The ring is traditionally the symbol of eternity and of perfection.
In ancient times in Greece and in Rome, only men of great value could use iron rings. Gold rings would in turn only be used by priests of Jupiter and later on warriors.
In the middle ages, the ring symbolized not only marriage but it was also used as a sort of amulet capable of healing those who would wear it. Dead people would also be ridden of their rings so that they could enter the heavens, unburdened by their human condition.
Rings have also caught the imagination since antiquity for their magical powers. Plato in his book The Republic mentions the story of a shepherd called Gyges that found a ring that would turn him invisible. Gyges, given this tremendous power manages to seduce the queen of Lydia and overthrow the king.
Now you take the floor – what do you associate with the ring?
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Quand j’ai t’ai lu la première fois c’était par hasard ou par obligation car à la faculté de traduction de devais lire au moins un roman pour passer le test mon choix c’tait Veronica décide de mourir et à partir de la vos œuvres deviennent ma passion et quand je prend le roman je le mange .. c’est délicieux de vous lire et de vous entendre.. Et avec la sorcière de portobello j’ai pleuré car je me suis trop vue en Athéna.
merci
The ring is a symbol of a circle. It is one of the most meaningful symbols to the Lakota people (Native American). They believe that when you pray with your sacred canupa (pipe) you are standing in the center of the universe. The bowl and stem of the sacred pipe are round as well. Many things in Nature are in a circle – the planets, many seeds, people sitting around a campfire. The living space within the tipi was circular (with a firepit in the center). Each family group set up its camp in a circle within the greater camp circle. The cycle of the seasons and of life are circular. A ring does not enslave unless you attach chains to it. You can walk away from the circle at any time. A circle brings together people of like mind or purpose. Animals gathered in a circle around the weaker one4s when danger threatened. A circle (and a ring) to me mean protection and continuous cycle. It is stronger than the sum of its parts. Linda (north of Chicago)
A ring binds you to whatever it stands for. So it also limmits your freedom. It is a closed circle that won’t grow with you, a false sense of sequerity. In the end, it will strangle your soul.
Joanna
l’anneau exprime pour moi la communauté, la solidarité, le cercle de vie où chacun est relié aux autres, attentif aux autres, conscient de la force de l’ensemble.
Paulo, sou sua fã, acabei de ler sua biografia, no começo tive medo de descobrir algo que me fizesse deixar de te idolatrar mas aconteceu o contrário, você é uma lenda viva, te admiro muito e espero um dia ter uma história de sucesso como a sua, uma história onde os erros são redimidos e as vitórias eternizadas! Parabéns pelo seu livro “O vencedor está só”, adorei. Obs: Um dia irei conhecê-lo pessoalmente!
I gave my lover a ring
I gave him heart
And hope
And all I was meant to be
He took my ring and lost it by her doorstep
He took my heart and dropped it in the gutter
He took my hope and crushed its spirit
And it was all meant to be
I gave my lover my ring back
He keeps it in the attic next to his old socks
I still have a mark on my finger
And it was all meant to be
When I think of rings, I am comforted by the thought of continuity. The shape aesthetically is very pleasing as smooth curves are soothing and calming.
Further along the thought process, the idea of wedding bands and eternity come to mind. True love and destiny – and faith – The unwavering belief that this world is fundamentally good, pure, and that a loving spirit will always triumph.
Essentially: rings = love, life, and bliss forever.
I have read quite a bit on what a ring symbolizes to people, some view it as a sign of bondage and some view it as a representation of their commitment to each other…and others, as a form of personal expression. One can’t deny that for the majority of the populace in the world, rings are always worn whether for religious, personal or societal significance. The aspect of aesthetics may come into light but I personally think it has always been the deeper meaning of things -in this case, rings- that attach people into wearing them.
Previous meanings of wearing a ring may get lost and we may attach personal reasons as to wearing one but it never the less shows our capacity to put meaning into something we wear.
In my culture, a ring signifies the unbroken fidelity of a couple. It encapsulates the responsibility that they have for each other and the consequent bond of understanding that society requires of them. In the same vein, rings reflect position or a certain degree of influence. Ranked officials wear rings that signify their office, college and university graduates wear rings to tell people that they are already professionals etc…
In a sense, the meaning of rings and of wearing them varies from different angles of perspective…but I think one things is for sure. We wear rings to signify something, whether tangible or intangible. It shows a deeper reality of we trying to communicate to other people no matter how subtle or obvious it may seem.
…un cículo cerrado…
adentro; el calor, la protección, la unión, lo conocido, lo mínimo, el crecimiento profundo, lo propio, lo elejido
afuera; el frío, la intemperie, la exposición, la libertad, lo nuevo, la infinidad de posibilidades
Constantemente… entramos y salimos.
es necesario saber que podemos salir, buscar, conocer…, cuando lo deseemos, y también es vital saber que contamos con un sitio a donde volver, abrigarnos, sentirnos comodos en lo conocido…
Libertad.
Marcela
The rings I wear have to represent something. For example, the ring I wear at the smallest finger is a small ring offered by my mom for the Persian new year and it is written love on it. I wear it all the time and if ever i forget it then I feel as if I was naked.
::::))))
love & love
The most beautiful jewelry, in my opinion, is made by the Persians and in the Middle East. In India it’s common custom for a newly wed husband to get a whole case of pure gold jewelries, including rings, and give it as a gift to his wife. Once an Indian woman showed me her wedding jewelries, and I could only say; ‘wow’. After that I cannot but help to dream about once in my life to receive a Persian ornamental gold ring as an expression of love, and perhaps a bottle of pure Musk perfume!
About two months ago, my best friend, his wife, my girlfriend and me were going on a short trip to the hills in Germany (as we live in Belgium), just to walk, to get some air and enjoy nature. We never got there. Just about three miles before the arrival we had a car accident where my best friend’s wife died. They were only married for six weeks …
A couple of days after the accident somebody gave me The Alchemist as a gift. Although I read a lot, I’ve never read your work till then. Your books seem to help me give my friends’ death a place in my heart.
Next saturday, we are planning to plant a tree in our garden, together with her husband and two good friends. Everybody has chosen something to burry beneath the tree, with her. I chose two napkin rings, that’s what brings me to responding on this subject. She and I used to play around with these napkin rings at diner. You know, try to hold them against your eyes and look like a complete idiot. By reading this post it seems so clear to me why I chose these. A napking ring is a ring like any other ring. A symbol of life, eternity, foreverness. She had four of them in total. I’ll burry two of them and keep two. This way, maybe I can look at her again through the rings if she’s looking at the same time …
Dear Nedeia,
Thank you, it is realy very worth exit out of ring, up, up, up like arrow, like beam of light, like free thought…!!!
Thank you for remembering and writing !
Love
Luce
Dear Nelson D’Silva,
Indeed I forgot that one and also rings of Dante’s rings of “La Divina Comedia”
Thanks
Luce
Hello,Hi,ciao Paulo
”se sarai Universo,ti mostrerai alla vita,se non sarai,
giacerai nella speranza di essere”
Raimondo,Poeta,scrittore
from Rome,Italy
thanks
Slavery. I know that I don’t have to appologise but I’m going to speak my mind. Sorry. I’m not a cynical person. I don’t have anything else coming to my mind. It’s because of it’s primary meanig: the ring meant the commitment of a married couple like a slave is attached to a chain. I like rings. I like married and loving couples like my fathers. I don’t question the facts of life. I don’t like people trying to explain to me that life is beautiful, I already know, even if I feel free to speak my mind. Thank you.
Interesting to read over all of these comments and see the different perspectives- we really are a product of our environment, internal and external, aren’t we?
For me, the ring represents eternity, cycles of life, love
I get a warm-high-resonance feeling when I think of the ring.
And I wear my wedding ring with deep love for my dear husband.
the ring to me is a symbol of UNION– the circle of life- from beginning to end- and thereafter— a symbol of INFINITY…Placed on a finger- during marriage vows: it symbolizes A VOW…A Vow Of Unity…..
A Vow To God and Goddess – and a willing vow towards infinity……
ALL LOVE=cat
Harmony, safety, protection.
A place where I can meet my guardians.
but in the other hand castle, imprisonment. Things goes over and over again.
Hi Luce,
I think you forgot one more ring, that is suffe-ring, now am I being bo-ring?
peace,
Nelson
For me the word RING is first associated with marriage and the bond between a man and a woman (possibly two member of the same sex) Then I imagine if the two humans have done everything they are suppose and in good faith enter into marriage then their bond is magical/blessed/special.
The second is the noise associated with “ring”. Ring a door bell, the bells ring, vibration that make a ringing noise and so on.
The third is to stepping into a ring, like that associated with fighter/boxer/wrestler/martial artist. Most of the “rings” I stepped into as a wrestler and later as a martial artist whether square or round with markings on a mat or on a floor. Whether as a wrestler or as martial artist it is impossible not to go 110% or more. Sound stops and everything outside the ring seem to no longer exist. If you become aware of the outside then you are distracted. Though fighting someone inside the ring can be dangerous. It is not combat. Step outside the ring and the fight is supposed to stop.
As many have said here, the ring is a circle. Alexandra, above analogized it as a viscous cycle. I took art history this summer and learned that the circle has always been a symbol for god or an all encompassing higher power(or whatever your definition is). Perhaps that is why, as Paulo states, it is a symbol for eternity and perfection. For me, it is that and also a means to keep my hands calm and heavy. I just realized I am wearing four rings on both my hands. Ha!
El anillo está en la mano, la mano es nuestra parte de contacto, o una de las partes con la que contactamos con el mundo, además de la cara, la mano es la parte más importante por donde nos entragamos al mundo. Concectamos con él.
El anillo no se mueve(como el collar), se queda pegado al dedo, el anillo es único (salvo excepciones, casi nadie tiene 2 anillos iguales) aunque tenemos dedos iguales.El anillo rodea una parte de nuestro cuerpo que está en movimiento, como he dicho antes una parte de nuestro cuerpo que está en movimiento y con la que nos acercamos al mundo. ¿Cómo nos acercamos a ese mundo?.
Hay una frase que dice: Dime con quien te junta y te diré como eres, yo la cambio y digo: Enseñeme su anillo y le diré como es o por lo menos como pretende ser.
Eu acho anel, um símbolo muito forte. E o mais significativo de todos é o anel de noivado e a aliança de casamento, porque é usado por livre expontânea vontade a favor do Amor que sentimos pelo nosso escolhido.
O anel também pode ter facetas de proteção dependendo do material, mas o anel de maior proteção é aquele que a gente pode fazer em torno do nosso corpo através da oração, conforme cada um.
Beijos,
Mari.
Taking the union and the caste structure, for its emblem, seal and your home via the ring, the symbolism of the object reminded me of the legacy and his circle.
Is the representative that we are not alone and we belong to a consortium, like the Earth with the Sun or the Sun with its Solar System, because the ring is the basis of a group of a compact, like balance.
I don’t think the idea of the ring as a magic object, for the question that is not the ring magic itself, but people who do the magical ring as object through the transcript to the magical metal.
The ring is like a fine wine!!
Well I like too associate the ring with the family and like in the movie “A Walk through the clouds” with Keanu Reeves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX4zZJUFFsg
ring to me is the symbol of being bonded …of being chained …of not allowing oneself to be free like the wind in various moods … it not only governs the body but symbolizes its control over the soul .. according to the norms and the rules ….
@ Luce: well, there is a way out of the ring: the way UP :)
The Ouroboros
Or sepernt eating its tail, the ancient symbol of eternity and renewal. Life.
äh rings?
the 10 rings i have at my both hands
*laughing*
, also of course.. circle, endless, ring is the symbol for the “everything” with no end…
Nia
Aside from the most common use of a ring as marriage, the ring still emphasises continuity and completion.
As the growth of trees can be deciphered through observing their successive rings: one per year.
Olympic rings: bringing together different elements to unite and co-exist: inter-dependent though distinct still.
Since learning of the ring in Lord of the Rings
it is of course about having attained something of infinite power.. the bearer must fight the good fight to avoid temptation to stray or to use the essence of the ring’s power to bring forth their own glory. Such is the marriage ring also… marry for love, not wealth or status etc.
In palmistry, a person who has a ring on their small finger is said to be a emotionally/sexually insecure [gosh and so many MEN adorn these]. A ring on the middle finger (of circumstance) symbolises the need for material security (due to influence of Saturn); where as the ring on the index finger is about vanity, ego and ambitious power; the ring on the toe about wishing to be live as a free-spirit. There are also rings of Solomon, Venus, Jupiter, Apollo – all influencing the character of the person in their position on the hand. The marriage finger is known as the Apollo finger.. connected to the heart… the finger of appreciation of beauty via harmony.
The gem stone of the ring influences the nature or the ring’s qualities… ruby, diamond, emerald, sapphire.
Rings are decorative, symbolic and of status… and where completion and continuity are concerned, the diamond – with all its pure and unique energy vibrations – is most certainly one of the greatest expression with which a ring can encapsulate.
Dear Paulo,
For me Ring, whatever kind it might be, represents limitation :
- wedding ring
- box ring
- fighting ring
- ring of fire
- circus ring
- viscious ring….and so on !
Ring have no way out ! No exit ! Perfect limit !
So for me it is definitely not eternity or perfection but endless frustration of limitation !
Love,
Luce
Well the ring /circle is a symbol of love -eternity yes .Well the ring finger does hold connection -phsically -spritually -emotionally .
So does an inscripition upon that ring -the words also vibrate to the universe and us .So for me a ring can say many things -also whats in the ring and what it is made of say alot as well as the shape to .But in life there are many rings -for things like a ceremony -circle of light – ;-) and a ring of fire -I was reading in a book about the great purfication about cremation -and great mystics sometimes leave behind a multicolured beads in the ash -to testify thier spiritual accoomplishements .these beads are called ringsel..Blessings Tania
Dear Jessica, it is the Magical Circle, the rotation of the Earth and CLOCK-WISE rotation of the Spheres in the Unverse.
The “ANTI-clockwise” movement is the movement of Satan, the dissolving power! I do not know more, this is theory I have gathered. I respect Light and Love and I know that darkness will be ‘dissolved’ in the Light at the end! The victory of Spirit over Matter.
LOVE,
THELMA
Hm. The beauty is in the eyes of those who are watching. The meaning of a word could be different for 10 wise man and thus they can use that word to do sometimes the opposite. I have read the comments above and it very interesting to see how the oppinions vary from post to post. From life and eternity to slavery. and we’re only talking about a small object. We look at it and looks so powerless, it is only when our thoughts begin to fill our mind that it becomes magical or not. We are the ones who empower this tiny objects witl all our experience of a lifetime, with all our thoughts and dreams and hopes.
What is the ring? Is the sum of our belief and experience in this moment. Nothing more and nothing less. What will the ring be? the same. But that’s somewhere in the future, isn’t it?
Those images which I associate with the ring are the following:
- the ring is a piece of a spiral, it’s a complete journey, from start to begining, at the end of which a new voyage begins.
- the ring is the circle. symbol putting together the start and the stop. They are the same, as there is nothing in this world having no cause and leading to no effects.
- the rings hides the begining and the end. We cannot see where they are, because in every second we have the begin of a moment and the end of it
- the ring is a promise of continuity. if it has stones attached to it, we could say that this continuity is sometimes broken, but for a short while, it is like we are taking a magnifying glass and we’re tryibng to catch a moment. That moment is the stone.
- the ring in a wedding is the blessing we are all carrying in our hands, the symbol of what we have thought, hoped, dreamed, talked, confessed, loved in the day when a priest or a priestess gave us a blessing. It’s a reminder of who we are and of what this life is: an eternal way, with no start nor end.
- a ring is making us loose abilities. It stays on our finger and each time we are doing someting with our hands, we are not giving the best because we are thinking at the finger, at protecting it. so we are not the best in that craft, because our attention point has been shifted.
Of course , a ring can be, sometimes, just a piece of jewlery :)
Brightest blessings!
Nedeia
p.s. no time for checking the spelling, so please excuse my English errors :D
endless power of spirit and love
it binds. and that’s both scary and comforting.
The ring,circle is for me the material form of life with the whole experiences that increasing groth.
Mirela
Love (the woman in elevator)
Ring-a bond, created from some type of metal, circular shape, life, commitment
The ring.Means circle.No end and no return?or only no end.I think at a vicious circle.The one we cant get out.But I think at marriage too.
Decoration.
The ancient symbol of eternity, often illustrated by a snake or a dragon eating its own tail.
In England, old ruins like Stonehenge, “Fairy Rings” created by mushrooms or grass growth.
Magic. Commitment. Mystery. Value. Visibility in the invisible. The possible. In the impossible. Circle of Love.
The ring means to me an uninterruptible closed cicle. If something change, everything has to change together to keep it in balance. That can be good, that can be bad… It depends on what you do!
Heart, Diego
One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
:)
rings make me think of slavery for some reason. i’m married, but my ring stays in its drawer.
The first thing I thinked when a woman or a witch in ancient time used to keep in the ring a powerful poison or magic substance to melt in a good glass of wine!
Then I thinked to a tale about real love of James Redfield: a woman and a man as two rings when they’re added it can pass the light od God through them.
Love
The ring is a traditional symbol of infinity or eternity, the transposition of the magical circle into the real world of matter.
In a magical sense, wearing a ring binds us with powers, with energy. The finger on which is worn has some significance. The ring finger on the left hand is the only one with a direct connection to the heart, that is why it has become the traditional finger for wedding-rings.It is a … self imposed restriction on the subconsious desires to share the self with others.
The circle is a sacred space set aside for ceremonies and rituals of High Magic.
I have once read in a magazine that if your wedding ring bothers you, it means that there is something wrong with your …marriage!!
The Circle is also used to express ‘secret’ societies and the Knights of the Round Table!
LOVE,
THELMA
I once had a ring for many years which means a lot to me and I believe have certain protection on me,but on the very first day I decided go to the local church to start a bible study I lost it.
Now I still wear rings in some dangerous times,and enemies show their respect upon me,maybe they are all so beautiful and looks cosy.
Once upon a time,ex brought me to jewlery shop and I choose a 10 pound white gold ring,its not so expensive,but the design I like a lot.He always asks to wear it,but I keep on forgetting,too young for any commitment….
Hi everyone,
Well the ring was always a signe for something that will withstand everything. A wedding ring is a signe for 2 people that want to be together forever and also that will fight every obstacle that comes into their way. It shows to the world that they will withstand anything that will try to test them.
Old castles used to have a moat around it. When looked at it from above it also looked like a ring, and was also there to make it difficult for any opponent to enter the castle…
Love and respect
Marcel
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