The Heart Symbol - Essay Example

As a religious symbol, it entails a powerful tug to express and convey a message to the observer the greatness of God’s love for his children. In the Christian religion, the symbol of the Sacred Heart stands for the three trilogies; faith, hope and charity. It conveys four great messages; God’s movement towards humankind through Jesus’ pure heart, the movement of the human hearts toward God, the joining together of human heart with God, and the joining together of human hearts in sacred friendship and brotherhood.

Ancient Egyptians called the heart symbol Ieb (“Heart”), believing it was the center of all consciousness, the center of life itself. The heart religion is also used as an icon in other religions like Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and etc. Generally, the heart was depicted and understood as the center of a human’s being and consciousness. In more realistic depictions of the human heart though, morbid messages of death and violence are conveyed, which is in contrast to the usual messages associated with the symbolic heart.

Unusual presentations of the heart symbol also exist. For example, people from Sweden associate the heart symbol to restrooms or toilets and defecation. The heart symbol has evolved from being religious icons. The heart symbol has also evolved in its use of slang language, the slang expression “I ♥ U” (I love you or I heart you) is gaining popularity today in expressing love or affection with occasionally an implication that the feeling is shallow or immature. The slogan "I NY" (I love New York), is a well known pop-style icon that directly promotes the urban pride of New York.

No matter how the heart symbol is depicted or illustrated, its impact and power on religion and contemporary views is undeniable. A brief look at a heart symbol brings an unmistakable instant message of affection, totaling to love. For that, it is continually used over time, slowly evolving and taking different forms, bringing with them new ideas. List of References "Symbols 20:18". Online Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms. 7 May 2006.