Devil in the Details

Copyright © Edward Riojas

North Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral

We must be blind. Did you know that rose windows in the cathedrals of Europe are based on Hindu mandalas? That little nugget of falsehood recently floated into social media atop a fresh dollop of horse manure, raising the hackles of nearly everyone, including me.

According to some brainless twit, the rose window is similar to the Hindu symbol of the cosmos – too similar. Therefore the rose window’s mandala-like appearance was obviously of the devil. Huh?

I thought superstition of this level got snuffed out after the Salem witchcraft trials. Apparently not. Smart folk thankfully pay little heed to this kind of ignorance, but it still may be wise to take aim at a few similar examples of equally-questionable visuals, if only to highlight the buffoonery behind each.

Starbucks logo, Cross crosslet, and Baphometis (Satanic) logo

Coffee must surely be of the devil. It’s naturally dark and bitter, and check out what’s brewing in the Starbucks logo. A rather weak argument that was long on words and short on logic attempted to show remarkable similarities between the coffee maker’s logo and a variation of the Baphomet (Satanic) symbol. The only real similarity was in words separated by stars and wrapped around each logo’s respective image. Too bad the same convention can be seen in a mountain of logos from the past hundred years. It’s strange that they didn’t take their satanic-link argument to the Cross crosslet of antiquity, which is obviously much closer in appearance. Being Christians of the fringe variety, perhaps they didn’t want to shoot themselves in the foot and risk cleaving a hoof.

Former Procter and Gamble logo

Similar satanic accusations were raised with a logo of slightly older vintage –  Procter and Gamble’s former moon and stars logo that paid homage to the original 13 Colonies. Apparently, a few straight-laced folks took umbrage at the moon’s “horns” and a hidden, inverted “666” in the beard. What?! Procter and Gamble’s corporate identity has since been given a major facelift with an anticeptic, text-only logo, so as not to offend the moronic contingency.

Apparently, there is all sorts of trouble inherent in common visual devices. The Star of David, dots inside of circles, “swooshes” (whatever that means), twin towers, the numeral “6” and stars in general are all suspect. I guess you’d better lower Old Glory and hang out the braided garlic.

Unfortunately, there are those among us who can see nothing but subversive and satanic references in everything. Indeed, it is the only thing they WANT to see. They squint and see three sixes in the Walt Disney signature. They see satanic references in Google Chrome’s logo. They see all kinds of devilry in auto logos, energy drink logos, and communications logos. These are the types of hicks who see visions in carpet stains and leaking radiator fluid and dishes of macaroni and cheese (Okay, I get that one). It’s only a short step for them to make divinations from chicken livers and knuckle bones.

I don’t know where folks get this stuff. Maybe they have better eyesight than the rest of us. Maybe they’re trying to protect society from all manner of devilry. More likely, they’re just idiots. What is more dangerous than inert images interpreted as heresy are those who are themselves tightly-laced with questionable theology and overt paranoia.