1. Wedding Ring
The binding use of the ring for betrothal ceremonies originated in the pagan supers***ion of a man tying cords around the waist,wrists and ankles of the woman he had fallen in love with,to make sure that her spirit would be held under his control.
And there are many legends about the magic powers of finger rings. According to a popular legend,King Solomon had a ring that transported him every day at noon into the celestial sphere,where he heard the secrets of the universe. Another legend claims that Solomon had his ring set with precious stones and used it as a magic mirror in which he was able to see the reflected image of any place or person he wished. Solomon’s ring was later found and used by Jewish exorcists to drag demons out through the noses of sick people.
Until the seventeenth century astrological finger rings were very popular. These rings developed out of the belief it was important to wear rings formed of the gems and metals ***igned to each of the seven planetary gods.
There are also many stories about the healing power of finger rings. The Greek physician Galen wrote of the Egyptian king’s use of curative rings. Edward the Confessor,king of England supposedly gave a pilgrim a ring in lieu of money. The pilgrim was the the Apostle John in disguise,who returned the ring to the king,saying that he had blessed it and had given it curative powers. From that time on, up to the reign of Queen Mary I in the 16th century,on Good Friday,English kings and queens blessed and distributed rings held to be a cure for the ‘falling sickness’ (epilepsy).
2. Blessings
The word blessing comes from the term blessen,which developed from the Old English blaedsian (preserved in the Northumbrian dialect around 950 AD). It also appears in other forms,such as bledsian (before 830) and derived from Proto-Germanic word blothisojan (around 725 ),and blesian (from around 1000),all meaning to mark with blood. An ancient Pagan ritual was to make sacred or holy by a sacrificial custom in the Anglo-Saxon pagan period,originating in Germanic paganism;by making a mark with blood as a sign of sincerity.
3. Christian Fish ('The Jesus Fish')
Ichthys (Greek:ἰχθύς,capitalized ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥC),was the ancient and cl***ical word for "fish." The ichthys was adopted by early Christian as a secret symbol now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish." The fish symbol was used to mark meeting places and tombs,or to distinguish friends from foes.
In Babylonian mythology,Ichthys was the son of Atargatis the mermaid and fertility goddess of the seas. To the Babylonians the 'fish symbol' was a representation of sexuality and fertility.
The fish symbol was used by neo-pagan as a religious symbol ***ociated with the Great Mother Goddess. It was the outline of her womb. Often the image was drawn by overlapping two very thin crescent moons.