Rings

Let's look at the ring for a few minutes.

"The ring is a circle, symbolic of eternity, unity, reincarnation and the universe. In earlier times the ring was associated with the Sun and Moon. It was an object of protection, a magical guard that warded off negativity through its continuity....

"All rings were once magical or sacred. Even goddesses and gods wore rings; Babylonian mythology is replete with stories of the rings of Shamash and Marduk. Rings have also been linked to the zodiac, the yin/yang and the 'magic circle' of magicians and Wiccaus. Their magical history is complex and fascinating.

"In a magical sense, wearing a ring 'binds' you with power, with energy. The materials of which the ring is constructed, plus your visualisation, determine the nature of this energy ....

"The appearance or attractiveness of a ring, and certainly its material value, are of little importance in magic. The ring's design, the metals and stones used are the only factors involved in selecting rings for magic ....

"The finger on which a ring is worn has magical significance. The index or 'ring' finger was once thought to be especially powerful. Herbal medicines were applied to the body with the ring finger to strengthen the effectiveness of the cure. Thus, rings containing stones which speed the body's healing are best worn on this finger....

"Once, rings were usually worn on the third finger, because it was thought to contain a nerve that went directly to the heart. Betrothal rings are still traditionally worn on this finger."

Another book reiterates:

"In astrology, the thumb is correlated with Venus, the index finger with Jupiter, the middle finger with Saturn, the ring finger with the sun, and the small finger with Mercury.--In popular parlance, the ring finger used to be called the 'heart finger' because people believed that it was directly connected to the heart by a special vein or nerve; the symbolism of love and fidelity of the ring finger, particularly of the left hand (the side of the heart), also has to do with this.''

Our Phallic Heritage says this about the ring:

"The Wedding Ring, customarily put on during the marriage ceremony and worn continuously thereafter, had a phallic origin. In the Buddhistic hand sign of blessing, the thumb and index fingers are joined at the tips, forming a circle, symbolising the yoni, while the other three fingers (the middle, ring, and little fingers) are extended, symbolising...the male [genital] triad. When the ring is placed on the ring finger (the penis symbolised), it symbolises the union of the male and female; hence, through this symbolism, the wedding ring means marriage or union.''

Occultist and Mason, Manly Palmer Hall, asserts:

"The wedding ring originally was intended to imply that in the nature of the one who wore it the state of equilibrium and completion had been attained. This plain band of gold therefore bore witness of the union of the Higher Self (God) with the lower self (Nature) and the ceremony consummating this indissoluble blending of Divinity and humanity in the one nature of the initiated mystic constituted the hermetic marriage of the Mysteries.''

More about the wedding ring can be found in The Occult Sciences. There we find:

"It may be pointed out that wedding rings are a remnant of the magic rings. They are worn on the ring finger, because in chiromancy that finger corresponds to the heart. The husband will be master in the home, if, on placing it on his wife's finger, he is careful to push it right down.''

According to A Pictorial History of Magic and the Supernatural "Chiromancy is based on the cabbala ....

Also, chiromancy is another name for palmistry? This is a form of divination. For instance, Dictionary of Mysticism states: "Chiromancy: The art of divination from the shape, of the hand and fingers and the lines and other markings which appear on them.'' The World Book Encyclopaedia indicates under "palmistry": "It is sometimes called chiromancy. It is a combination of astrology and handreading See also fortune telling."

Of course, divination and astrology are strictly forbidden by the Scriptures in Deuteronomy 18:10-12. See also II Kings 17:17 and Acts 16:16 -- Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, pp. 300-303.