- Hey everybody!
So you know that mistletoe that you're thinking of
hanging this Christmas or that Jesus fish
that might be on the back of your car,
or that swastika that might be in your house,
hopefully not.
Well, guess what, none of those things mean
what you think they do.
Here are 10 symbols that aren't what you thought they were.
Number 10 is the Jesus fish.
Okay, you've likely spotted the Jesus fish
on the back of more than just a few cars.
Well the Jesus fish is actually an ichthys
and is one of the most recognized symbols in Christianity.
The symbol has been found in Christian artwork
and writings from as far back as the 2nd Century AD.
But it's true identity dates back even farther.
As Christianity developed symbols from other religions
and pagan belief systems were adapted to Christian beliefs,
since they would have been more familiar
to the people of the time.
The ichthys had originally been associated
with various goddesses, including Aphrodite and Venus
and represented female fertility.
In fact, if you flip that fish long way around,
it pretty clearly looks like some lady parts.
This is because back in the day, the vagina
was believed to be super-sacred,
since it literally brought life into this world.
Look at all y'all drivin' around with little metal
vaginas on the back a ya car.
What are you trying to advertise?
Number nine is mistletoe.
(bells jingling)
Every December bundles of mistletoe are hung from doorways,
and if your lucky enough to meet someone beneath it,
it's time to pucker up.
But kissing under the mistletoe,
is the result of two even older traditions.
Legend has it than arrow poisoned with mistletoe,
killed the Viking God, Baldur.
But he was brought back to life and decided
that the plant must not be a symbol of death,
and so it must never touch the ground.
The Celtic Druids also worshiped mistletoe,
that grew from oak trees.
They believed that it was a secret symbol of fertility
strength and overall manliness.
What's up girl?
You like this mistletoe, hmm hmm.
And cutting it from the tree was seen as a form
of ritual castration and hanging it in your home
would bring you the same qualities.
Since the mistletoe berries grow in winter,
it eventually became associated with Christmas.
Oooh, what's happening girl?
You wanna kiss me under this castrated plant.
Number eight is the pentagram.
(bells jingling)
The pentagram is a five-pointed star
made of inter-connecting lines in a circle,
and it has long been associated with witches,
Satanists and anything basically resembling
anything to do with devil worship.
Christian tradition has labeled the pentagram,
a symbol of evil, but in pagan traditions,
it was a symbol of protection from evil.
In early Christianity, the pentagram was interpreted
to represent the five wounds of Christ on the Cross.
Historically the number five has been considered
sacred and magical, and represents all the elements
that make up life.
The pentagram's upward facing point,
represents the spirit and the other four points
represent the elements, earth, wind, fire and water.
But today, of course, the pentagram, and particularly
the inverted pentagram is generally considered
to represent the dark side.
But it really represents conquering evil.
Still, that being said, kids please don't go to school
with a pentagram, talkin' to your teacher like,
"Oh, Matthew Santoro said that it was okay!"
Arrgh!
Number seven is the inverted cross.
Much like the pentagram, the inverted cross
has become associated with Devil worship.
In modern society Satanist have adopted it
as one of the most popular symbols,
which shows allegiance to the anti-Christ.
But the inverted cross is actually the symbol
of St. Peter, the very first Pope.
I am the Pope, this is my symbol,
and everybody got it wrong.
What's up with that?
When Peter was said to be crucified,
he requested to be hung upside down because
he didn't think that he was worthy enough to die
in the same way that Jesus did.
In fact, the inverted cross is still used frequently
in Catholicism.
It's even on the Pope's throne and his big ole hat
as a reminder of St. Peter's martyrdom.
This is why confused Catholics and Satanists
have used this as fuel for conspiracy theories
that the Pope is actually the anti-Christ.
But hey, I guess that's what happens when you sleep
through Sunday school, or a Matthew Santoro video.
What's up?
Number six is Uncle Sam.
(bells jingling)
The Uncle Sam that we all know today,
actually started out in satirical comics
about the United States government.
He first came about during the War of 1812,
with Uncle Sam being the nickname for the US,
that was on soldiers' uniforms
and stamped on government property.
He's officially been recognized as being inspired
by the businessman, Sam Wilson, who supplied the army
with barrels of beef during the war.
Yeah, but this cartoon image originated from a mix
of Yankee Doodle Dandy, and the character Brother Jonathan.
Uncle Sam was actually used to embody the US government
and political system and show how inept and dishonest it is.
It wasn't until after the America Civil War
that his image was used on recruitment posters
during the First World War,
and eventually becoming the unofficial mascot
for America and its military.
America I want you to tell the truth about who I am!
I don't even know who I'm supposed to be anymore.
Number five is a rabbit's foot.
Rabbits are adorable, hoppy, floppy fur babies.
So when did we decide chopping off their feet and hanging
it from a key chain was lucky.
Well, it's actually a tradition that has existed
for centuries across many cultures,
going as far back as 600 BC in Europe.
Yeah, that rabbit, it looks so lucky!
You bring it home, I cut it up.
But in North American culture, it's associated
with African American hoodoo folk lore,
which believed that witches were actually disguising
themselves as rabbits.
So if you cut one, you'd inherit its power.
But it wasn't exactly that straight forward.
There were lots of rules involved to actually getting
that power to work.
First of all, the rabbit had to have been shot,
preferably with a silver bullet, or caught in a graveyard.
Okay, sounds reasonable so far.
Next, it had to be the left hind foot of the rabbit
that was chopped off.
And most importantly, it had to be taken,
either on a full moon or a new moon.
Okay, yeah, no, that's just weird.
This is all just weird.
Stop choppin' off bunny feet, weirdos.
Number four is the swastika.
The swastika came to mean hate and evil,
when it was adopted by Adolf Hitler to become
the symbol of the Nazi Party.
But the swastika symbol is actually nearly 12,000 years old,
and was used in many cultures, all over the world,
before the Aryans started to use it.
It actually dates back to the Indian subcontinent,
and is considered a sacred symbol in Buddhism,
Hinduism and more.
So contrary to modern associations,
its name in ancient Sanskrit, actually means,
auspiciousness or good fortune.
But that's not all.
It was even used by ancient Greeks,
the Druids, Celts, Nordic tribes and various
Native American tribes.
Unfortunately, despite thousands of years of history
and culture, a symbol that once meant life
and eternity, has been completely stripped
of any positive meaning.
So this is more for the adults, but yeah,
even though you know the truth now,
don't be goin' out and gettin' that and tryin' to explain
to people 'cause it's not gonna work.
Number three is the peace sign.
(bells jingling)
The hippie days might be long gone man,
but this symbol has continued to be a universal symbol
for peace, love and unity,
but it didn't actually start that way.
In 1958, British artist, Gerald Holton, designed the symbol
as a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament March,
which was protesting nuclear weapons.
Holton was actually using semaphore letters
from the hand-held flag signaling system.
He chose the letters N and D for nuclear disarmament.
Then he superimposed the symbols which look like
an inverted V and a straight line in a circle
that represented the earth.
His intent was for it to look like a human being
bent over in despair.
He actually regretted that the symbol's origins
we're so depressing and made a flipped version, of it.
But by that time, the original was already too popular.
Disarm the nuke man (faint speaking).
Number two is Guy Fawkes.
Anarchists and hackers have adopted this mask
as a symbol for anyone fighting against corruption.
The mask features a pointed mustache and goatee,
and is worn by those who don't want
their true identity exposed.
It was designed by the illustrator, David Lloyd,
for the V for Vendetta comic series,
that began back in 1982.
The comic's lead character and his mask
were meant to represent a resurrection
of the real Guy Fawkes, from the 1600s.
If you don't know your history, allow me to explain.
On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up
the House of Lords in British Parliament,
as part of a larger plan to kill King James.
The only problem is that he wasn't just trying
to overthrow a corrupt monarchy and government.
He was also trying to reinstate the Catholic church
as the ruling power, which is probably not
the utopian society current Fawkes fans have in mind.
True, but still a Halloween favorite.
And number one is the heart.
(bells jingling)
Hearts are everywhere in our culture.
In fact, if you look in the most recently used section
of your phone for emojis, it's probably in there.
But where did this symbol of love
and Valentine's Day come from?
Well the symbol actually comes
from the shape of the silphium pod which
was used by the Greeks and the Romans as a natural form
of birth control.
But if you turn the heart upside down,
you'll also spot something else.
Testicles.
For them, it meant sex and health and they loved
the stuff so much, that the shape of the seed pod,
was even on their coins, but if you're wondering
why we don't still use this magic plant today,
it's because they used it so much, that it literally
went extinct by the 1st Century AD.
It wasn't until the Middle Ages, that the symbol lost
its direct ties to sex, and started to become
associated with our modern notions of love,
partly in thanks to religious imagery,
like the sacred heart of Christ.
And now you know, so go ahead and send those
silphium pod emojis to the one you love.
You know what I'm sayin' hmm hmm.
You know what I mean.
So that was 10 symbols that aren't
what you thought they were, but now you know.
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Thank you guys for watching
and I'll see you in the next video!
That's a silphium pod, right there for your face!
Right from me, bye!