Please explain the symbol

[deezire1900]

I am looking for the meaning behind the 3 ying/yang type symbols that are chasing each other.

I should know...

 

[s'lara]

I am looking for the meaning behind the 3 ying/yang type symbols that are chasing each other.

I should know...

http://www.domsubnation.com/heart/vol27/bdsmhistory.htm

http://www.dslifestyles.com/emblem.htm

What does the BDSM Emblem mean? - Author Unknown (If someone does know, please feel free to add it)

The BDSM emblem has no "obvious" symbolism because it was created to be enigmatic. To the vanilla observer who would be put off by BDSM, it is merely an attractive piece of jewelry. Thus, we can wear it freely as a friendly salute, nod, and wink to other BDSMers we should happen to pass on the sidewalks and in the hallways of our daily lives.

To the insider, however, the Emblem is full of meaning.

The three divisions represent the various threesomes of BDSM. First of all, the three divisions of BDSM itself: B&D, D&S, and S&M. Secondly, the three-way creed of BDSM behavior: Safe, Sane, and Consensual. Thirdly, the three divisions of our community: Tops, Bottoms, and Switches.

It is this third symbolism that gives meaning to the holes in each unit. Since BDSM is at the very least a play style and at its greatest a love style, the holes represent the incompleteness of any individual within the BDSM context. However "together" and "whole" individuals may be, there remains a void within them that can only be filled by a complimentary other. BDSM cannot be done alone.

The resemblance to a three-way variation on the Yin-Yang symbol is not accidental. As the curved outline of Yin and Yang represent the hazy border between where one ends and the other begins, so do the curved borders here represent the indistinct divisions between B&D, D&S, and S&M.

The metal and metallic color of the medallion represents the chains or irons of BDSM servitude/ownership. The three inner fields are black, representing a celebration of the controlled dark side of BDSM sexuality.

The curved lines themselves can be seen as a stylized depiction of a lash as it swings, or even an arm in motion to deliver an erotic spanking. The all-embracing circle, of course, represents the overlying unity of it all and the oneness of a community that protects its own.

copyright 1995, 1997, Quagmyr@aol.com

http://hometown.aol.com/quagmyr/meaning.htm

[If any of the foregoing is incorrect or up for debate, please feel free to add your own interpretations - lara]

 

[Wizard]

Great answer s'lara !!! Well put....

 

[s'lara]

Great answer s'lara !!! Well put....

i didn't write it Sir. There is a copyright at the bottom but i am unsure of the author.

lara

 

[Wizard]

i didn't write it Sir. There is a copyright at the bottom but i am unsure of the author.

lara

I knew that but the explanation was perfect!!!

 

[Pure]

['quagmyr' quoted by lara said,]
The three divisions represent the various threesomes of BDSM. First of all, the three divisions of BDSM itself: B&D, D&S, and S&M. Secondly, the three-way creed of BDSM behavior: Safe, Sane, and Consensual. Thirdly, the three divisions of our community: Tops, Bottoms, and Switches.

It is this third symbolism that gives meaning to the holes in each unit. Since BDSM is at the very least a play style and at its greatest a love style, the holes represent the incompleteness of any individual within the BDSM context. However "together" and "whole" individuals may be, there remains a void within them that can only be filled by a complimentary other. BDSM cannot be done alone.

The resemblance to a three-way variation on the Yin-Yang symbol is not accidental.

As to the 'holes'. In the ying yang symbol, the white has a dark spot within, and the dark has a white spot. This is to indicate that each side or tendency has a seed within representing the tendency to go over to its opposite; the excess of activity gives birth to passivity/receptivity. etc. Excess macho strength exercised, becomes weakness. The author, of course, means 'complementary," which is close to what I'm saying.

The three fold variation of yang yin further suggests to me that the world needn't be seen as divided in two, as in two sexes,
s and m etc. Not everything is black or white. There is a third (hence a fourth, etc.) possibility. S and M are not opposites, anyway, according to some. Hence quagmyr's

//Thirdly,[it represents] the three divisions of our community: Tops, Bottoms, and Switches.//

is not the way I'd but it. There aren't three types of perverts. There isn't just black and white and inbetween or 'other'. you don't start with black and white. there are a wealth of possibilities: top isn't opposite bottom, nor is the 'switch' in between.

Lastly it might be mentioned that the use of red has a linkage with blood, and red and black are traditionally a dark, even diabolic combination.






J.

 

[Etoile]

The author is Quagmyr@aol.com - the person who created it. The main page is here, with lots of information, pictures, links, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[s'lara]

The author is Quagmyr@aol.com - the person who created it. The main page is here, with lots of information, pictures, links, yadda yadda yadda.

Thanks Etoile.

Pure provided the author and i have the link in my original post.

lara

 

[deezire1900]

Thank you for the help.

I am wondering if i am worthy enough to wear the symbol?

 

[Quagmyr]

Hi, Folks!

Pure was kind enough to tell me about this conversation and send me the link. Let me first publicly thank her for that, and also for catching my use of "complimentary" instead of "complementary." I'm kinda stunned that neither I nor anyone else has noted that in all these years. Or at least nobody has brought it to my attention.

She makes other good points. Particularly:

>>Thirdly,[it represents] the three divisions of our community:
>>Tops, Bottoms, and Switches.//

>is not the way I'd but it. There aren't three types of perverts.
>There isn't just black and white and inbetween or 'other'. you
>don't start with black and white. there are a wealth of possibilities:
>top isn't opposite bottom, nor is the 'switch' in between.

This is very true and is also touched on in the symbolism which I described when I wrote:

>As the curved outline of Yin and Yang represent the hazy border
>between where one ends and the other begins, so do the curved
>borders here represent the indistinct divisions between B&D, D&S,
>and S&M.

Although I only specified the BD/DS/SM division there, it holds for top/bottom/switch or just about any other three-way division that means something to you. These things tend to indicate convenient points on a spectrum rather than sharp differentiations.

Pure also notes:

>Lastly it might be mentioned that the use of red has a linkage
>with blood, and red and black are traditionally a dark, even
>diabolic combination.

Which reminds me that I should point out that there is no red in the proper BDSM Emblem. The BDSM Emblem is a metallic color and black. There are a number of similar, though different, triskeles out there, many on BDSM sites, that do use a variation with red in it, but I need to emphasize that those are not properly BDSM Emblems. Without going into a long explanation here of why that is and why that matters, I'll refer you to the page of my web site that deals with that issue at http://members.aol.com/quagmyr/is.htm (What is and is not the BDSM Emblem).

There are two variations I frequently see that utilize red as a primary color. One is red and gold and was created by Talon to be a symbol for his own web site and online commmunity. It is the Emblem shape changed over to his community's official colors. The other is red and black and often appears with dots instead of holes. This symbol first came to my attention as the emblem of a particular school of Buddhist drummers. I've since lost the URL to their web site and haven't been able to find it again, so if anybody runs across it, I'd dearly love to find it again.

If anybody has any questions, I'll try to check back here from time to time but also, feel free to write me at Quagmyr@aol.com.

Best,

Quag

 

[Etoile]

Wow, great to have the creator of the symbol in our midst! Welcome to the community, Quagmyr. You can subscribe to this thread and get an e-mail when somebody posts a response - that way you won't have to remember on your own to check back. (It's a great feature for me, I'd forget all the time otherwise!)

 

[Quagmyr]

Thank you, Etoile!

I appreciate the welcome. And I agree, the subscription feature is wonderful!

I got to spend a little time wandering around the community here and, although I've barely scratched the surface, it's clear that this is an impressive group. Much intelligence, insight, passion, beauty and talent -- in no particular order

This looks like the sort of place where a person can get lost for hours. Too bad I don't have that kind of time, but I do now have the place bookmarked. I wouldn't want to lose my way back!

Quag

 

[Owlz]

May I suggest another interpretation?

As one hoo is just beginning to examine his place within the BDSM community, I read with great interest the meaning behind the symbol. Thank you, deezire1900, for this thread!

I would like to suggest another possible meaning?

Very briefly: Upon first posting here, I was welcomed most warmly, and I thank everyone for that. It's a nice feeling. I have been told by a number of people that participation in the BDSM community involves a never-ending cycle of exploration, discovery, and learning. Thus, as I see it, the meaning of the symbol is the interconnection of learning who I am and where I fit in (if that's possible); exploring new aspects of hoo I am and what I like or don't like; and discovering 'what makes me tick,' both as a human being and as a member of the BDSM community; and the circular form symbolizing no ending to these processes.

Owlz

 

[Howling_Ire]

The three fold variation of yang yin further suggests to me that the world needn't be seen as divided in two, as in two sexes,
s and m etc. Not everything is black or white. There is a third (hence a fourth, etc.) possibility. S and M are not opposites, anyway, according to some. Hence quagmyr's

Lastly it might be mentioned that the use of red has a linkage with blood, and red and black are traditionally a dark, even diabolic combination.
. [/B]

acutaly i think you kinda missed the symoblism in the orgional ying yang... it was never ment imply that the worlds was only two things..it has to do with striveing of balance towards the postivie and negative... this is defined as male and female, in that it is viewed that the female is the negative force on the physical plane and the male the postive (before you start going, oh that's sexist! the female is in turn postive on the astral plane and the male negative, to achieve balance) but in truth the doctrain which teachest his would also tell you that the soul is bisexual..not meaning it likes to have sex with other souls irreguardless of gender, it means that is truely has no sexual preference, but that the body it inhabits serves only as a mode of exploration.

also the orgional colors of the ying/yang are white and red, not black and white as most poeple think (this orgionated from when they orgional prints of asian religious symbols came about during times when only black and white printing were avalibale)..the red was supposed to be menstral blood, and the white seman...both containing a piece of eachother which cannot be over taken by the form... it is symbolic of the one comeing from t he place of orgin, true nothing, the Tao , and then becomeing part of the Tao again, while never being seperated from the Tao


so adding a third symbol into the ying/yang is intresting..but it moves it rather outside of the context which the symobol is held in... of course you could argue that it follows well the formula for existance give in the Tao Te Ching, that first thier was the Tao, then thier was one, and from the one came two, and from the two came three, and so on until you gain the myraid things. thier is another symbol i am ware of that looks alot like this 3 pronged ying/yang but i am unfamalir with the name with it, or it's symbolic implications, i believe it's norse in orgin and symbolicly would have more to do with the western mysteries vrs the eastern.

please don't tkae this as a knock..i just think alot of people don't really know the symbolism behind the ying/yang, and it's very intresting, so i thought i'd expound.


though let me also add some intresting information on the number three, its correspondence in astrology is to the planet saturn, the titan who devoured his children..it also symbolicly connects to the great and terrible mother, named thus because she both gives life and death to her children, as all mothers do. it is also the point where form is created (why it corresponds to the mother), and thus the world begins to take visual shape.

 

[Quagmyr]

acutaly i think you kinda missed the symoblism in the orgional ying yang... it was never ment imply that the worlds was only two things..it has to do with striveing of balance towards the postivie and negative... this is defined as male and female, in that it is viewed that the female is the negative force on the physical plane and the male the postive (before you start going, oh that's sexist! the female is in turn postive on the astral plane and the male negative, to achieve balance)

A good point there! To amplify it a bit, the Yin-Yang concept that male=positive and female=negative originated not as a value judgement but as a statement of simple physical reality. In terms of sexual organs, the female is negative, having the empty space, while the male is positive, having the "excess" material that fills the empty space. Likewise, dark is negative/female (where photons are not, although the ancients would not have put it quite that way) while light is male/positive (where the photons are). Etc.

That being said, I don't like to get too hung up on the Yin-Yang-like aspect of the Emblem. I did use that in my description of the symbolism largely as a convenience, because most people are familiar with the Yin-Yang and relatively few are familiar with the symbolism of Triskeles and Taeguks. Admittedly, I didn't know those two terms myself when I created the thing, although I was marginally aware of their existence. The Triskele is the basic shape of the Emblem. A Taeguk is a form of triskele used to symbolize tenets of various schools of Buddhism.

thier is another symbol i am ware of that looks alot like this 3 pronged ying/yang but i am unfamalir with the name with it, or it's symbolic implications, i believe it's norse in orgin and symbolicly would have more to do with the western mysteries vrs the eastern.

There is indeed a Norse version, although the better known version is Celtic. I believe that the Norse derived from Celtic influence but I am not positive of that and if anybody has some authoritative sources on the topic, I'd love to know of them. Either way, it consists of the rim and arms, with no dots or holes. It has had many meanings in Celtic lore and eventually became a symbol of the Trinity.

There is also a rich history of Triskeles in Eastern culture. Note, for example, the Taeguks referred to above. I believe that some Taoist schools have their own versions. My understanding is that at least some of these do trace their symbolic ancestry to the Yin-Yang but I couldn't tell you details. Once again, much of this, along with examples of various Triskeles, is noted in a bit more detail on the What Is and Is Not the BDSM Emblem page of the Emblem Project web site at http://members.aol.com/quagmyr/is.htm

It is, however, the Celtic side of the family that had the greatest influence in creating the specific triskele that became the BDSM Emblem. The path is no mystery. It was some form a triskele that Pauline Reage described on the rings in The Story of O. In that tale, the three parts of the Triskele represented pain, pleasure and sin. Fine for a titillating read but hardly adequate for real-life BDSM. Those of us discussing the need for an underground symbol unanimously selected that shape as our starting point as a tip of the hat to Reage's opus. I just took it from there, bringing in some Eastern approaches to the symbolism and a touch or few of my own.

Not that my description of the symbolism was ever intended to be the entirety and end of it all. It is the foundation, the basis. From there, many have added their own symbollic views, as Owlz did so nicely above.

 

[Howling_Ire]

very intresting! and it is a good symbol to be just vague enough to not catch to much attention, but apparent enough to convey exactly what it'ss intdended for..it's good to see an intelegent designer, kudos to you!

 

[SubChristy]

thank you for the helpful information...i also have wondered what the symbol meant. i have found this forum to be very helpful in my explorations into the lifestyle.

 

[MissTaken]

bump

 

[PinkOrchid]

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Curious as to how people reply when asked something like "ooh, pretty necklace, what does it mean?"

"Thank you" and a chuckle.

Drives them batchit.

 

[Quagmyr]

Deleted because of accidental multiple post. Moderators are cordially invited to nuke this post and the next one.

 

[Quagmyr]

More of the same!

 

[Quagmyr]

I have one strategy but two different answers when I'm not sure that the person asking is one who should know the "inner meaning." The strategy is basically to load them up with more irrelevant information than they want until their eyes start to glaze over.

Originally (answer #1) I'd go into the history of Triskeles in general. I'd give them a spiel along the lines of "Oh, this is a combination of Celtic and Asian forms of the triskele. That's the name of the shape and it means "three-legged" for reasons that are pretty obvious. The originial Celtic triskele had many meanings, includingthe three faces of the goddess...blah blah blah...with the formation of the Celtic church became a symbol of the Trinity...yakkety yakkety yak...Often used in various schoolf of bBuddhism and Taoism.....yadda yadda...Okinawan martial arts...blather blather.

When I'd start to see them start to figet, I'd stop.

Nowadays, I'm fond of saying that it symbolizes the Three Elements. If they ask about the three elements ("I thought there were four, Earth Fire, Air and Water?") I go into my quantum mechanical mystic explanation that there are, ultimately, three elements -- Time, Space and Motion -- and they're all interconnected to form the material universe and the energy which is the basis of all matter. Time is the measure of motion through space, Space is the measure of motion over time and and Motion is space devided by time. The holes represent the void, from which they spring in a sort of quantum flux.

I get the glassy eyes pretty quickly with that one. Oddly enough, it's also quite philosophically valid

 

[PinkOrchid]

 

[catalina_francisco]

I have one strategy but two different answers when I'm not sure that the person asking is one who should know the "inner meaning." The strategy is basically to load them up with more irrelevant information than they want until their eyes start to glaze over.

Originally (answer #1) I'd go into the history of Triskeles in general. I'd give them a spiel along the lines of "Oh, this is a combination of Celtic and Asian forms of the triskele. That's the name of the shape and it means "three-legged" for reasons that are pretty obvious. The originial Celtic triskele had many meanings, includingthe three faces of the goddess...blah blah blah...with the formation of the Celtic church became a symbol of the Trinity...yakkety yakkety yak...Often used in various schoolf of bBuddhism and Taoism.....yadda yadda...Okinawan martial arts...blather blather.

When I'd start to see them start to figet, I'd stop.

Nowadays, I'm fond of saying that it symbolizes the Three Elements. If they ask about the three elements ("I thought there were four, Earth Fire, Air and Water?") I go into my quantum mechanical mystic explanation that there are, ultimately, three elements -- Time, Space and Motion -- and they're all interconnected to form the material universe and the energy which is the basis of all matter. Time is the measure of motion through space, Space is the measure of motion over time and and Motion is space devided by time. The holes represent the void, from which they spring in a sort of quantum flux.

I get the glassy eyes pretty quickly with that one. Oddly enough, it's also quite philosophically valid

I love it.

Catalina http://www.smilies4you.de/content/sonstige/a19.gif