Religious symbols

In religious practice the symbol is said to have the function of representing a reality, truth or dogma, with the nature of disclosing its meaning immediately, or gradually, or only if some condition is met, e.g. the disclosure or apperception of a symbol considered to be previous in a sequence of degrees of importance. Religious symbols may range from an object conceived to be identical physically (in whole or in part) or identical essentially with what is represented; through stages of less and less immediacy passing through the modes of sign and symbol to mere allusive reference. The preeminent behavioural religious symbols are generally the sacred rites and liturgies of divine invocation as they are enacted with symbolic gestures, utterances, steps or dance, music, orientation, and other ritual. In ancient Judaism such symbolism included the Temple service, the Passover circumcision and bar-mitzvah. In the pre-Reformation Church, the Mass and its Eucharist were paramount, but both Judaism and Christianity anciently had a priesthood which observed a sacred year filled with holy days and with symbolic rites of almost limitless variety, for everything from breaking bread to stoning or burning heretics. Mardi gras and carnival, Lent and Easter, Advent and Christmas remain major Christian symbols. Religious symbolic artifacts include holy books (Torah, Gospels, Koran, Vedas, Upanishads, Tantras, Sutras, Talmud, New Testament, Hadith, Logia, Books of the Dead, Corpus Hermitium, Desatir, I Ching, etc); altar implements including daggers and cutting knives, tongs and bells and such utensils as pertain to animal slaughter such as cups to hold blood; and torches or candelabra to give light. Pitchers and other vessels for ritual water, beverages and foods are also represented. All such articles whether functional or not have symbolic connotations. Beside altar objects the second most important class of symbolic religious artifacts are those that are pictorial. These include sculpture and bas-relief but are predominantly two-dimensional. Their expression has been in mural, mosaic and painting, with one of the characteristic forms being the icon. Extending the meaning of icon to any pictorial formalized treatment of a limited number of Christian subjects one might cites as examples of symbolic illustration of the Gospels: the Tree of Jesse (Infancy according to Luke); the Baptism, with the Holy Spirit symbolized as a dove descending (as in John); and the four Evangelists themselves: Matthew symbolized by a man, Mark by a lion, Luke by an ox, and John by an eagle. Other symbolic iconic images show Christ as lamb, pelican or phoenix.

Most religious symbols are commemorative or didactic. They are addressed to the mind of the worshipper, to cause it to recall the founder of their religion, its saints, and its dogmas of punishment and reward. Some religious symbols are designed to awe, to induce a sense of mystery and in some way, convey the essence of the idea of holiness.