From The Element Encyclopedia of Symbols
Flag
Green
Gold
Excrement
Edited by Udo Becker
--A symbol of rule as well as of national
or group membership. In war, it is a symbol of
military honor and fidelity that is to be defended
by sacrificing one's own life if need be. In addition,
a fluttering flag is often regared as a symbolic expression
of new beginnings and of resolve for future change.
--In the symbolism of Christian art, Christ or a lamb
carries a flag as a sign of the Resurrection and of
the victory over the powers of darkness.
--the color of the plant world and especially of spring
in bloom; the color of water, life, freshness; the color of
mediation between the RED of hell-fire and the BLUE of the sky.
Green is frequently the antagonist of red, yet, as the color of life,
sometimes also the substitute for red. As the color of annual renewal
in nature, green is also the color of hope, longevity, and
immortality.
--In China, moreover, green is symbolically related to
lightning and thunder and to WOOD and the Yin principle.
--In Islam, green is the color of spiritual and material well-being,
the color of wisdom and the prophets.
--In the mythologies of many peoples, there are close connections
and transformations between green and red. In Africa, for example,
green, which represents the feminine, is sometimes thought to have
arisen from red, which is masculine. The alchemists frequently saw
transformation processes as interactions between regions that were
symbolized by masculine red and feminine green. Green light plays
a role among alchemists and occultists; it is encountered in nature
during the burning of various chemical substances as well as during
the rising and setting of the sun, where it appears as an extremely
rarely observed manifestation of light known as the green ray, and
is a symbol of death and life. The alchemists also saw the so-called
secret fire, the living spirit, in the image of a green, translucent
and fusible CRYSTAL. In alchemy, green in compounds such as Green Lion
and Green Dragon usually indicates solutions that are capable of
dissolving even GOLD.
--Christian artists of the Middle Ages sometimes painted the Cross of
Christ in green as a sign of the renewal brought about by Christ and
as an expression of hope for humanity's return to Eden.
--Since time immemorial, it has been regarded as the most precious
of metals; it is malleable, can be polished, and is glittering,
largely resistant to heat and acids and thus a symbol of
immutability, eternity, and perfection. Because of its color (and
other reasons), it became identified early everywhere with the SUN or
FIRE. It is thus also frequently a symbol of (principally esoteric)
knowledge. In Christian symbolism, moreover, gold is a symbol for
the highest of virtues, love.
--A gold background appearing in painted panels of the Middle Ages
is always a symbol of heavenly light. It is common notion that gold
is the earth's most intimate and most sacred secret.
--The alchemists' attempts to make gold, which had to do with the
search for for the PHILOSOPHERS' STONE, must be seen primarily in
close connection with the attempt to purify the soul (which
is symbolized by gold).
--From a moral point of view, gold is assigned a negative value
as the epitome of all earthly goods (synonym for MONEY) and thus
is a symbol for worldly attachment or ambition. See EXCREMENT.
--Particularly among primitive peoples, excrement was often regarded
as a substance embued with various powers; it was sometimes associated
symbolically with GOLD.
--Among some African tribes, there was a prevalent notion that manure
piles were inhabited by souls that entered the bodies of women.
--Among some peoples, high regard for excrement led to the ritual
eating of feces, which Africans believe will enable them to incorporate
into themselves the powers of the departed person or animal; the role
that excrement had often played earlier in the preparation of medicines,
also had to do with these ideas. In addition, the imaginary world of
the anal phase during early childhood, uncovered by Freudian psychoanalysis,
has to do with the high regard for excrement.