In the mid Sixties, the word “Om” or Aum” written out in Sanskrit was placed in posters, album records, flags and scribbled in the corners of Yearbook albums across America and Europe. The influence of India and the far eastern portions of Asia spread throughout global pop culture. The Moody Blues even wrote a song “Aum” in the finale of “In search of the Lost Chord” of their Threshold series.
Because the glyph seemed to be very simple, some tended to toss out the meaning as if it was candy. As our pop-culture moved on to other ideas and symbols, the Om stayed with many people, striking something very deep, and for good reason.
The Māndukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable. The syllable contains three phonemes, a, u and m, symbolizing the Three Vedas or the Hindu Trimurti (sacred texts) or the three stages of life (birth, life and death).
The Sanskrit name for the syllable is praṇava, from a root nu “to shout, sound, praise”, or: pra-nu- “to make a humming or droning sound”. The syllable aum is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity. All over India and Nepal, ‘aum‘ can be seen virtually everywhere. Before creation began it was “Shunyākāsha”, the emptiness or the void; meaning “no sky”, is more than nothingness, because everything then existed in a state of potentiality. The vibration of “AUM” symbolizes the manifestation of God. The mantra “AUM” is the vibration of the Supreme. When taken letter by letter, A-U-M represents the divine energy (Shakti) united in its three elementary aspects: Bhrahma Shakti (creation), Vishnu Shakti (preservation) and Shiva Shakti (liberation, and/or destruction).
The Word “OM” has achieved many uses: from statues to manuscripts to Hexes (written designs focused to manifest intent) and amulets. I created my own version of the Om Amulet by encasing it within a circle, to represent the cycles of change beginning and ending at the same place, only to start again: eternity. This amulet is for those who wish to be reminded of and/or wish to harness the depth of this “simple” symbol.
To learn more about the Om Amulet, please visit my Om Web Page
Amulets by Merlin's Blog 