Skulls are ubiquitous. You can meet these eerie images in centuries-old paintings and on the pages of ancient books, in memento mori jewelry and military insignia, on the walls of religious structures and hermit’s household items, the list can go on and on. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that skulls found their way into popular culture, too. From women’s bags to tattoos, it seems like every self-respecting fashionista ought to flaunt some sort of skull.
If you’re one of those who have skulls in their fashion arsenal (or considering introducing them), wouldn’t it be nice to learn more about their origin and meaning? If you answered yes, then this post is exactly the right thing. Go ahead and learn what skulls stand for, as well as get to know many cool skull rings at Bikerringshop.com.
Life, Death, and Everything in Between
A skull is as old as the hills. Throughout its long history, it has acquired a slew of meanings, and at times, some of these meanings contradict each other.
What are your first thoughts when you look at skulls? Danger, fear, death? If so, you are not alone because this symbol has long been associated with something harmful and hostile. For example, the skull and crossbones are featured on the infamous Jolly Roger flag. A few centuries ago, if you happened to catch a glimpse of this symbol on the high seas, it did not bode well.
Or let’s talk about the symbol of poison. Even a child knows that a bottle labeled with the skull and crossbones is not pirate rum. A traditional symbol of hazard and poisonous substances is rarely used today – modern chemists prefer a diamond-shaped image with numbers indicating both toxicity and flammability. Nevertheless, the symbol of the skull and crossbones still represents a fearsome warning.
The meanings of death and life often go hand in hand, and things are no different when it comes to skulls. In fact, the significance of life and resurrection inherent in skulls is even more ancient. When our ancestors discovered that the only thing that remains after the death of a person is their bones and skull, they endowed them with magical properties. People of the Stone and Bronze Ages revered the skulls of the dead as amulets and receptacles of special energy. For them, skulls became objects of worship.
To make such an object out of the skull, people of the past treated them with herbal decoctions, polished them, covered with carvings or leather, covered them with gold and silver, etc. After that, the skulls were placed in ancestral tombs and sacred places in order to ensure protection against diseases, death, crop failures, the loss of livestock, female infertility, and other misfortunes. Only the skulls of respected members of a tribe, as well as the skulls of ancestors, were endowed with protective meanings. They were installed in makeshift altars inside dwellings. It was also customary to bury a skull in a field to ensure a good harvest and protect the land from drought.
Pagan tribes around the world believed that it was the head (that is, the skull) that contained all the important qualities and traits of an individual. Therefore, it was a great honor for warriors to get the skull of their enemies. If they succeeded, they turned them into bowls. Drinking from such a bowl meant taking the strength and valor of the defeated one.
Symbols of Gods
In later times, the worship of the skull took on more complex forms. With the advent of religions, skulls started being associated with deities.
Astarte (Ishtar), the Phoenician goddess of the moon, nature, motherhood, harvest, and abundance, was sometimes depicted standing on a pile of skulls. This made an emphasis on her connection with the underworld and symbolized the source of life.
In the drawings of ancient Egyptians, Isis, the wife of the god Osiris, stands next to skulls and seems to be talking to them.
Athena, one of the most revered Olympic goddesses, was a patroness of wisdom and law, as well as a personification of the knowledge that underlies the universe. She was born from the head of Zeus, on her shield carried the head of the Gorgon Medusa.
The Scandinavian thunderer Thor wore a ring depicting, among other things, a skull. It was extremely common for Vikings to create patterns featuring bearded dead heads of their ancestors. Those who kneeled before them could count on predictions and advice.
The Celts revered skulls as the receptacles of the soul, the very essence of being. They believed that the head, even after the death of the body, can continue living and eventually become a deity of its own.
The ancient Slavic god of the sun and fertility, Yarilo, holds a skull in one of his hands. For the pagan Slavs, the dead head was an amulet against evil spirits and diseases. They would put skulls on stakes around their dwellings and even take them to bed.
Christianity could not avoid the impact of skulls either. The traditional Christian crucifix, in addition to the figure of the Savior, features a skull. Located at the bottom of the cross, it denotes Adam, whose sins were washed away with Jesus’ blood.
