Symbols and Trends

I am making a lot of infographics at the moment. (BTW, I use Canva for that. My initial aversion to Canva has completely turned around!)

Symbols are used a lot in infographics. They are an interesting phenomenon. A lot of people seem to think that symbols are easier to understand than written text. Most of the time this is not the case. The idiom of symbols is a language that has to be learned just as any foreign language.

Zodiac signs

My parents always bought golden jewelry on vacation. That was a trend back then. It was supposed to be a good investment for later. My sign is Virgo, so I got a pendant with a virgin on it.

Of course, I knew that my father wore a pendant as well. I never gave it must attention until he was deceased and the nursing home handed me over his jewelry. Only then I realized that he had not worn a zodiac sign (he was an Aries) around his neck, but an image of Mary. And only then my mother told me that he was a fervent admirer of Mary.

A village full of Mary’s

Not much later I walked around in my village to take pictures for a photoblog of the theme “symbol”. I discovered that many houses there have a Mary relief next to the door. Ranging from cloisonne earthenware to beautiful low relief. Made with a lot of attention and glazed in different colors. Beautiful to see, even if you are not religious. Also an atheist like me feels pain, seeing that there were people who did not appreciate the decorations and unscrupulously have painted it white.

Ulvenhout, the Netherlands

I saw these ones - in terra cotta - the most. The pastor of the church told me they were sold to the villagers to be able to restore the church. Almost all villagers bought one and hung it next to their door.

Unintentionally funny

The worship of Mary is a typical Catholic trend. In the province of Brabant, both the Dutch and Belgium part, it is still vivid. Protestants consider it a form of idol worship, and I secretly agree. Yet I really enjoy the care and attention with which saint statues are made.

And occasionally I can’t help myself laughing out loud. What do you think of this Mater Misericordiae (Mother of pity) with its horror-nails? It took a while before I realized that they were not nails but represented beams of light.

Beguinage Hoogstraten, Belgium

Nowadays

Symbols fascinate me. The comparison of symbols over time fascinates me. Saint-reliefs and -statues have been replaced by constructed computer images. Sometimes this means a decline of the appearance, but luckily there are also spontaneous street symbols, made by construction workers. Just as unintentionally, but to me equally beautiful to the Mary-reliefs in my former village.

Do you like symbols?

xxx

Hannie