Category: Symbols

The symbolism of the Sacred Center and the Omphalos

The figure of the Sacred Center is as old as human beings. Since the earliest forms of symbolic knowledge, it has expressed the place of divine encounter, the space where the transcendent manifests itself. It has a centre because it represents the principle from which all things were generated. Furthermore, it is sacred as a…
Lucca Cathedral, an extraordinary labyrinth of mysteries

During the Middle Ages, Lucca was a city with a great tradition of worship, located in the heart of the Via Francigena. Pilgrims on their way to Rome stopped there for refreshment and to pray at the presence of the Holy Face. This is a wooden crucifix that tradition says Nicodemus carved by divine inspiration.…
The Wheel of Fortune, Medieval symbology

Throughout human history the wheel is symbol of the vital cycles of the cosmos and nature. It has had a constant and revelatory presence. The idea of a continuous return, of a cyclical time that regenerates everything, seems entrenched in the beliefs of a metaphysical order from the earliest times. Some examples are the ancient…
The Solomon’s Knot: a symbol of eternal union

Two rings intertwined with each other, a metaphor for an eternal bond before the changing of all things. This is the meaning of Solomon’s knot, a symbol with great expressive power and ancient origins. We find it as a decorative motif in different cultural contexts, in distant worlds ideally connected by its presence. Solomon’s knot…
The Merels Board

An engraving found in a wall of a Romanesque cloister, on an ancient plaster or in the pavement of a square, what can it tell us? Certainly much more than appearances suggest. It is not just a worn graffiti or a sign left absent-mindedly along the road. There is an arcane and fascinating world that…