The image at the top of this page is a computer paint program rendering of the central symbol of the Dran Rashar for this time. This symbol is known by a few names, the most common of which is "The Visolun" (pronounced vee SOL un, with "u" pronounced as in could.) It is not perfectly drawn, nor exactly to the ideal scale, and it is not always necessary to have the exact scale for the symbol. I have, however, attempted to keep the scale of the image to what it should accurately be.

The description and the drawing

The symbol consists of two eyes which are equal in size and shape to one another, and distance between them is equal to the size of one of the eyes. Both eyes have eyelids which are of equal size, being only a small portion of the upper eye (experienced symbol artists have special math they use for proportions of lid size to eye size, but we won't go into that here as it's not vital. It is often even drawn without visible eyelids.) The eye that appears on the left of the page (the right eye facing us) contains a sun. The sun is always gold or yellow in color for the Earth's sun, and it always has 9 rays/points. The outline of this eye and its lid are drawn in violet. This eye has 4 lashes on it, two on the left, and two on the right which are at opposing angles to those on the left. Next to it is an equal eye, drawn in Indigo or dark blue with a slightly smaller circle (about 3/4, but if you want to be specific it's actually 7/9 the size most often, while some will go so far as to do actual proportions between the Earth's sun and the Earth's moon) drawn mostly in black, representing the moon. Inside of it is a waxing crescent moon, drawn in silver with that portion of the outer circle also being silver, which moon phase is commonly called "Diana's Bow" when it is seen in the night sky. This eye has 5 lashes on it, two on the right, one in the middle, and two on the left which are at opposing angles to the lashes on the right. The sun and moon symbols may or may not be shaded in with their same colors. Between the eyes, and a little above them, is a six pointed star. While this star resembles the Star of David, it is not; however, it is believed by Dran Rashar scholars that the two symbols, the Dran Rashar and the Hebrew use of the 6 pointed star, may have a related history. It is important to draw this star correctly, using only upward strokes of the pen for the 4 verticle lines. Start out by making a dot, a point, exactly between the eyes, slightly above the level of the corners of the eyes. Make another point directly above that one, using the height of the eyes to match the distance between the two dots. Draw 2 lines at opposing 30 degree angles, up from the bottom point, ending slightly below the height of the upper point, making a "V" shape. Guage two more opposing 30 degree angles from the upper point going down, to make an inverted "V" shape, but draw them up towards the point, not down away from it. Of course, make sure the bottom end of each of those lines is higher than the original low point you made. Then, complete the star by drawing horizontal lines, starting at the lower right quadrant ( the quadrant nearest to the eye with the moon,) and ending in the upper right quadrant, moving clockwise around the star. If the symbol is being drawn in color, the "V" and inverted "V" of the star are frequently drawn in gold, and the horizontal lines are frequently drawn in silver. The star is often colored in, usually with crimson in the central diamond and indigo for the outer points, but it is just as often drawn with other symbols inside the star and without any shading or with other colors which are significant for the wearer. A common variation is to have markings around the "right eye" (the one with the sun) similar to those around the Eye of Horus symbol.

The Meaning

The entire meaning of this symbol could fill volumes of books, and much of it remains within the Dran Rashar Mysteries. However, the basics are easy enough to explain.

The two eyes represent the right eye and the left eye of the Divine, the eyes of God. They are ever watchful over humanity. The sun and the moon represent the rulers of the sky, reflections of the Divine in the sky. As sky people, the sun and the moon are particularly important to the Dran Rashar. Important in a different way are stars, and the 6 pointed star in this symbol represents the Dran Rashar connection to the stars. It is also a holy symbol, representing that we are dedicated to Holiness. The numbers 3, 7 and 9 are powerful numbers with special meaning to the Dran Rashar.

Use

This symbol is worn in many places by Dran Rashar. It is often worn as a tattoo, either permanent or temporary. The Visolun is also present on the scarves of Dran Rashar priests (men and women.) (do not use the image copy above for embroidery, too many lines were fuzzed when changing from a bitmap to a jpeg, and the program I used to draw it doesn't render smoothe enough lines. I hope to have a better version available in the future.) When a scarf is worn around the waist as a sash, the symbol appears front and center. When it is worn across one shoulder and the chest as a sash, the symbol appears across the portion of the sash which crosses the heart. When the scarf is worn around the neck, the symbol appears on the back of the neck of the scarf, and often a smaller version on the lower ends of the scarf. Dran Rashar may wear this symbol in many ways and places, and may use other holy power symbols anywhere on their person, including with the Visolun.

The Swastika

The swastika is an ancient power symbol for sky people, and has special meaning to the Dran Rashar. Unfortunately, the National Socialist Party, the "Nazis," have abused this symbol since the early 1900's, and in western society its use is mostly associated with such evil. Thus, western Dran Rashar rarely wear the swastika anymore. This is very unfortunate, but it is for understandable reasons given the association with hate and evil in the West. Dran Rashar who do still use the symbol today will usually hide it somewhere and/or will most often use a stylized version of the swastika, such as those used by Hindus or Native Americans, to differentiate from the one used by hate groups. An interesting note is that the swastika used to be the most common symbol found in the center of the 6 pointed star of the Dran Rashar.

Sontet

The name for the star in the middle of the Visolun is "The Sontet" or "The Sontetsu." While it has other names, this is the most commonly used name for it. The name refers to a legendary star by that name in Dran Rashar oral tradition. The star represents a Holy place to the Dran Rashar, and it is used, in part, to remind us to always live Holy, as if to be worthy to live there. The Sontetsu actually represents many things, such as the Compass Star below, but it is the Holy place I mentioned that Dran Rashar most think of when seeing that symbol.

The Compass Star

The Compass Star is a 3-dimensional object, which may be represented two dimensionally on clothing or elsewhere. It has 4 points representing the cardinal directions and two points going up and down. We no longer have the original Compass Star, and making a replacement is something which is not possible at this time. Some versions of it which have been made in the past also had points representing the ordinal directions, but this is less common. The Sontet, which has many influences, is also one version of a two dimensional representation of the Compass Star, and there is even a story tying the two symbols together wherein an ancient version of the compass star was used to find the place the Sontet represents. Another important meaning of the Compass star is that The Star People (The Dran Rashar) will go wherever the Divine sends us, which can be in any direction. It also represents that sometimes one needs to think at new angles to solve a problem, and there was once a school of thought which taught problem solving based upon it.

Other Stars

Many other stars are used as symbols by the Dran Rashar. The 5 pointed star may represent humanity (it has the rough shape of a person) or a deity, the planet Venus, a star, the 5 basic elements of life (Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit in Western traditions,) or a number of other things, depending on the individual wearing it. 7 pointed stars and 9 pointed stars represent The Divine in various aspects to the Dran Rashar. You may also see layered stars, stars with rays instead of points, and any other number of star configurations used by Dran Rashar priests and priestesses.

The Ankh

There is nothing really too different about the Dran Rashar use of the Ankh and the ancient-Egyptian use of the Ankh. Simply, it is a representation of life, of the cycle of life, and of eternal life. There are many wonderful guides to the meaning behind each element of the Ankh, and I will not endeavor to recreate one here. It is another very common symbol used by Dran Rashar.

The Cross

There may be varied use of the cross as a symbol by Dran Rashar, but the most common of these is as a representation of the 4 cardinal directions. It is most often bisected by another cross at a 45 degree angle to the first one, to represent the ordinal directions. Its use is similar to that of the Compass Star, while having many more applications as well. We do not celebrate the death of anyone, only life. Thus, we celebrate the life and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus,) not his death, and we do not use the cross to represent his, nor anyone else's, torture and death. The Dran Rashar do not usually use a crucifix, while we respect the use of it by others.

Trees

There are myriad tree symbols employed by various Dran Rashar individuals. Trees are very sacred to the Dran Rashar, representing a connection between Earth and Sky. Poetically and spiritually, it is often said that trees are the Earth Mother reaching up to touch the Sky Father. Common tree symbols represent willow trees, giant sequoia redwoods or other redwoods, oaks (different symbols for different varieties, with black oak and live oak being most commonly used,) birch trees, Yew trees, and Giant Saguaro Cacti (an "honorary" tree.) Symbols used come from many cultures, or from traditional symbols Dran Rashar use for those trees. Most often, we just use a simple drawing of the tree itself.