The Heart - a symbol of love and compassion
The Wheel - a symbol of weddings
Wavy and/or Curved Lines and Dots - were related to spring, good things, fertility and new beginnings.
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| Motifs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 8- Pointed Star was probably the most popular because of all the beliefs connected with it. People believed that with every birth a star is born and with that persons death the star would also die. They believed that there were as many stars in the sky as there were people. One should never point at his star because it might stop shining. When you see a falling star it meant someone had died. Many bright stars on certain holidays foretold of an abundance of crops, cattle, chickens and other things. A star must always have an even number of points; an odd number meant death. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Butterfly - was connected with the belief in reincarnation. Good people were believed to come back as some birds, small beasts and butterflies; bad people as black birds and animals. One should never kill a butterfly because it might be your great-grandfather. Mothers were said to have sent their children out on Good Friday to try to catch a butterfly and if they could they would become invisible. To see a white butterfly on Good Friday meant a death in the family. A yellow or blue one meant sorrow, and in Moravia, one with eyes on its wings meant happiness. With Christianity it became a symbol of Christ's resurrection. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rosemary - was a symbol of marriage, long life, happiness and prosperity. The Heart - a symbol of love and compassion The Wheel - a symbol of weddings Wavy and/or Curved Lines and Dots - were related to spring, good things, fertility and new beginnings. |
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| The Rake and Comb Design was for the burying of winter and the coming of spring, of cleaning the house and preparing the soil, a beginning which was full of promise. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Falcon Eye, Snake and Ram's Horn - were for protection. The snake was the symbol of the husband of the household and its protector. It was said "the white snake hides in the wall of the house closest to where the husband sleeps, and was its protector." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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