Designed to resemble the eye of a falcon, this symbol is called the Eye of Ra or Eye of Horus which represents the right eye of the Egyptian Falcon God Horus. As the udjat (or utchat), it represented the sun, and was associated with the Sun God Ra (Re). The mirror image, or left eye, represented the moon, and the God Tehuti (Thoth). (A very similar concept of the sun and moon as eyes appears in many religious traditions, such as the Celtic tale of the hand of Nuada.)
According to legend, the left eye was torn from Horus by his murderous brother Seth (Set), and magically restored by Thoth, the God of magick. After the restoration, some stories state, Horus made a gift of the eye to Osiris, which allowed this solar deity to rule the underworld. The story of this injury is probably an allusion to the phases of the moon as the eye which is “torn out” every month. Together, the eyes represent the whole of the universe, a concept similar to that of the Taoist Yin-yang symbol. Spiritually, the right eye reflects solar, masculine energy, as well as reason and mathematics. The left eye reflects fluid, feminine, lunar energy, and rules intuition and magick. Together, they represent the combined,transcendent power of Horus. The Eye of Horus was believed to have healing and protective power, and it was used as a protective amulet, and as a medical measuring device, using the mathematical proportions of the eye to determine the proportions of ingredients in medical preparations) to prepare medications. The Masonic all seeing eye, the Eye of Providence symbol found on American money, and our modern Rx pharmaceutical symbol are all descended from the Eye of Horus.
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Get the Eye of Horus mug.Sequence of change, impermanence, the cycle of rebirth-redeath that afflicts every living being until release (Moksha).
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Get the Samsara mug.Though not a primary weapon of the Ninja, nunchakus (also known as "nunchucks") were used because they could be adapted for many situations. Aside from being easy to carry, the nunchakus were used to defend against most any weapon from a bo to a sword. By trapping the blade of a sword with the chain between the two sticks, a Ninja could entangle and disarm a sword-weilding attacker.
The same concept applies to almost every other weapon. The nunchakus were not just used for defense, they could also be effectively employed against an enemy in an offensive way. The Ninja could strangle an opponent or even execute joint locks with the chain or cord between the two sticks.
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Get the Nunchakus mug.Adhan is the Islamic ritual call to prayer. It was explained to Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) as "music for God." Stevens said, "I thought, music for God? I’d never heard that before. I’d heard of music for money, music for fame, music for personal power, but music for God!" Adhan is called out by the muezzin in the mosque, sometimes from a minaret, five times a day summoning Muslims for mandatory (fard) prayers (salah). There is a second call known as iqama (set up) that summons Muslims to line up for the beginning of the prayers. The main purpose behind the loud pronouncement of adhan five times a day in every mosque is to make available to everyone an easily intelligible summary of Islamic belief. It is intended to bring to the mind of every believer and non-believer the substance of Islamic beliefs, or its spiritual ideology. Loudspeakers are sometimes installed on minarets for the purpose.
Sunnis state that the adhan was not written or said by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, but by one of his Sahabah (his companions). Shi'a sources state that it is Muhammad who, according to God's command, ordered the adhan as a means of calling Muslims to prayer. Shi'a Islam teaches that no one else contributed, or had any authority to contribute, towards the composition of the adhan.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ December 03, 2009
Get the Adhan mug.On the dark path of swordsmanship in a "futuristic" yet feudal Japan, it is said that the one who becomes the No. 1 warrior will rule the world with powers akin to a god. Only the No. 2 warrior is allowed to challenge the No. 1, but anyone can challenge the No. 2. The current No. 2, the Afro Samurai, travels the road looking for revenge on Justice, the man who murdered his father (who was then the No. 1) in front of him when he was just a boy, a skilled gunman who became the current No. 1 after defeating Afro's father.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 29, 2010
Get the Afro Samurai mug.Set in the 21st century, Ghost in the Shell is superficially a futuristic spy thriller, dealing with the exploits of Motoko Kusanagi, a major in the covert operations organization "Section 9," which specializes in fighting technology-related crime. Kusanagi herself is almost completely mechanized, a human brain in an artificial body, capable of superhuman feats, and specialized for her job. The setting of Ghost in the Shell is distinctively cyberpunk, similar to that of William Gibson's sprawl trilogy, though Shirow's work is more focused on the ethical and philosophical ramifications of the widespread merging of humanity and technology, the development of artificial intelligence, and an omnipresent computer network, in particular related to human identity and uniqueness. The manga, in particular, tackles these questions head on, as Kusanagi and her colleagues face both external threats and puzzles, and internal conflict over their own nature, being more machines than humans.
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