Why an Acorn?
NOTE: In 2018, the Atheopagan community collaborated to nominate and select a new symbol for our religion. That symbol, the Suntree, is in the header of the blog and is described HERE.
I wear a silver pendant of an acorn, and have since my transition out of more traditional Paganism and into Atheopaganism. To me, it is the symbol of my religion. If you’ve been to the Zazzle store, you will see that there are several items for sale there that also feature the symbol of the acorn, and it is also the favicon of this site.
Given our diversity and wide range of backgrounds, I’m sure that among Atheopagans, there is a similarly wide range of relationships to symbols and icons. Some wear the pentacle, I expect, which I used to do as well. Now, I find it connotes too much of an “occult” quality to me—it feels too deeply associated with systems of belief and thinking that are simply out of step with the naturalistic worldview of Atheopaganism.
Still, if you like it—perhaps liking how it affiliates you with the larger Pagan community, or sets you markedly apart from other religious-symbol wearers—I have no problem with it. I just don’t want to do it myself.
I chose the acorn because pretty much anywhere in the world you may live (except in the polar regions), you are almost certain to find a species of quercus, the oak tree. It is as close to a ubiquitous family of multicellular life as can be found on Planet Earth. It serves as food source, nesting habitat, shelter and hunting perch for countless birds, mammals, and invertebrates throughout the world. The California live oak, blue, black and valley oaks are the keystone habitat species of the place where I live, and that makes oaks sacred to me.
An acorn contains the spark of life, the potential of something new, beautiful, fruitful and beneficial to what surrounds it, and that, in a…well, a nutshell 🙂 …is what I hope Atheopaganism itself is and will be: a source of beauty, kindness, meaning, and sustenance for its participants and for the greater society and the world itself.
And that is why I wear the acorn.
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I like the acorn symbol. Your interpritation of its meaning is similar to what I learned from philisophical druidry. I think it works quite well to reflect the principles, values, and practices you have established in atheopaganism.
I wear a piece of carved jade that we found among my fathers things after he passed away. Jade is believed to promote wisdom, balance, and peace and I could use more of all of those things in my life, even if it is only as a symbolic reminder.
I like to wear an oak leaf and a holly leaf, representing the cycle of seasons as well as balance. Not unlike yin/yang.
Thank you for this blog. Is floor to find someone with such a similar worldview.
Very nice! I didn’t know the oak was so proliferate around the world (though a friend has told me about seeing them/resting in the in India…I had no idea oak species were there!)
I love your logic – not just that the species is so widespread, but also that it symbolizes connection to the ecosystem, potential.
I have also taken to wearing a symbol – a feather. For me, it symbolizes Ma’at (concept of ethics, order, balance from Ancient Egypt), but also loved ones who have passed, the freedom, grace, liberation of birds, and reaching one’s potential. Like your acorn, it is very small (a half inch or less), and feathers are in vogue right now, so it is inconspicuous. Perhaps your acorn shall join my feather soon! I am certainly going to look into one!
Late to the party on this one I know, but I like the acorn as a symbol of potential and ecological connection. I wear a little Celtic “tree of life” design myself most days, for similar reasons.