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shell
Registered Member
Date Joined Mar 2002
Total Posts : 280
| Posted 9/12/2003 12:04 PM (GMT -6) |   | quote:
Originally posted by Laika
Perhaps someone here knows.
The bindi (third eye) has spiritual meaning.
I need to know if converted Indian women still
wear them. Thanx
They do not. That goes for whether they live here in the states or remain in India.
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shell
Registered Member
Date Joined Mar 2002
Total Posts : 280
| Posted 9/14/2003 7:47 PM (GMT -6) | | quote:
Originally posted by GregBoyd
I know one Christian woman from India who still wears "the third eye" (I don't think THEY call it that). So what
Typically Christian women in India do not wear the Bindi. I have some thoughts on what Greg said...but no time to post, I'll be back
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Tigress
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Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 1252
| Posted 9/15/2003 5:18 AM (GMT -6) | | I don't know Greg or Doc or whatever you want to be called,
Symbolism can be very powerful and confusing for those around us. That's why in Paul's time, women of the church needed to wear their hair long - so they wouldn't look like the pagan temple prostitutes and so confuse nonChristians.
If the Bindi is still something that Hindus regard as important for that religion, it would be unwise for a Christian woman to wear it.
It's like wedding rings. If a married man or woman in our culture refused to wear their ring, it would send up red flags, wouldn't it?
I, for one, would never wear anything with the "peace" sign on it, because it's actually an occultic symbol that many witches use in their practices that is really supposed to symbolize a broken cross and therefore the (they believe) ineffectual work of Christ.
I also would never wear anything with the yin yang symbol like some people do, because it represents a nonChristian religion.
Also nowadays it would be unwise for Christians to put rainbow bumper stickers on their cars, because that's become a symbol for the support of gay and lesbian practice.
So, symbols are still very important even in our culture and AS LONG AS those symbols are still being actively used to represent something anti-Christian, Christians should not use them. If however, the Bindi is not regarded as a third eye that supports a nonChristian religion, but instead has simply become an Eastern type of cosmetic enhancement, then it would be alright.
Tigress 
"Name a shrub after me. Preferably one that's prickly and difficult to eradicate."
-Captain Jack Aubrey
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might-be-don
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Date Joined Jun 2001
Total Posts : 830
| Posted 9/16/2003 1:22 AM (GMT -6) | | Just so that you know...
"It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Arts. He showed his preliminary sketches to a small group of people in the Peace News office in North London and to the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, one of several smaller organisations that came together to set up CND(Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).
Gerald Holtom, a conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War, explained that the symbol incorporated the semaphore letters N(uclear) and D(isarmament). If you don't know what semaphore means please look it up before you go telling me you don't see an N or D :) He was later quoted by Peace News to say -- "I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it."
Sorry, no occult there.
I lived in Miami during the early 60's when the threat of nuclear war was very real. This symbol has deep meaning to many of us whose lives were directly affected by the knowledge that man has it within his ability to remove himself, most violently, from this planet.
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Laplace
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Date Joined Apr 2003
Total Posts : 138
| Posted 9/16/2003 5:21 AM (GMT -6) | | Thank you Tigress for the qualifications. That was my expanded position as well.
I'm not against symbols in general in a culture per se, but it's a matter of both intent and perception.
I do understand Dr. Boyd's arguments that things which may have had once pagan origins are perfectly acceptable, but in India, Hindi IS a thriving religion practiced by many. Maybe most Hindus don't know the siginificance of the inner eye, or even the meaning. But if the inferance is "I'm related to Hindi" then it bears consideration, and again some would consider it unwise for a Christian in that society to wear such. That person Dr. Boyd describes is perfectly within their Christian liberty to wear the eye, but the Bible says if it causes others around him/her to stumble, needs to at least consider what he/she is doing.
The closest analogy here in this country I can give is Halloween. It is a recognized Satanic holiday with black magic overtones. However, most people in this country are not Satanists nor even condone such. Still, some Christians feel even the door-to-door trick or treating is paying armage. I may choose to have my family participate in such, but would never tell members of my church who are uncomfortable with it that it's "no big deal".
Like Tigress said, symbols are a powerful influence. What feelings or imagry comes up when you see a Swaztika? Or how about a cross? Or a burning cross?
Cultural norms are fine, but there is a point where we have to ponder the impact on others and maybe draw the line.
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Tigress
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Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 1252
| Posted 9/16/2003 8:47 AM (GMT -6) | | quote:
Originally posted by might-be-don
Just so that you know...
"It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist and a graduate of the Royal College of Arts. He showed his preliminary sketches to a small group of people in the Peace News office in North London and to the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, one of several smaller organisations that came together to set up CND(Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).
Gerald Holtom, a conscientious objector who had worked on a farm in Norfolk during the Second World War, explained that the symbol incorporated the semaphore letters N(uclear) and D(isarmament). If you don't know what semaphore means please look it up before you go telling me you don't see an N or D :) He was later quoted by Peace News to say -- "I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it."
Sorry, no occult there.
I lived in Miami during the early 60's when the threat of nuclear war was very real. This symbol has deep meaning to many of us whose lives were directly affected by the knowledge that man has it within his ability to remove himself, most violently, from this planet.
peace, don
I've seen the "peace" symbol in books containing other occultic symbols that go back centuries. This man may have thought he came up with something new, but the symbol has been around for a lot longer than when he decided to use it. It has a specific occultic name, too. Something to do with a chicken, but it's meaning is clear. It's meant to represent a broken cross. Those formerly involved in the occult and who later got saved, testified to as much. Sorry to burst your bubble. Maybe a demon influenced this man to use this symbol. That happens, too, you know.
Tigress
"Name a shrub after me. Preferably one that's prickly and difficult to eradicate."
-Captain Jack Aubrey
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might-be-don
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Date Joined Jun 2001
Total Posts : 830
| Posted 9/16/2003 10:27 AM (GMT -6) | | "...Something to do with a chicken..."
That's funny. It was referred to by 'rednecks' in the 60's as the footprint of the American chicken, refering to those who refused to fight in the Vietnam war.
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following
Registered Member
Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 24
| Posted 9/24/2003 8:34 AM (GMT -6) | | Aaaah...the dot.
I'm gonna reply to this, because I am indian.
The bindi did have spiritual significance int eh past.
and as far as my mother has told also was used to tell
the difference between a married and unmarried woman as well.
growing up hindu we used to also attend relgious functions where
the first thing you did when attending the temple was to go to the guru and have him place a red tilka on your forehead. it was kind of paste not so much a stickie thing. now adays its way more about fashion than anything else. when my mom gets dressed up and goes out to "party" (a favorite activity of indians, i'm talking dancings, yelling, laughing the whole deal. funtimes) she will always place a bindi on. some are pretty amazing in their design, some cost quite a bit of money. there is nothing religious about it.
also, last fall my sister (who is now a christian) got married and we intermixed a lot of indian cultural (see monsoon wedding) with her belief in jesus. one small piece was with her white wedding dress she did were a silver sparkly bindi on her forehead. it was beautiful.
so in closing and probalby agreeing with greg, how something starts doesn't necessarily hold to how it is being used now adays.
" you know indian, dot not the feather"
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following
Registered Member
Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 24
| Posted 9/24/2003 8:55 AM (GMT -6) | | here's a question...
from my experience the bindi most likely originated as symbol to display a persons symbolic union with god. in this case the hindu religion.
but now my sister who is a christian and has mad love for jesus
decides to wear a bindi as a way to serve the same purpose. would
there be anything wrong with that?
i say no.
note: hindi is a language, hindu is the term for a follower of hinduism. for the person way above who interchanged the terms incorrectly.
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shell
Registered Member
Date Joined Mar 2002
Total Posts : 280
| Posted 9/25/2003 9:27 AM (GMT -6) | | quote:
Originally posted by Laika
quote:
Originally posted by following
Aaaah...the dot.
I'm gonna reply to this, because I am indian.
Cool. So if an audience of Indians in Calcutta or Kuala Lumpur or Singapore were to see an illustration of an Indian woman character, identified as Christian, wearing a bindi, no one would be offended?
thanx for your input, very much appreciated
mmmm...our close Indian friends whose grandfather was a former Hindu priest said that Christian women in India do not wear the bindi. From what he said I think because of the spiritual history tied to it, that it wouldn't be understood that you are identifying an Indian woman as a Christian if she is wearing the bindi for all signs and purposes. Now on the other hand, he too agreed that many women in India and Indian women in America are wearing it as a cultural symbol not a religious symbol. But I think since you are specifically trying to portray a Christian Indian woman, the bindi would be confusing.
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