What's the significance of the fish symbol?
By AtheistDad
of AtheistParents.org
Fishers of men. Loaves and fishes multiplied. These are the things
Christians most frequently associate with the fish symbol. For them, it is a symbol of religious activism and of miracles. Once upon a time, Christians used the symbol to identify one another. Two strangers would meet. One, if he were a Christian, would draw an arc in the dirt. If the other reflected the arc -- forming the fish symbol -- the strangers knew they had a kinship. You might think of it as the precursor to gang hand signs or fraternity handshakes. To the Christian, a plastic fish stuck on the trunk of a car is a badge of honor, an affirmation of faith, or at least a pretense of faithfulness. To most of us under the influence of Judeo-Christian culture, the fish symbol seems about as fundamental to Christianity as does Christ his blessed self.
But history has something else to say about that. The symbol dates possibly as far back as the sixth millennium B.C.E. to a group of hunters and fishers found in the Danube River Basin. For them, the fish may have been an icon representing a female deity. The symbol has been associated with various gods in other mythologies.
What is most interesting for our purposes is that this fishy deity has often signified fertility and, more specifically, the vulva itself. A group in India believed, for example, that fish contained dead souls and that by eating such a fish, you would promote fertility in yourself and open the doorway for the dead soul to be reincarnated in the child this new fertility will bring you. In ancient Greek, the words for "fish" and "womb" were the same.
So you can see why the older history of the symbol suits the purposes of a site about the rearing of children. Of course, it's also a little fun to get in our own little jab at Christians by appropriating a symbol they appropriated from someone else.
The facts presented in this article come entirely from an article entitled "True Origin of Christian 'FISH' Symbol Might Outrage, Shock Jesus Worshippers" posted at the American Atheists website. To read this and other sites related to fishy issues, check out the fish section of our links page.
By AtheistDad
of AtheistParents.org
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But history has something else to say about that. The symbol dates possibly as far back as the sixth millennium B.C.E. to a group of hunters and fishers found in the Danube River Basin. For them, the fish may have been an icon representing a female deity. The symbol has been associated with various gods in other mythologies.
What is most interesting for our purposes is that this fishy deity has often signified fertility and, more specifically, the vulva itself. A group in India believed, for example, that fish contained dead souls and that by eating such a fish, you would promote fertility in yourself and open the doorway for the dead soul to be reincarnated in the child this new fertility will bring you. In ancient Greek, the words for "fish" and "womb" were the same.
So you can see why the older history of the symbol suits the purposes of a site about the rearing of children. Of course, it's also a little fun to get in our own little jab at Christians by appropriating a symbol they appropriated from someone else.
The facts presented in this article come entirely from an article entitled "True Origin of Christian 'FISH' Symbol Might Outrage, Shock Jesus Worshippers" posted at the American Atheists website. To read this and other sites related to fishy issues, check out the fish section of our links page.
August 11, 2000