her with the request:

about conceiving children,
about the welfare of children,
about family happiness,
about harmony in relationships,
about children's health,
about healing from serious illnesses and illnesses,
about protecting the family from “evil tongues.”

It is believed that the Mother of God is the main intercessor before God, so prayer to her is very strong. Through prayer to her, the Lord hears us and helps us. The main thing is that it comes sincerely from the heart. Because those people who do not believe in God are not able to experience the miraculous power of prayer to the Holy Image.

Prayer to the Bethlehem Icon of the Mother of God:

I sing Thy grace, O Lady, I pray to Thee, my mind is filled with grace. Go right and instruct me in the path of Christ’s commandments. Strengthen your children to song, driving away despondency and sleep. Bound by the captivity of the Falls, allow me through Your prayers, Bride of God.

Preserve me in the night and in the day, delivering me to those who fight against the enemy. She who gave birth to God, the life-giver, was killed by my passions and revived. Who gave birth to the non-evening light, enlighten my blind soul. O wondrous Lady of the Palace, create for me the house of the Divine Spirit. You who gave birth to a doctor, heal my soul of many years of passion.

Worried by the storm of life, guide me towards the path of repentance. Deliver me from eternal fire, and from evil worms, and from tartar. Do not show me joy as a demon, who is guilty of many sins. Create me again, having promised to be insensible, Immaculate, without sin. Show me the strangeness of all kinds of torment, and implore the Lord to all. Heavenly grant me joy, with all the saints.

Most Holy Virgin, hear the voice of Your indecent servant. Give me a stream of tears, Most Pure One, cleansing the filth of my soul. I bring groans from my heart to You continually, be zealous to the Lady. Accept my prayer service and bring it to the blessed God. Transcending Angel, create me above the fusion of the world.

Light-bearing heavenly Seine, direct spiritual grace in me. I lift up my hand and my lips to praise, defiled by filth, O All-Immaculate One. Deliver me from the dirty tricks that are strangling me, diligently beseeching Christ, to whom honor and worship are due, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

May the Lord protect you!

You will be interested in watching the video akathist at the Bethlehem icon:

Star in Orthodoxy

Orthodox Christians revere the eight-pointed star - the embodiment of the Star of Bethlehem. At the beginning of Christianity, this sign had four and five rays, and at times it was depicted with fourteen rays. At the moment, the eight-pointed star in Orthodoxy is a divine symbol, imprinted on many icons and church utensils.

According to legends, the Star of Bethlehem showed the wise men and the whole world the path along which they could find the newborn Son of God. The seven rays of this sign mean 7 days, during which God of Hosts created the world, and the eighth ray means the eighth day, which will bring rebirth and heavenly life to all things.

The star of Bethlehem became a symbol of the coming of new life, as well as the Virgin Mary, who dedicated herself to her child. On many icons in Orthodoxy, she is depicted inside an octogram, and on the veil covering the head of the Virgin Mary, eight-pointed symbols are indicated on the forehead and shoulders. The sign is also actively used at Christmas; it is worn by carol singers who visit all the houses in the locality.

History of the Star of Bethlehem

The first image of the holy sign was five-pointed, according to the number of wounds on the body of Christ. Five denoted the main sense organs and symbolized the human essence of the Savior. The number of rays did not change until the Middle Ages. With the development of Satanism, cult members began to use the symbol for their own purposes, thereby desecrating the Lord God. So, by the end of the 15th century, the star became six-rayed.

In Rus', the eight-pointed figure was used even before Epiphany. It was worn by magicians, depicting the corresponding planet next to each ray. The pagans endowed the sign with the divine power inherent in the main idol, and placed it on various household items or military banners. With the advent of Christianity, the Star of Bethlehem acquired a completely different meaning, because now it was associated with the Nativity of Christ.

The Star of Bethlehem was associated with the Nativity of Christ

Star in other religions

Strong amulet

In ancient religions and some modern narrowly popular beliefs, the eight-pointed star is seen as one of the key symbols. It has a similar image and interpretation, a mystical meaning often associated with astronomy. The use of the octogram symbol is seen in the following religious directions:

In Ancient Babylon, a sign inscribed in a circle symbolized the essence of the goddess Ishtar. She was often compared to the Greek Aphrodite or Roman Venus, because Ishtar was the patroness of the planet Venus. Her obligation was to bring love and sexual desire to people, as well as regulate the fertility of humanity and the earth, and conduct military operations.
In Egypt during the era of the pharaohs, the pantheon of gods consisted of 8 deities: 4 women and 4 men. They breathed life into this world and themselves became its balance. Such a unified force ruled the universe through the hands of rulers. The meaning of the eight-pointed star as a combination of the powers of higher powers later passed on to other religions.
The Slavs used the solar sign to embody the symbol of the goddess Lada - the patroness of love and family. The octogram, which is enclosed in a circle, had a narrow meaning: the fire of a home, comfort, safety - and a broad one: a sign of a future incarnation, and later - sunlight. The Slavs applied it to clothing and weapons for protective purposes and as a guarantee of returning home from the war.
Hinduism sees the eight-pointed star as the embodiment of the gifts of the goddess Lakshmi. This celestial goddess is depicted in the center of 2 overlapping squares, the corners of which represent the 8 riches of the goddess. Lakshmi gives people money, travel, luck and prosperity, victories, patience, health and food, wisdom, family.
Buddhism uses an eight-pointed sign inscribed in a circle, which symbolizes the Buddhist symbol of the “wheel of dharma”. It depicts the Buddha's teaching on the 8 basic human virtues that should always be right: outlook, intention, speech, behavior, lifestyle, effort, remembering, concentration. When the wheel of dharma turns, it rids a person of unnecessary attachments and passions that make him suffer.
In occultism, a star is depicted with rays that are eight directions from the central part. This is a symbol of chaos, which is constantly in motion, has powerful force and endless energy. It was invented by the English science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, but became popular in magical practice. Often the sign of chaos is worn as a pendant on a chain. They believe that it concentrates a person on goals, helps increase self-confidence, and controls chaos in thoughts and actions.

Is it possible to keep poinsettia at home?

The question of whether it is possible to keep a Christmas flower at home worries many, especially those who have small children.
And those who keep animals at home are no less concerned about this issue. Let's remember that this plant belongs to the Molochev genus. Their peculiarity is that they are filled with white juice very similar to milk. It is released when leaves are broken off or cuttings are cut.

There is an opinion that the juice is very poisonous. If we consider this feature from the point of view of lethal cases, then after studying a large amount of information, except for the phrase that lethal outcomes are rare, I did not find a single specific example of a fatal case. The Aztecs, for example, gave the juice of this plant to nursing women who had little or no milk. The first milk that appeared was strictly forbidden to give to the baby, as it could cause diarrhea.

One thing I can say for sure is that you can get severe upset and even poisoning from the milky juice of poinsettia, so in homes where there are children and animals, it is better to place the flower in a place inaccessible to them. If it happens that the plant gets into the child’s mouth, be sure to rinse the cavity thoroughly. If juice gets into the stomach, rinse it and consult a doctor.

Poinsettia and allergies

Can a Christmas flower cause allergies? Definitely yes. In this case, allergies manifest themselves in the form of irritation or burns not only of the skin, but also of the mucous membranes. People who are allergic to latex should be especially wary of punchetia juice. Therefore, if you pick leaves or do pruning, perform these tasks with gloves. And it would also be a good idea to wash your hands afterwards so that the juice does not get into your eyes or mouth through your hands.

Eight-pointed tattoos

Body designs depicting an eight-pointed star are popular in the criminal world. They are applied to the skin of people who have already been to the zone. The symbolism of such drawings depends on the style of the image and the elements accompanying the main canvas.

The star is most often placed on the shoulders or under the collarbones, on the knees. This is how a person reveals his disagreement with the rules of the zone, acts as a criminal authority, symbolically showing that he will never kneel before anyone.

There are other interpretations of tattoos:

the skull and bones inside the star show that a person considers the zone to be his home, is inclined to believe that everyone is doing it for him, and he owes nothing to anyone;
an eight-pointed star lined with lines means that its owner was previously in the army, gave up military affairs and went into crime, now he despises his original activity;
the symbolism of the combination of a skull and a swastika inside a star means that a person was born and lives freely, according to his own rules and laws;
the image of the king inside the sign reveals an adherent of monarchical political views.

What is the name of the Christmas flower?

This is one of the few plants that has several names. The main one was assigned to the flower by scientists and other ordinary people, associating it with the Christmas holidays, when it is especially beautiful.

The official name of this flower is Euphorbia pulcherrima or Euphorbia pulcherrima. It doesn’t sound very good, of course, a little like weeds. However, its second name is more spectacular - poinsettia. It is under this name that it is sold in flower shops.

Lovers of this beauty went even further and came up with more elegant names for it - Christmas Star, Christmas Flower, Star of Bethlehem. Many people confuse it with Rozhdestvennik, but this is a completely different plant, I will definitely tell you about it too.

What does poinsettia symbolize?

The first admirers of poinsettia were the Aztecs. For them, it symbolized purity and served as an integral part of all their rituals. They believed in the legend of a beautiful goddess and an unhappy love that tore her heart apart. Where drops of blood fell, amazing flowers were born with red leaves - bracts resembling a star.

Later, somewhere in the 16th century, another legend appeared, which said that small children really dreamed of decorating the temple for Christmas. To do this, they broke the branches of the roadside bush, because they did not have money for decoration. The children believed that they would bring the Lord a lot of joy by decorating the temple with plants collected with such love and warmth. The children came to the temple with these bouquets, and the moment they crossed its threshold, the flowers shone with green and red lights, like stars. Since then, every year at Christmas, the poinsettia turns red and looks like the Star of Bethlehem, which announced the birth of the Savior.

The plant was named poinsettia in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first American minister to Mexico. Seeing this gorgeous bush with red petals and, being a great lover of botany, he took cuttings of the Christmas flower and sent them to his homeland for study and cultivation. The Star of Bethlehem fell in love and took root in America. By the way, the name Christmas Star was born there.

But at first, only a select few could admire this beauty, until one day a gardener named Paul Ecke came up with the idea of growing shrubs in his garden, and on the eve of Christmas selling the cut branches in bouquets and then in pots. Sales of the Christmas Star broke all records; the only flower to which it was inferior was tulips.

Signs and superstitions

What are signs - conjectures, inventions or observations - we will not find out now. Perhaps this is just an attempt to explain something that is happening that is incomprehensible to us. Poinsettia was no exception to the emergence of new signs and superstitions. Here are some of them:

If you bought and brought the Star of Bethlehem into your house and it very quickly, within a few days, turned yellow and withered, this means that the family is under the evil eye or damage; the Christmas plant is very sensitive to black magic and negative energy.
This flower is good to keep in the bedroom. It is believed that it helps to quickly acquire offspring, brings happiness to married couples, eliminates quarrels and protects against betrayal. It makes women sexy and attractive. It binds men to their wives, freeing them from lustful thoughts.
If a guy gave his girlfriend a poinsettia, and it suddenly withered, it’s worth thinking about whether everything is good in this relationship, remember, the plant senses negative energy.
When it happens that your pet has chewed a Christmas flower located in one of your rooms, this is a sign that it does not belong in this room and needs to be moved.
If the Star of Bethlehem blooms and runs wild, it means everything is wonderful in your home. Home energy is quite conducive to its flowering.