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A simple shape consisting of two intersecting arcs resembling the profile of a fish. Christians claim that they adopted this symbol because they were called to be “fishers of men” and because the Greek word for fish could be taken as an acronym for the Greek words for “Jesus Christ, God Son Savior” (ichthus = Iesous Christos Theou Uiou Soter). They also claim that the symbol could be used as a secret means of identifying one another during times of persecution (they very much enjoy the use of the martyr theme, and it is essential in that as a reactive worldview / slave morality an adversary to rebel against is required). This is unlikely, however, in that the symbol of the fish was already an extremely popular, important, and powerful pagan symbol, both in sacred geometry and in association with the goddess. Pagans both knew what it meant and knew that it had nothing to do with Jesus, and the Christians of that time would be no more able to use it as a secret means of identification than Pagans would be able to use the sign of the cross as a secret means of identification today. It is far more likely that Christians adopted the symbol in order to conquer the symbolic territory it held in the minds and hearts of the people—it was far too powerful to either allow to exist without being subjugated or to destroy. It both represents the first and last crescents of the moon (and thus the feminine cycle) and the overlapping of two circles so that the center of each is on the circ...
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