The other day, I was stopped behind a fancy Cadillac-like car with a sticker over the rear window brake light that said “Follow the Prophet.” Living in Utah, I see that frequently and it is generally accompanied by other stickers that say things like “LDS” or “Happiness is Family Home Evening” or “Families are Forever” and, if there is a series of people stickers representing their family, there is one dad, one mom (in that order), and a plethora of children.
As far as I know, and I’m really willing to be wrong on this (so if I am, please let me know and I’ll make a correction), there are no other religions that refer to their current leader as “prophet.” They may use terms like guru or elder, but I’ve never heard of their modern day leaders being hailed as “prophet.” And, with growing up here in Utah, my exposure to the terminology “Follow the Prophet” has been decidedly Mormon. Because of that predisposition and the feel of the car, I surmise they are LDS.
The rear window also boasted a display of vinyl star stickers. For a few moments, their existence caught me off guard and I couldn’t understand why they were there or what they were. There was something “different” about them that made it so they came across as sorta-stars, but not quite. And, at first, they seemed arbitrary. Then, I stared at them for a bit longer, trying to understand why they were there and what they meant. I then realized they were actually placed on the window in the shape of the Big Dipper and the North Star. Then I noticed that the North Star was placed so that, when you are directly behind this car as I was, the North Star perfectly aligned with the center of the driver’s head.
My brain had all kinds of fun making up stories for that.
However, what really caught my eyes were the stars themselves. I felt confused about the stars because they were not 5-pointed stars, that would just be everyday, run of the mill stars. They weren’t even the recognizable 6-pointed stars, that could be confused with the Star of David. But rather, these stars had SEVEN points.
Something about these stars stuck in my brain. They felt familiar and, because of the seemingly emphatic choice to use 7-pointed stars, I started researching. Honestly, I was curious if the 7-point star was significant in the religion of which I was once a member. I knew there were stars on the Salt Lake temple, all over it in fact. There is even an image of the Big Dipper embossed on one of the turrets. So, perhaps I had missed something and those stars were actually 7-point stars and I just hadn’t paid attention.
In my research, I did discover that Mormons do have star symbology in their religion. The 8-point star, known to be the “seal of Melchizedek,” is found throughout some of their temples and is prominently displayed on the glass doors entering the Salt Lake temple. Okay… so there is some “star stuff” within the Mormon religion, but nothing about 7-pointed stars and Mormonism, so I searched deeper.
The star seemed significant somehow and I thought I had seen it before in relation to religion. At one point, as I was choosing to leave the LDS church, I did research other spiritual practices. I never aligned with any particular religion and chose, rather, to stay solitary with my one-on-one connection with God, instead of going into the confines of another religion. One of the spiritual practices I looked into a lot – and probably resonate the most closely with – is Wicca.
Within moments, my research uncovered why the 7-pointed star felt familiar to me. It is important to and associated with Wicca and that is where I had seen it. Some know it as the Faerie Star and it represents the directions from which magick comes – North, South, East, West, Above, Below, and Within. Some sources call it the Elven Star and has been associated with the original Tarot cards and divination.
I’m fairly certain that the white-haired, proper-appearing lady driving the car had no idea that she had several Wiccan symbols on her window. And I realize that not many people would even bother to question it like I did, but my investigation started with the question, “How would I design that ‘Follow the Prophet’ sticker better?” My designer eyes took over and started looking at everything there was to see and then, I realized my confusion.
My research on the 7-point star was straight-forward and simple to do. With the advent of the internet, information can be found at the drop of a pin. When you’re picking a logo for your business, or an image to speak a message to those who see it, or a sticker (or series of stickers) for your car, it’s imperative that you know what those symbols mean. Glyphics, letters, icons… they all have meaning and energy associated with them. Whether or not the car owners were Mormon, their signage was, upon deeper perusal, very confusing and misleading. Be certain that the message you are sending is actually the message you want to send.
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I always welcome your thoughts, questions, and comments. Feel free to jot down what you’re thinking in the comment box below.
