Osiris is the Egyptian god of the Underworld. This Egyptian symbol looks like a pillar, but it actually represents Osiris’s backbone. The lines atop the spiral symbolize the layers of one’s spiritual awakening leading to inner peace. As a whole, it represents enlightenment it consists of a spiral, which signifies your birth followed by your cyclical patterns of physical and spiritual growth. The Unalome is another symbol which originated in Buddhism. The lotus is a symbol of peace, strength, groundedness, detachment and presence. Similarly, the lotus symbol teaches us to stay connected to our inner peace and not let the outer circumstances impact us. The lotus symbol represents a real plant that grows deep in the mud, away from the sun in fact, one might not realize that a lotus plant is growing until the plant’s blossoms shoot up above the mud. It also represents luck, health, centeredness, peace and fortune. Commonly known as the Shaman’s Hand, the Hopi hand is said to possess the Shaman’s healing powers.

These two symbols carry slightly similar meanings, as well. Yet another powerful Hopi hieroglyph, the Hopi hand contains a spiral in its center, which somewhat resembles the Japanese Enso. Each has a different meaning, but the meditating Buddha (in which he sits in the lotus pose with his hands on his lap, face up) signifies the tranquility and inner peace one may reach in a meditative state. We’ve all seen little Buddha statues sitting happily in gardens or outside of temples there are actually several versions of these Buddhas, in which the Buddha holds different postures. Ganesha also stands for contentment, abundance and inner peace. Likewise, Ganesha (as an elephant) is said to clear life’s obstacles for us when we begin something new.

In India, elephants are known to walk through forests and clear paths for other creatures to move through. Lord Ganesha, traditional to Hinduism, looks like a golden, adorned elephant sitting cross-legged. Primarily, Enso teaches us to be at peace with everything that comes with life, and the miraculous rebirth and renewal that can bless us after every setback. Originating from Buddhism paired with Japanese calligraphy, the Enso looks like an unclosed circle, and symbolizes the circle of life.

The Yin Yang is also a symbol of balance, contentment and inner peace. Therefore, this symbol shows us that we cannot have the light without the dark trying to only embrace the light, and constantly push away the dark, will leave us fragmented within ourselves. The popular Yin Yang, traditional to Chinese culture, contains equal parts black and white. Perhaps most importantly, the Tree of Life teaches us that we are one with the Universe and thus never separate from love. This universal tree symbol, found across cultures as far back as 7000 BC, symbolizes the entire human condition, with its meanings threaded through the themes of groundedness, interconnectedness, and family, to name a few. In the Reiki system, one can draw this symbol and meditate on it to attract inner peace and guidance.

The Shanti symbol comes from the Karuna Reiki system and represents spiritual guidance, intuition, manifestation, release, healing, harmony, positive energy and inner peace. This traditional yogic symbol is said to bring us closer to God (or Universal love) and inner peace when observed or chanted. OM consists of five parts, which symbolize our waking, dreaming, unconscious, and transcendent states, as well as the veil that separates the transcendent state from the waking state.

Zen circle meaning