A Mysterious Symbol

About fifteen years ago, I discovered an interesting gravestone at a cemetary in Durango,
Colorado USA. As I first looked upon it, I noticed a carving of an extremely enigmatic symbol
which included very obvious, Egyptian iconography such as the ankh as well as a pharaoh's
crook and flail. I found myself staring at it spellbound for quite some time as this incredibly familiar
symbol almost evoked a distant, misplaced memory just beyond my grasp. The rest of the
inscription below the symbol revealed that it belonged to a woman named Bertha Naeglin,
"Beloved Wife of Charles Naeglin" who died in 1903 at age 39.

My first guess as to the symbol's probable origin was the Freemasons who typically adorn their
graves with their group's symbols, but I was puzzled that this grave was located so far from the
Masonic plot. I searched the entire cemetary looking for the same symbol on other gravestones,
but found nothing even remotely similar. Was she a member of a turn-of-the-last-century cult,
perhaps associated with the increasingly popular Occult/spiritist movements of the time? I find it
to be a rather odd and strangely anomallous symbol for a tombstone of an Old West mining town
in the Rocky Mountains! Who was she? What was she doing there? And most importantly what
mysterious group did she belong to -assuming that symbol belongs to a group?

Equilateral triangles within circles are commonly part of sacred, geometrical configurations and
ancient alchemy. This circle is formed by a snake devouring it's tail known as an ouroburos in
ancient Greece. [I've heard it may be far older, from Egypt, but I have not yet seen an Egyptian
example.] The ouroburos signifies cyclical continuity and eternity. The Pharaoh's two crossed
talismans, royal scepters taking the form of a crook and flail used to symbolically "gather the herd"
(or govern the people) and smite the enemies of Egypt may be symbolic of mastery. The grain flail
was also the tool of the ancient farmer. The vastly ancient ankh is the common Egyptian symbol
for life and fertility.

What does the acronymn "A-O-P" stand for? The female Masons are members of the "Order of
the Eastern Star" and have "O-E-S" arranged around an inverted pentagram on their graves so I
can definitely rule them out, and she was clearly not buried with the Masons- many of whose graves date to the same time.

The symbol is very intriguing to me, and I have an intuitive feeling that the answer may be important
to my life in some way -when I discover it. This could even be connected to a past life.

I've shared this with many friends, it's been forwarded to a few symbol lists, and I looked all over
the Web but found nothing.

Part 2

Recently, I decided to forward this symbol to author Adrian Gilbert's forum and I received a
couple of interesting responses. The first was from a research specialist in Sydney, Australia
named Michael Noakes. He wrote:

I found a similar symbol in "The Hermetic Museum - Alchemy and Mysticism"by Alexander Roob, published by Taschen GmbH, 1995 in the Chapter entitled "Opus Magnum: Return" (i.e. return from the dead). The descriptions says: "In the emblem of the Theosophical Society, a combination of the western ouroboros, the eastern Swastika, the Jewish Star of David (two triangles overlapping one another) and the Egyptian ankh, its syncretic programme is very directly expressed. The society was founded in New York in 1875 by the Russian emigrant Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-1891) ....".

I have a suspicion that the lady in your grave may have been a "medium" or fortune teller, occultist or some such and may have even been considered unsuitable for burial in the Christian section of the graveyard.

I am sure that the symbol is connected in some way with the Theosophical Society and Madame Blavatsky. In her book "Isis Unveiled Vol 1 " Science" she refers to an "Acadamie de Paris" ("Academy Of Paris" -hence the initials AOP ???). The AOP seems to have had some connection with Egypt and Atlantis but I cannot quite figure out how it is connected to the Theosophical Society. There is a website for the modern Acadamie de Paris (http://www.ac-paris.fr) but it is in French, as you might expect, and my French is not great but it seems as though they may have some connection with the mystic sciences.

Of course the 'ouroburos' is a strong alchemical symbol introduced by Andreas Libavius (1540-1616) in his Alchymia where he tried to define chemical concepts in a systematic way. The seventh stage of the transmutation of lead to gold Libavius defined as: "The Ouroborus is the symbol of the second fixing after the second putrefaction". I believe that this could refer to the oxidation of pyrite (FeS2) ('putrefaction') to hematite (Fe2O3) which is quite a stable compound ('fixing') and red in colour.

The "Ankh" hieroglyph is also an alchemical symbol still used today as a symbol for copper, the female and the planet Venus.

I am only guessing on the Academy of Paris and most likely AOP stands for something far more exotic. I feel that your mysterious lady may have been mixed up in something as exotic as alchemy or wichcraft which is why she was buried outside the Christian or Masonic area (which was only "de-Christianised" in about 1864 to remove it's handle as a religion) in the graveyard.

I was astonished by Mr. Noake's reply and felt I was getting closer to unravelling this mystery at last! Several key commonalities between the emblems just cannot be mere "coincidence". But why is there only one triangle pointing upwards on my glyph?

He mentioned a link to both Egypt and Atlantis which pertains to me on a very personal level as I am deeply involved in the drama that concerns the discovery of Atlantis and the Atlantean Halls of Records -especially the repository near the Great Sphinx at Giza, Egypt.

The interlocking triangles known as the "Seal of Solomon" is also significant to me. In 1997, it was heavily embedded in my consciousness and I made this simple image in Windows Paint then:

This is the ancient Hermetic symbol meaning "As Above, So Below" -matter is a reflection of Spirit, and it's also a two-dimensional representation of the double-tetrahedron "Mekabah Vehicle." It may be the "Seal of Alta and the Atlanteans" (per Edgar Cayce) which is on the door of the sealed room of Atlantean records at Giza.

Interestingly enough, Dr. Joseph Schor and his research team intended to locate and open the Hall of Records during their expeditions from '96-'98 to Giza, and team members were supposed to wear a shirt with this emblem on it. It's a vastly-ancient symbol, and it also appears on Mayan ruins at Uxmal and Copan, so I think it may be sourced to antediluvian refugees from sunken Atlantis and or Lemuria:

The next rather intriguing response came from Robin Crookshank Hilton, one of the editors of Phenomena Magazine in London, England:

The glyph on the gravestone is a modernised version of the type of talisman used in the Keys of Solomon. These talismans were very popular with Renaissance Magicians (Catherine Medici had one made into a necklace that she always wore). It's possible that the Theosophical Society adapted this format for their own use, but the origin is late Renaissance.

Here's an example of how MacGregor Mathers adapted the format for his own work -you can see the similarity:

The outer ring "binds" the talisman and in most earlier versions the talisman is "nailed" together with Alpha and Omega (the Beginning and the End) and any other relevant reference (in this case, "Phi"). Some versions used Hebrew incriptions, but the glyph on this gravestone uses Roman characters.

The circle "binds" the elements of the talisman together, and the items placed in the middle either comply with a specific formula or were assembled by the adept for a specific reason. It looks a bit like this lady's talisman was designed by her personally to help to guide her soul back to life or something similar (I don't know for sure, I'm just guessing).

I would imagine that the A-O-P probably stands for Alpha Omega Phi? The older Keys of Solomon always had Alpha and Omega (the beginning and the end) incorporated into the talisman along with a letter representing a relevant reference to the specific talisman that was being made...

The template of the Keys of Solomon predate most of these groups and the contents of the talisman vary depending on what the initiate is programing into it.

I don't think that this woman's glyph is a logo or a device for a particular group, but a talisman for eternal life... or possibly even a coordinate point for her to be reborn at a point where she left off in her last life with her memories intact.

I don't think the glyph is Masonic or Theosophical, but whoever her group was, they were well versed in Renaissance magical techniques, possibly with French origins (the Egyptian tradition is very strong in French esoteric history)...

I went back and re-read Michael's (Noakes) post... it's interesting that he mentions that Blavatsky ties some of the symbolism in with the Academie of Paris. I think Michael and I are headed towards the same point via different pathways.

I wrote to Robin: "I WILL find out what it is eventually -hopefully sooner than later. She may even be me."

That's what I was getting at. Exactly the same thing happened to me... I kept coming across a stone glyph which fascinated me, eventually I realised that it was a glyph that *I* had created to connect with myself across the centuries. That glyph is now my logo:

http://www.memorymap.com

Robin's feedback really intrigued me! Suppose this woman, Bertha Naeglin, was my previous incarnation, and that this glyph, with which I have been entranced for so long, is actually some kind of visual trigger or "spell." What am I supposed to do about it? Is there a message waiting for me somewhere?

I still can't help feeling like this is connected to the Theosophists and tied to my search for Atlantis and its records in some way. What was her (or my?) connection to Atlantis circa 1903 when she died?

The quest continues. Please email me if you have an answer or insight.

If you are interested in the search for Atlantis and its Records, see my lists at Yahoo.