Yin and Yang???

[forever16]

Hi all! I am completely new here so a hearty "God Bless" to all!! On to my question, and this is a bit long - I apologize....

I have been having a very difficult time with this over the past few days, so I thought I would pose the question here as I am driving myself nuts researching it on the net.

I bought my husband a "ying/yang" pendant on a white gold chain last year for Christmas. The meaning behind it for me (and us) was that two individuals are not whole when they stand alone. One is not complete without the other. They are only complete when together, and they balance each other out. It was given as a gesture of love, and a symbol of the unity of our two separate lives in to one "family". Up until about a week ago, he has worn it every day. All of a sudden he stopped wearing it. When I asked him about it, he said he wanted to find out what the actual meaning behind the symbol was. Ok... so he looks it up on the net, and initially finds all of the balance, sun/moon, male/female, etc... references to it's origin. Then... he pulls up a page on a website that talks about how it is a symbol of the occult, evil, is used in witchcraft, etc.... I was FLABERGASTED!!!!!

Now of course I (being the information junkie I am) started researching this a bit more in depth. The first thing I did was go to the home page of the site he originally pulled up. I have to say here - please forgive me if I offend anyone, because that is most certainly not my intent!! This home page was in my opinion, one word - ridiculous! Now there was some truth mixed in, don't get me wrong. But, for the most part it was just way far over the edge. There was every conspiracy theory imaginable, references connecting Scoffield with Satan, references connecting the publisher of my Bible (which is the King James Bible - not an altered form!) to Satan, and on and on. I can't even remember everything as I did not spend a whole lot of time there.

So I have been researching symbols (specifically the yin/yang) and their meanings. What I've come across is so astounding and utterly confusing I am at a loss. There are so many symbols that are associated both with Christianity AND with Paganism AND the occult AND satan!!!! So what does a Christian do???? I even saw references to a BUTTERFLY and a DOVE being symbols of the occult!!!!!!!

In the long run, my research so far has left me even more confused.

So I guess my question is what do we do as Christians??? And even more specifically, did I really give my husband something that stands for evil??????

Thank you for your time if you've made it the whole way to the end of this!!

Kim

 

[mlqurgw]

If I remember correctly from my years in the martial arts yin and yang are symbols of the balance between good and evil. In some eastern religious cultures they stand for male and female. They are rooted in Confusionism or Taoism I believe but can't say for sure. Personally I would't wear them because they represent the beliefs of a false religion. I did wear them on my dobak, the uniform worn in Korean martial arts, as they are part of the Korean flag.

 

[X=?]

Hi there,

I hope you understand where I come from on this example as I it can be related.

A womans husband bought her a cross with a loop on it and was very attached to it as she percieved it as a cross. However after a bit more research it was discovered infact it was an Ank/Amk (not sure of correct spelling). She removed it and bought a more or less plain cross.

On comment she said she felt different wearing a cross like that rather than what she had before (or something along those lines).

Now I will use a personal example of an item I had (I am not saying Demons are behind your sofa but I think this might be of use), a Demon had attached itself to an item I had which was a Dungeon and Dragon model representing a Demon and some others I had. All of which represented and named real Demons. I had to destroy them personally to be at peace because where they were kept I sensed an aura of something.

Now my point to symbols and objects is that things can (not always) become attached to them, and negative items attract negative things.

I also recall a story of a man who had a ring that had something supernatural attach itself and it was only untill he got rid of the ring could he move on.

I am not trying to scare you but this is something all Christians should be aware of, 4 months ago I would have turned my nose up at it. But when you are burning £300 worth of Occult stuff and are crying and feeling angry at the same time you wonder how it all begun.

 

[arunma]

In my best judgment it's best to stay away from symbols that come from false religions. On this thread alone we've seen examples of pagan symbols from both Eastern (the yin yang) and Western (the ankh) religions. I don't think there was any sin in your buying this gift for your husband, since you weren't aware of the true symbolism. But now that you know about it, it might be a good idea to not use the yin yang. Idols have no real existence, but behind false gods are demons. And we ought not to be partakers with demons.

 

[Sphinx777]

Here is one article I found...

Link

 

[X=?]

Here is one article I found...

The above article is written by an Astrologer-new age cult this is a Baptist subforum.
IGNORE ME HAVING A SENIOR MOMENT

 

[Sphinx777]

The above article is written by an Astrologer-new age cult this is a Baptist subforum.

Ex-astrologer...

Link

 

[X=?]

Ex-astrologer...

DOH!!!!



Sorry!

 

[Epiphoskei]

A womans husband bought her a cross with a loop on it and was very attached to it as she percieved it as a cross. However after a bit more research it was discovered infact it was an Ank/Amk (not sure of correct spelling). She removed it and bought a more or less plain cross.

The Ankh is the Egyptian hieroglyph (and word) for life. While there might be some question of the appropriateness of a Daoist symbol of a balance of good and evil, there's nothing wrong with an Ankh. If we were to preach the Gospel to an Egyptian, we would tell them that Christ came to give us Ankh. Some symbols need to be avoided, but there's a problem with going too far to the other extreme.

 

[Sphinx777]

The Ankh is the Egyptian hieroglyph (and word) for life. While there might be some question of the appropriateness of a Daoist symbol of a balance of good and evil, there's nothing wrong with an Ankh. If we were to preach the Gospel to an Egyptian, we would tell them that Christ came to give us Ankh. Some symbols need to be avoided, but there's a problem with going too far to the other extreme.

The ankh was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ˁ-n-ḫ. Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. It is also known as the key of life, the key of the Nile, or as crux ansata, Latin for "cross with a handle".

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[Ave Maria]

Personally, I'd just get rid of the necklace. It represents a false belief system.

 

[genXer]

The yin/yang in itself is a truth. No light without dark, no hot without cold, no good without bad, and so forth. However, as others have pointed out it is a symbol of an Eastern Religion that has no truth in Christ.

Years ago when I was still a steady Christian in the Martial Arts I would have told you the symbol is what you make of it. Your view with your husband and the yin/yang is personal and unique. Your intention is good. One could even say that God invented the logic behind the yin/yang as God created light and dark. And he geared humans to understand hot versus cold, soft versus hard, etc.
But what if you used a Swastika instead? Or a half-moon? You get the idea.

Like other's that have already posted, I'd be inclined to ditch the piece of jewelry on the basis of a false religion and on something that could approach idolatry.

 

[Epiphoskei]

The yin/yang in itself is a truth. No light without dark, no hot without cold, no good without bad, and so forth.

Odd, that's the very thing that bothers me about it.

There is light without dark. There is good without Bad. We call him God. The symbolism of the yin/yang sign is that good and evil are in balance with each other and do not exist apart from one another. Moreover, the small dots typically found inside the larger swirls are supposed to symbolize that there is no good which does not also contain evil, or evil which does not contain good. That is not a truth.

 

[Atlantians]

Meat offered to idols.

If it doesn't bother you, if it means something to you apart from its false origination, redeem it. Just as we redeemed the Pagan December 25th festivals... and the festivals around the time of Easter.