Vesica Piscis Fish bladder; vesica was used for a variety of receptacles and may be translated receptacle, so that the term may be rendered, the receptacle of the Christ. In ecclesiastical art, an aureole or glory shaped like a pointed oval, consisting of the intercepted arcs of two equal circles whose circumferences pass through their respective centers; a geometrically conventionalized variant of an earlier fish symbol, a well-known emblem of the mystical Christ, being a symbol of world saviors in general, likewise of the end of a cycle and the inauguration of another, of floods, and of the last sign of the zodiac. Frequently found in the Roman catacombs, it is seen surrounding the figures of sacred persons such as Jesus or the Virgin Mary. It stands for the mystic Mother, and is connected with the cosmic Virgin; the oval shape and its representation as an aureole surrounding the figure suggests the symbol of the egg.
The vesica piscis is an instance of a large class of highly involved and entangled mystical emblems, where the phallic aspect seems to dog the footsteps of attempts to depict highly spiritual, deeply profound facts. The human mind, so desirous of making graphic emblems of purely abstract realities, sooner or later loses sight of the abstract truth, so that only the picture itself remains. See also
ICHTHYS
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