Any ideas for the symbol of a god of wisdom?

[Orcus The Vile]

I'm working on a setting and I really can't think on a holy symbol for the God of wisdom and knowledge besides an owl. But I never liked that ideia owls are not that intelligent.

Also, I'm working on a God of peace any ideas for that?

[rooster707]

A long white beard.

[Ravens_cry]

An eye surrounded by a glowing nimbus., I'd say for wisdom. As for peace, a peace bonded sheathed sword? Or, if they represent a more militant peace, a broken sword.

[Orcus The Vile]

An eye surrounded by a glowing nimbus., I'd say for wisdom. As for peace, a peace bonded sheathed sword? Or, if they represent a more militant peace, a broken sword.

An eye sounds awesome. About the peace it is more like general peace. No violence and harmony. the only path that leads to true happiness is the way of peace.

Their cult also celebrates love in all forms.

Ironically there is a lot of conflicts inside the temple since the orthodox priests choose to be contemplative, quiet and solemn but the new reformers plan to popularise their God by preaching that peace should be celebrated with joy and love, not with solemnity. So they started filling the temples with sex, joy and frenzied celebrations. They stopped using white robes and cloaks and started dressing in a cheerful fashion.

[Arcane_Secrets]

I'm working on a setting and I really can't think on a holy symbol for the God of wisdom and knowledge besides an owl. But I never liked that ideia owls are not that intelligent.

How about an opened book (or other symbol of knowledge transference), or a stylized lantern with a beam of light coming out of it to symbolize knowledge? Perhaps spectacles?

Also, I'm working on a God of peace any ideas for that?

What about two hands joined like a handshake, or a blunted sword or weapon if the god/goddess you had in mind was once one that was previously violent and/or warlike, but renounced it and calls for their followers to do the same?

[Mr.Moron]

Wisdom:

An open book held up by an old man and young girl, an eye spans the space between the open page and a 3-pointed crown sits atop the eye. At each point of the crown is a different symbol, each representing something the individual or organization invoking the god believes represents wisdom.

Peace:

White silhouettes against a black background are on their knees impaled by swords. They are looking up, arms outstretched above them. The white of their arms merge together until they form an androgynous figure just outlined in black against a white background. The figure's arms are outstretched at it's sides, pushing away lion and hawk. Larger and more ornate versions with room for details will often draw ghostly faces within the figure outlined in grey and blue sometimes crying, sometimes relieved often a mix of the two.

[Templarkommando]

A dolphin

A mortarboard cap - supposedly a major part of medieval clerical dress.

Architecture implements - a square, compass, or plumb line

A Key or pair of keys (skeleton keys make the most sense to me)

A squirrel - because they save acorns for winter, not because they're crazy critters

A quill or any kind of stylus

Abacus

Sextant

An ant

A papyri scroll, or possibly reeds

A Fox

A mortar and pestle

A balance scale

Beakers and other alchemical glassware

Mathematic Formulas (probably not E=MC^2, but A^2+B^2 = C^2 might work)

A map of stars and constellations

Snakes

Olive Trees (Or just trees in general)

Another help might be to look up gods from real world mythologies to compare their symbols with.

[comicshorse]

Owl for Wisdom

Dove for Peace

[Amaril]

I'd think either an eye, a book, or a scroll for wisdom.

For peace, the one that comes to mind is two interlocked rings, representing bonds between people in all forms, whether peace, love, or marriage. I'm a fan of minimalist holy symbols.

[TheCountAlucard]

Ravens are terrifyingly intelligent - is it a surprise that Odin employed two?

[goto124]

I thought the crows are the really smart ones.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I thought the crows are the really smart ones.

Same thing, in this context. All crows (species actually called crow, but also ravens, jackdaws, rooks etc) and even all related corvids (jays and stuff) are smart. Some species excel a bit more than others. Jackdaws, despite their small size, have one of the more complex social structures. Ravens are good at problem solving and finding food, and New Caledonian Crows show an almost creepy understanding of tools. (As in: researchers had given two NC crows a hooked and a straight piece of steel wire and a little bucket of food in a small hole. The goal was to find out of they understood that they needed to use the hook to pull the bucket up. When the male flew of with the hooked wire, the female (Betty, if you're interested in looking up the video) proceeded to bend the straight wire into a hook and retrieved the food, despite never having worked with steel or any material like it before.)

Closer to the topic: when I read the title I immediately thought of either an owl or an eye. I also like the idea of just a circle. Wisdom is not about making things complicated. A simple symbol works better for me. The Yin-yang symbol for instance is a stronger visual trademark for wisdom than a full drawing of a book and a branch of a particular tree and etc etc would be.

[Closet_Skeleton]

How about an opened book (or other symbol of knowledge transference), or a stylized lantern with a beam of light coming out of it to symbolize knowledge? Perhaps spectacles?

How about a book, that's like, on fire, man. Then it would be like, a book and a candle, man.

Not a burning book, just one that's on fire but not burning because divinity.

Maybe you should work out other stuff about the deity and then make a symbol backwards from that?

A skull or severed head would also represent wisdom but be confusing.

[legomaster00156]

A skull or severed head would also represent wisdom but be confusing.

"... And we have skulls. Hans... are we the baddies?"

[Jeff the Green]

Maybe do something specific to the god, their story, and background? Like Bahamut is the god of Justice in D&D 4e, but his symbol is a shield with a dragon on it because he's a dragon.

In my setting the saint of scholarship's symbol is a tiny book held in a large hand, because he was a giant, and the saints of loyalty have two interlinked hearts, because they're based on the story of Damon and Pythias. The saint of rebirth and redemption has a bridge over a wailing spirit, because he's somewhat based on Zoroastrian eschatology, and his followers are believed to be able to cross the bridge over the Chasm of Death without fear of falling when the world ends.

[Jelly d6]

A hand holding a burning torch for wisdom. A lighthouse would work too, but it'd be less recognizable in a simplified form.

A rainbow for piece.

[TheCountAlucard]

A lighthouse would work too, but it'd be less recognizable in a simplified form.

Kervan had egg on their face after that one, for sure!

[MrConsideration]

A globe? (Representing knowledge)

An eagle? (Representing the sky, ascension, imperial iconography)

A serpent? (These were symbols of wisdom in Renaissance portraiture).

An aged figure - the Odinic Wanderer - complete with a beard, staff and knowing smile?

A tree? (Representing growth, the natural world)

Some kind of scientific device? A telescope or flask or something?

Something from this painting?

[Beleriphon]

I'm working on a setting and I really can't think on a holy symbol for the God of wisdom and knowledge besides an owl. But I never liked that ideia owls are not that intelligent.

Its the associate with Athena that does it. As for symbols and eye, an open book, rising sun (casting the dawn light upon the unaware), a club (the school of hard knocks), or anything else that makes sense to the perspective of where wisdom comes from. The thing to keep in mind is that in the real world icons and symbols that are associate with divinity are usually associate with the divine because they are associated with a story about how a particular divine event occurred, or where it occurred. Christian symbols by and large without the context of the crucifixion don't mean much on their own, the same with Islam, Judiasm, Bhuddism or any religion.

Also, I'm working on a God of peace any ideas for that?

Flowers, doves, wreathes, olive branches, ankhs, an open palm or really anything that is associated with life or preserving life.

Here's a fairly complete list of different symbols and icons with associate meaning and source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symbols <---- This one is pretty much exhaustive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemical_symbol

[NNescio]

As mentioned, owls are associated with wisdom because of Athena/Minerva, the Greek (and later appropriated by the Romans) goddess and personification of Wisdom. Owls are her sacred creature, so it can be considered a holy symbol of hers.

You could use other symbols. Fishes are Celtic, Sumerian, and to some extent Christian symbols of wisdom.

The Seal of Solomon could also work, after Solomon, the Wise King.

Ravens may also work--they can be considered symbols of Odin.

There's Sia, who can be considered the (ancient) Egyptian God of Wisdom (or perception). His symbol is the papyrus scroll.

The Endless Know can be considered a symbol of wisdom in Buddhism.

If you want to go with a more secular example, you can go with something symbolizing Plato. Allegory of the Cave might be hard to put in a simple symbol form. Go with platonic solids instead. I suggest the Icosahedron.

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[Beleriphon]

If you want to go with a more secular example, you can go with something symbolizing Plato. Allegory of the Cave might be hard to put in a simple symbol form. Go with platonic solids instead. I suggest the Icosahedron.

Spoiler

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It's a D20.

That sir is a great idea. I like nice simple geometric forms that can be made much more ornate if one chooses are great.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Christian symbols by and large without the context of the crucifixion don't mean much on their own, the same with Islam, Judiasm, Bhuddism or any religion.

Technically, most symbols only exist because the Christians had one and assumed that everyone else should have one. Most of the ones we use today are less than 200 years old in their current uses despite being based on ancient symbols most of which pre-date the religion they're currently assigned to. The idea that all deities need a symbol hasn't applied consistently across history.

Religions also love borrowing symbols from other religions.

For a god of knowledge, I'd steal the compass symbol the Freemasons use (aka the only true Masonic symbol, every other so called Masonic symbol being a older one that the Masons have used but is in no way unique to them). That would work well for a scientific wisdom deity.

But not all forms of wisdom are supposed to be scientific or about knowledge. For a more intrinsic or purely rational form of wisdom I'd go with an animal and avoid anything book or teaching related.

Snakes have already been suggested, but the horned or bearded snake is a specific variant often associated with guardian spirits that could give quite a sage like impression.

You can never go wrong with a creepy disembodied eye, but that could easily represent just about anything.

Fishes are Celtic, Sumerian, and to some extent Christian symbols of wisdom.

Technically the Sumerians had a group of sages in a variety of animal outfits, it was the Babylonians who mostly ditched the non-fish ones. Lots of people just get confused because the Babylonians continued to use the Sumerian language after Sumer became a non-entity and the gaps in old Sumerian records often have to be filled with later Assyrian and Babylonian Frog DNA info.

[Zrak]

Well, Assyrian Frog DNA is the name of my next short-lived crossover thrash band.

If you like the idea of geometric symbols, there's always a diagram of interlocking triangles, which gets you both geometry and connections to Pythagoras and thus real-world mystical connotations. Also, it's a nice mix between minimalism (being line drawings of simple geometric shapes) and uniqueness.

[Orcus The Vile]

I really liked the Endless Knot.

I can't use snakes or torches since I will already used for other deities. But they are good ideias.

I think i will end up using an eye in a hexagon for wisdom and a feather in a heart for peace.

I also prefer minimalist holy symbols.

Thanks for the help.

[sktarq]

Another dead simple one that would be good are stars or the moon for they cast light in the dark places.

[mikeejimbo]

I think a fascis would be a good one for a god of peace. Not so much love and joy though.

[sktarq]

I think a fascis would be a good one for a god of peace. Not so much love and joy though.

Peace by beating and execution of dissent? Huh-its a theme.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I think a fascis would be a good one for a god of peace. Not so much love and joy though.

Not really. It might work as a symbol of unity (that's more true for the related clutch of arrows but it could just as easily apply to the fasces), but unity and peace are very different. World/universal unity might mean world peace but there's nothing that suggests universality in a mere bundle of a few objects.

A wreath might work, since the entwined reeds would be like a fasces/bundle of arrows but the circular shape could imply universality. Or a ball of string, which would be like a round fasces.

[sktarq]

What peace through strength was a major theme in the history of the world. The fascis would make a fine symbol of a LE god/ess of peace through brutal repression of any who disturbed it. Very Pax Romana-which would be the point.

[Reltzik]

You'd probably want some symbol that references the mythology surrounding the god (ie, something related to a particularly clever thing she/he did), or part of the following's spiritual practices (such as the silhouette of someone meditating).

But barring that, how about a disassembled puzzle ring?

EDIT-ADDITION: Oooh, Wikipedia relates a legend that the puzzle ring was invented to prevent adultery, as someone who removed it to have an affair would have difficult reassembling it before getting caught. I'm imagining this wisdom deity being married to a trickster deity, with a constant battle of wits where the deity of wisdom tries to come up with clever ways of curtailing the trickster, and the trickster keeps trying to find ways out of them.