Cave Symbol

Symbol of womb, passages, transformation, transition, holiness, nobility, power, rebirth, resurrection, safety.

Some of the earliest religions used the cave to symbolize Mother Earth’s womb. The Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, has a cave below. The cave is shaped like a flower with four petals. The petals correspond with north, south, east, and west. The pyramid was built over the cave to keep it safe. The cave was a center for worshiping water gods. There was probably an oracle that lived there in ancient times.

In Aztec culture, caves are religious areas. It is believed that the god Tecuciztecatl went into a cave and was transformed into the moon. Men and women were believed to have come from caves – women from one cave and men from another.

Many Native Americans in North America dug caves out of the earth to use as places to gather and worship their gods. In the south, there are Native American mounds built where the light from the summer and winter solstice shines through to the center of the mound. Caves also represent the place of emergence where different Native American tribes believe they came from.

In Hinduism, caves were holy places. They represented the Great Mother’s Yoni. Caves also symbolize the passage to the underworld. The Four Caves of Sikkim were sanctified as the home of divine powers. Each cave represents a different direction. These caves are called the four Holy Caves. The caves symbolize transformation and are thought to bring good luck and happiness to those who travel there.

Caves also symbolize rites of passage. Different North and South American Native tribes had their shamans lie before a cave. The shamans were believed to be taken into the cave and pulled apart. A holy relic was put in place of a part of the shaman, rendering them holy.

Plato, a Greek philosopher, believed that the cave symbolized the world. The people within the world were chained to a groupthink mentality and were not living to their full potential. People can live their full lives when they can transition to true reality instead of false perceptions. The cave was a symbol of this awakening transition. Zeus, one of the top gods in ancient Greece, was raised in a cave to avoid being eaten by his father. He came out of the cave, transformed, and defeated his father.

In Ancient Rome, followers of Mithras would worship him in a cave. Mithras came from the Persian god Mithra. In ancient Rome, he was considered a god to the kings and a sun god. Mithras was born of the rocks, and he killed a white bull in a cave. The bull was transformed into the moon. The cave of Mithras represents nobility and power. Caves were used to worship Mithras after Christianity took hold of ancient Rome. The worshipers continued to worship Mithras in underground caves.