17 Sacred Symbols Whose Original Meaning Was Forgotten (Their Real Meaning May Surprise You)

What if some of the symbols you were taught to fear were once meant to protect, bless, and celebrate life?

As belief systems shifted, especially with the spread of Christianity across Europe, ancient pagan symbols were reinterpreted through a different lens. Some came to be feared or demonized, while others quietly lost their original spiritual depth and were reduced to folklore, decoration, or tradition without meaning.

In this article, we’ll explore 17 ancient symbols whose original meanings may surprise you. By tracing where they came from and how their significance changed over time, you’ll begin to see familiar images—both feared and forgotten—in an entirely new way.

1. The Serpent

Before it came to be feared (or looked upon as a symbol of sin/deception/temptation), the serpent was one of the most sacred symbols of wisdom and healing across ancient civilizations.

The image of one or two serpents rising along a central staff appears in Sumer, Egypt, India, Mesoamerica, and Greece. It symbolized life force moving upward, balance between opposites, and awakened awareness.

Across cultures, the serpent carried powerful meanings:

• In Hinduism, it represents kundilini energy coiled up (like a snake) at the base of the spine. Serpants also used to represent Ida and Pingala, the twin energies rising along the spine.
• In Mesoamerica, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, represented light, knowledge, and creation.
• In ancient Israel, the bronze serpent was lifted for healing.
• In Egypt and Greece, serpents were linked to wisdom, medicine, and renewal.

Even in the Bible, the serpent is not always a symbol of evil. In Book of Numbers 21:8–9, Moses is instructed to raise a serpent on a pole so that those who look upon it may be healed. This image later became the Rod of Asclepius, the symbol of medicine.

Similarly, the serpent because it sheds its skin, was seen as a symbol of renewal, regeneration, and rebirth.

Over time, these meanings were inverted. What once stood for inner illumination and self-knowledge became something to fear. The serpent was never about evil. It was about knowledge, healing, and the courage to awaken.

2. The Pine Cone

The pine cone appears in unexpected places, from Vatican City to the staff carried by the Pope. Its presence often goes unnoticed, yet it carries a much older story.

Long before it became part of religious art and symbolism, the pine cone was an ancient emblem linked to the pineal gland, often called the Third Eye. Its shape closely resembles the pineal gland itself, which led many ancient cultures to associate the pine cone with higher perception and expanded awareness.

In Assyrian carvings, figures are often shown holding pine cone like objects, believed to represent purification, spiritual awakening, and the activation of inner knowledge. In Greek traditions, the pine cone appeared on the thyrsus, the staff carried by Dionysus, symbolizing life force, rebirth, and the bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Across these cultures, the pine cone came to represent inner awareness, regeneration, and the soul’s highest potential. It was seen as a sacred seed of wisdom hidden within the mind, waiting to be awakened through sustained spiritual practice.

3. Knocking on Wood

You may not think much about it when you do it, but knocking on wood has very old roots. The practice comes from the Druids (as discussed earlier) and early tree-centered traditions, where trees were seen as living beings filled with spiritual presence.

Oaks and ash trees in particular were believed to house protective spirits within their bark. By touching the wood, you were grounding yourself, acknowledging the spirit within, and quietly asking for protection or balance.

It was also a way to show gratitude and to attract good luck and prosperity.

4. The Broomstick

Broomsticks associated with witches originally carried a very different meaning. In rural pagan traditions, it was linked to fertility magic, renewal, and the cycles of the land.

Brooms were used in symbolic rituals meant to bless crops, encourage growth, and protect the home. Jumping over a broom or placing it at thresholds was believed to invite abundance, clear stagnant energy, and support new life. 

The broom was also a symbol of care and cleansing. It was used to cleanse the home, sweeping away stagnant or unwanted energy and restoring balance. Brooms were even used in healing rituals to cleanse unwanted energy off a person.

This brooms were a tool connected to life, growth, and protection, not a vehicle for flight.

5. Birthday Candles

The tradition of lighting candles on a cake began as a ritual for Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon. Worshipers baked round cakes to symbolize the full moon and lit candles to mimic its moonlight.

Blowing out the candles was a specific act of magic: the smoke was believed to be a vehicle that carried their prayers (which we now call “wishes”) up to the heavens to be heard by the goddess.

6. The Pitchfork

Before it was depicted as the Devil’s weapon, the three-pronged fork was the Trident, a symbol of supreme divine authority and balance.

Held by gods like Poseidon, Hades, Neptune and Shiva, it represented balance, protection, mastery over the three realms (heaven, earth, and the underworld), the three aspects of time (past, present, future) and higher consciousness.

7. The Pentagram

The pentagram, or five-pointed star, is often associated today with dark occultism. Yet originally, it was a sacred pagan symbol of harmony, balance, and protection.

In fact, it is one of the oldest sacred symbols known to humanity. Archaeological discoveries trace its use back to ancient Mesopotamia as early as 3500 BCE, though its origins likely reach even further into prehistory.

Across cultures, the pentagram has carried many layers of meaning. In alchemy and pagan traditions, it represents spirit united with the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and ether. For centuries, it was used in ritual practices as a protective symbol and worn as a talisman against harmful forces.

The pentagram is also linked to the Goddess Venus, whose movement across the sky over an eight-year cycle forms a perfect pentagram pattern.

At its core, the symbol represents balance and harmony, the interconnection between matter and spirit, creation and manifestation, duality and oneness, protection, magic, and spiritual awakening.

8. The Halo

You can find the halo in a lot of Christian art, but its origins go back much further. It came from a symbol known as the Solar Disc, which was commonly shown in ancient images and statues of sun gods to represent light, life, and illumination.

For instance, in ancient Egypt, Ra was the sun god and creator of life, often depicted with a glowing disc above his head to represent the sun’s power and sustaining energy. In ancient Greece, Apollo was associated with light, clarity, healing, and knowledge, and solar imagery was used to express these qualities.

So originally, the halo did not mean holiness in a moral sense. It symbolized enlightenment or the radiant awareness that arises when the mind awakens, like the rising sun.

9. Witch’s Knot

Long before it was labeled a witch’s knot, this symbol was known as the Celtic Goddess Knot, with each point representing a sacred phase of Mother Earth.

For many, it served the same protective and devotional purpose that the cross holds for modern Christians.

10. The Black Cat

Before they were feared as bad luck, black cats were sacred to Freyja, the Norse goddess of love and beauty, whose chariot was pulled by two large black cats. ‘

To have one appear at your home was considered a blessing from the Goddess, signaling that love and abundance were on their way.

11. Swastika

The swastika has a bad reputation today, but historically, that reputation is deeply misleading.

The word swastika comes from Sanskrit and means “that which is good” or “all is well.” In the Vedic tradition, it symbolizes good fortune, well-being, prosperity, and harmony with the natural order.

Even today in India, the swastika is a living symbol. You’ll find it in homes and temples, often drawn with rice flour at entrances to invite auspiciousness. 

What’s fascinating is that the swastika is not unique to India. Variations of this rotating cross appear across ancient civilizations, from Asia to Europe to the Americas. The image above shows some of these variations.

Across cultures, this symbol was often linked to the good luck, protection, sun, movement, balance, and life force.

The negative meaning attached to the swastika is very recent and does not reflect its original intent.

12. The Devil’s Image

You might find this surprising, but the Devil with horns closely resembles ancient nature gods like Pan and Cernunnos. These gods symbolized the wild, fertility, and the natural world. Their horns represented vitality, instinct, and natural life force.

What was once a celebration of life and freedom was gradually turned into something to fear. The god of the forest was recast as the face of evil.

13. Easter

The idea of Easter did not begin on its own. It grew out of much older spring traditions that celebrated renewal, fertility, and rebirth after winter’s long sleep.

Even the name Easter is believed to be connected to Eostre (also called Ostara), a Germanic goddess of dawn, light, and new beginnings. Her festivals marked the return of warmth, life, and growth to the land.

The familiar symbols of Easter carry these ancient meanings. The hare, known for its rapid reproduction, became a symbol of fertility and new life. Eggs represented the Cosmic Egg (another symbol found across various traditions), symbolizing creation, potential, and life being born anew each spring.

14. The Heart Shape

The familiar heart symbol does not resemble the human heart. Many historians believe it comes from the seed pod of Silphium, an ancient plant used by the Greeks and Romans. Silphium was valued for its contraceptive properties.

Interestingly, the plant became so valuable that it was eventually harvested into extinction.

So originally, the heart shape was not about romance, but about freedom and choice. 

15. The Wedding Ring

You may not realize it, but the tradition of exchanging rings reaches back to ancient Egypt. It was linked to the belief in the Vena Amoris, or “Vein of Love,” thought to run from the fourth finger of the left hand directly to the heart. Placing a ring on this finger symbolized a direct bond of love and commitment.

The ring itself was not just jewelry, but a symbol of the Ouroboros – the serpent eating its own tail, representing eternity, wholeness, and an unbroken cycle. In this way, the wedding ring symbolizes a cycle of eternal devotion with no beginning and no end.

16. Mistletoe

Before it became a festive decoration, mistletoe held deep spiritual significance for the Druids. In the ancient Celtic world, Druids served as teachers, healers, and keepers of spiritual knowledge, deeply connected to nature and its cycles.

Among the Druids, mistletoe was known as the “Golden Bough” and was believed to carry the life force of the oak tree. It was considered to have powerful healing and protective qualities and was even seen as a key to the underworld.

So sacred was this plant that it was gathered with great care, traditionally cut with a golden sickle as part of a solemn ritual.

17. The Maypole

Today, the maypole is often seen as a simple children’s folk dance, but it originates from ancient fertility rites.

The pole symbolized the masculine principle, while the ribbons or wreath represented the feminine. Weaving them together enacted a sacred union between Sky Father and Earth Mother, believed to energize the land and ensure a fertile, abundant harvest.

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