Jesus Fish - explanation for all those who seemed to think I was making a joke?

Question

A few minutes ago I answered a question about the symbology of the "Jesus Fish." I said it was a vagina. Apparently, many thought I was making a rude joke.

The following excerpt is taken from http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/fish/fish.html

"Neo-pagans are often quick to point out, that the fish is not a Christian owned symbol at all, but was derived from a sexually related image. The fish symbol was often drawn by overlapping two thin crescent moons, signifying a woman's cycle. (See also Lunate Cross.)

In Babylonian mythology, a fish pushed a giant egg out of the river Euphrates, and from this egg emerged the mermaid and fertility goddess of the seas, Atargatis. The son of Atargatis was named Ichthys. There are a few other Pagan goddesses and gods that manifest themselves as dolphin, fish or other sea creature, and most seem to be connected with sexuality. The oval outline of a fish was compared to the shape of the womb.

Answer 1

all religious symbology has its roots in paganism or ancient religion.

Answer 2

Oh the God-haters will love this one. They're probably jumping for joy saying "Yay! We can finally add another item to our repertoire of anti-christian things, and think we're getting somewhere!" Head still in the sand eh?

This is the part of the website that I noticed most:
So is the fish symbol Christian, or is it from a much older religion such as Paganism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Hinduism?

Whether the Christians copied it or developed it independently, is not important. (I mean, it's really not important.) Here, we can reveal to you that the true and original meaning of the fish symbol has always been...

Answer 3

Yeah, it would have nothing to do with the fact that most of the apostles were fishermen, right? THAT'S were the "Jesus fish" symbolism comes from. Jesus asked Peter to become "A fisher of men." Get it?!

See, if Jesus had traveled through, say, Southern Italy, and most of the apostles owned pizza shops, then perhaps one of the symbols for Jesus would be a pepperoni pizza!

Answer 4

The womb is not the vagina and the woman's cycle is likewise not the vagina. But thanks for clarifying your position... wish you had done that on your answer. Anyway, the icthys answer was new to me, and so it was very interesting, too. Guess you better get your body parts straight... and now i've got the fish symbol straight... LOL :)

Answer 5

Actually, It was a way for Christians to check other people they met on the trail....to make sure that they weren't pagans or such...one would draw half the fish and the other, if they knew the ritual, would draw the other half... It represents" God, Son of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit" God Bless

Answer 6

Ah, another entry on the list of Christianized Pagan things.

Answer 7

I was aware of that already. Also the symbol on the Chalice Well is referred to as the vesica pisces (not sure if I spelled that right). Also, I'm aware that guys make reference to certain parts of the female anatomy having a similar smell.

Answer 8

you are correct the fish is pieces symbol in astrology it is a feminine sign it is the last sign of the zodiac the name and symbol are female sexuality in the highest form of kundalini energy ginving rise to intuition and mysticism

Nothing new in the Jesus cult. It took over paganism ruthlessly, violently, to promote itself.
It adopted the symbols of the culture and renamed them.

Answer 9

cool! i always thought christians were a bunch of c**** - nice to know there's evidence out there!

aren't the lil hearts we draw originally symbolic of the vagina?i can't remember where i heard that(but certainly seems more likely than anything 'cardiological')...enlighten us o fountain of nether-regional knowledge

=)

Answer 10

John 4:24 - God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

No symbols required.