# Symbolism for "Order"



## Abbas-Al-Morim (Sep 10, 2013)

So in my world, I have this very interesting religion called *Orderism*. Surprisingly, the pantheon of Orderism counts zero gods. Instead, doctrine goes like this:

It's the duty of people to change the world (this change is called the *Grand Reformation*, a slow but steady progress to perfection) to achieve the *Grand Order*. The Grand Order is _the way things should be_. If the Grand Order is achieved, we will live in the *Promised World* - a perfect world where everyone is happy. _It's basically what if Buddhism met 1984?_

There are many traditions in this religion (like in Christianity we've got Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Coptic and hundreds of _heresies_ such as Iconoclasm, Lollardy, Catharism, Gnosticism etc.). The Orthodox Parish is the most powerful and centralized tradition which advocates violent oppression of heresy and foreign religions. 

I've got a lot more lore and details about Orderism but right now, I'm trying to design a lay-out for temples. Catholic churches are built according to a certain play in the shape of a cross. I'm trying to design something similar and recognizable for my religion, to add a little flavor to my cities and settlements. 

So what I'm asking is, what shapes/animals/colors/... do you associate with order (as in the opposite of chaos)?

The emblem for the religion so far is a wheel (like a Buddhist wheel) signifying progress, and a rising sun (located in the wheel) signifying a new world. So basically it means progress towards a new world. Which is what the religion is all about. 

But I'm looking for more, and something more associated with order. Any input?


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## yachtcaptcolby (Sep 10, 2013)

The first thing that comes to mind is mathematics and number theory. Maybe you could arrange the seats or other decor to match a sequence of numbers. Maybe there's one seat in the first row, two in the second, three in the third, and so on and so forth. Maybe the candles or wall sconces are placed according to a Fibonacci sequence. You could also use the properties of a circle, given that you're using a wheel as Orderism's symbol.


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## Lawfire (Sep 10, 2013)

I also thought of numbers. Perhaps there is a single number that would be sacred for some reason. I'm thinking eight, as it is written with a single stroke, and it resembles the symbol for infinity. It also could symbolize two wheels (gears) working in order. You could have eight sided temples, eight groups of 8x8 seating, eight candles...etc...

Just a thought.


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## skip.knox (Sep 10, 2013)

The Greeks held that the perfect shape was a circle. 
A square also works well and is easier to pull off, architecturally. A circular dome over a square foundation could be nice (squaring the circle). 

You might look to numerology for some interesting angles. And, more generally, pick up a book or two on Renaissance architecture. Those guys were all about symbolism and order (Palladius, for example).


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## johnsonjoshuak (Sep 10, 2013)

Lawfire said:


> I'm thinking eight, as it is written with a single stroke, and it resembles the symbol for infinity. It also could symbolize two wheels (gears) working in order.



This is pretty much awesome.

If my biblical numerology holds, Eight is also the number of New Beginnings. So a new world?


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## Svrtnsse (Sep 10, 2013)

I'm also thinking Fibonacci. If you put that into a google image search you should get a fair number of interesting results on how that's represented graphically (a spiral).

You also have the Sierpinski Triangle, which may very well be used for great effect too.

You could also do something with fractals to imply that even in chaos there is order.


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## Lawfire (Sep 10, 2013)

Further thought on the 'eight,' the more elaborate temples could be two perfect circles joined to form an 8.


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## Nobby (Sep 10, 2013)

I think you are looking for the Golden Mean (or ratio, OR proportion...it goes on), and oddly enough (like a lot of maths) it can be found both in nature and in human architecture. How about a Chrysanthemum styled dome of stone with a clear glass heart?


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## Svrtnsse (Sep 10, 2013)

They should also be playing Go.


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## Abbas-Al-Morim (Sep 11, 2013)

Great suggestions all, thanks!


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## DameiThiessen (Oct 1, 2013)

In Egyptian astrology, Libra was referred to as The Horizon. In their myths are tales of souls being gathered throughout the day by the sun god, Benu, and taken to the underworld at sunset. There their souls were weighed against a feather to determine their worth. 








The modern symbol of Libra is a pair of scales, the glyphs resembling such. The scales are a universal symbol of order because they represent justice and equality. Perhaps something along these lines would work? What does order represent in your story?


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## sarasvati (Oct 1, 2013)

If you were looking for an animal that represented order, I would suggest some type of insect. Social insects are actually more organized in their society structures than any species of mammal. Bees, for example, with their hierarchy of the Queen over the Workers, run their hives very smoothly, with each individual playing a role in the larger part. Bees also construct geometrically even hexagonal grids, which are favored for efficiency and structural strength. The hexagon is found many places in nature because of this. And just watching how bees work would give you a very strong impression of order.

The hexagonal theme would be easy to use in your temple architecture. A temple modeled after a hive, with a hexagonal grid, might be adapted into an ever-evolving structure. The temple could grow to meet the needs of the congregation over time, instead of a single static structure that has to be torn down and rebuilt it gets too small.


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