What is the Vesica Piscis?

12th century frescos in San Fedele basilica, Como (Italy). Italiano: Maria in una mandorla e un angelo: affresco del sec. XII nella Basilica di San Fedele a Como. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

THE Vesica Piscis SYMBOL AND ITS MANY MEANINGS OVER THE AGES...

There is an old symbol, older than Christianity, beyond Rome, Greece and Mesopotamia.

It is known as the Vesica Piscis symbol.

Latin translation calls it the fish bladder. But don't be detoured by this name. Looking like two circles overlapping one another, it has been called the symbol of the 'fish' (because it is shaped like one where the circles overlap) or 'the eye of God,' because it looks like the shape of an eye, as well. Eye of Horus, along with many other myths and legends the world over.

The Vesica Piscis is easily one of the most profound geometrical images of ancient and modern times. It is, for example, considered to be an integral part of the Ark of the Covenant, as described and shown figuratively by ka-gold's version of the Vesica Piscis.

Christ in majesty within a mandorla-shaped aureola, surrounded by emblems of the evangelists (13th century) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the Vesica Piscis is viewed horizontally, however, the mandorla becomes a different sort of passage: the birth passage. 

The pointed oval is a universal symbol of the Divine Feminine, and in this context the Vesica Piscis is the vulva of the Goddess, surrounded by the crescents of the waxing and waning moon. 

The mandorla as birth passage can easily be seen on the sheila-na-gig figures found on Irish churches, and in the squatting figures of the Hindu goddess Kali. 

English: Cover of the Chalice Well, Glastonbury, Sommerset. The design depicts the Vescia Piscis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Almonds are a primeval fertility symbol, and as such are associated with the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her transgendered consort, Attis, and the Greek nymph Phyllis, who was metamorphosed into an almond tree. Fish, too, play a significant part in the lives of goddesses from many cultures. 

"Delphos" translates from Greek as both "womb" and "dolphin." The Chinese Great Mother Kwan -Yin often appears as a fish goddess, as does Aphrodite. Kali, as the swallower of Shiva's penis, becomes Minaksi, the fish-eyed one; Isis becomes Abtu, the Great Fish of the Abyss, when she swallows the penis of Osiris.

A medieval hymn calls Jesus "the little fish in the Virgin's fountain." The Christ child is often shown inside a mandorla, superimposed over Mary's womb. 

Mary herself can be equated with the goddess Aphrodite Marina, who brought forth all the fish in the oceans; Marina's blue robe and pearl necklace, like the Christian Mary's, are classic symbols of the sea. 

On Cyprus, Mary to this day is worshiped as "Panaghia Aphroditessa." 

The connections are many: the Vesica Piscis illumines the common heritage of Christianity and the Goddess traditions it absorbed, traditions it would later vilify and all but destroy.



Essentially the intersection of two, overlapping spheres, the Vesica Piscis (including the interior portion of it, and/or the more common two dimensional version) represents, among other things:

• The joining of God and Goddess to create an offspring.

• A symbol for Jesus Christ.

• In art a pointed oval used as an aureole in medieval sculpture and painting.

• The uterus of the female goddess (or Mother Mary's womb).

• The basic motif in the Flower of Life.

• An overlay of the Tree of Life.

• The formative power of polygons in mathematics.

• A geometrical description of square roots and harmonic proportions.

• A source of immense power and energy.

The Pythagoreans used this symbol as a secret sign to recognize each other. It represents the number five, and life, power and invulnerability. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As such, it is also a doorway or portal between worlds, and symbolizes the intersection between the heaven and the material plane. The shape of arches in gothic architecture is based on the vesica.

English: Four is the first number formed by the addition and multiplication of equals. To the Pythagoreans this symbol and number represented justice as it is the first number that is divisible every way into equal parts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The shape of the Vesica Piscis is derived from the intersection of two circles, the Pythagorean "measure of the fish" that was a mystical symbol of the intersection of the world of the divine with the world of matter and the beginning of creation.

To the Pythagoreans, the whole of creation was based on number, and by studying the properties of number, they believed one could achieve spiritual liberation. 

Enclosing the greater area with the smallest perimeterm, the triangle, derived from the vesica piscis, the Triad was considered by the Pythagoreans most beautiful number, as it is the only number to equal the sum of all the terms below it, and the only number whose sum with those below equals their product. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Vesica Piscis was the symbol of the first manifestation, the dyad that gives birth to the entire manifest universe. Within the Vesica can be found the triangle, the tetrad, the square, the pentacle, and many more polygons, making the Vesica a true symbolic womb.

The shape of the Vesica Piscis is derived from the intersection of two circles, the Pythagorean "measure of the fish" that was a mystical symbol of the intersection of the world of the divine with the world of matter and the beginning of creation. The Vesica Piscis is used in a wide range of symbolism.

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The Latin term Vesica Piscis, meaning "Vessel of the Fish" is the most basic and important construction in Sacred Geometry.

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A Vesica is formed when the circumference of two identical circles each pass through the center of the other.

When a Vesica Piscis is viewed horizontally, it looks like a vagina or a womb which is why the Christ child was often pictured inside of one.

When the Vesica Piscis is viewed vertically it looks like the shape of a fish.

Amazingly, the above two Vesica Piscis each have a horizontal axis equal in length to the gematria value of the Greek word for "fishes."

The Vesica Piscis is an ancient symbol used in Pagan culture, Christian symbolism and sacred geometry, as well as various other belief systems. This enduring symbol is so old that I would suggest it was 'born' during the age of Lemuria, the first world upon Earth, eons ago.

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JEWS are intellectual wise men from anywhere in the world, they are not a culture on country

The renaissance flowered because of the HERMETICA.

Divine providence has caused books to fall into my hands.  This was said 500 years ago.

Images @ Eminpee Fotography