Bringing To Light The “Holy Emojis” On our Phones

Did you know that your smartphone is a treasure trove of religious symbolism and timeless spirituality?

A couple of months ago I went into the WeChat app on my phone to wish a Chinese friend a Happy (Chinese) New Year. Given that 2016 is the year of the Fire Monkey, I thought of including a monkey emoji in my message. Did I find one on my emoji keypad? Of course I did. But my friend then trumped me with his ‘shower’ of monkeys all over my screen!

Point being: there is hardly a major world religion or faith symbol of any kind that isn’t on our emoji keypad. Even the Atom Symbol emoji adopted by the atheist community is represented. How cool is that?

But cooler still is that it is no fluke. Religious diversity is an intentional goal for the Unicode Consortium, a global organization that governs Unicode Standard in “Emojiland.” And you thought it was the Apple Inc. nerds having fun on their coffee breaks? Nope!

Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipdeia, told The Huffington Post that certain religious icons (such as the Latin and Orthodox Crosses and the Wheel of Dharma) were part of the Unicode Standard prior to the birth of emojis in 2010.

Here are a few more deeply spiritual icons you may not realize you have on your phone:

The Kaaba is a sacred shrine located in Mecca, a city in western Saudi Arabia. A pilgrimage to Mecca is the fifth pillar of Islam. Muslims are encouraged to make the trip to the shrine at least once in their lifetimes.

Ha! And I thought this was a cool Halloween mask. Nope. This Namahage Ogre in Japanese folklore has a supernatural role. Traditionally, men dress as namahage on New Year’s Eve to ward off evil spirits from people’s homes.

Two hands, placed firmly together, can mean please or thank you in Japanese culture. Other meanings include prayer/praying hands, or a high-five.

This is the one I invariably turn to when sending out those prayer intentions . .

The dove is an ancient symbol of peace in many traditions. In the Biblical story of Noah and the flood, when a dove returned to the ark with an olive branch in its beak, Noah interpreted this as a sign of God’s favor — the calamity had passed.

As well as being symbolic and educational icons, these spiritual emojis could, if used sensitively and respectfully, be agents of healing and peace in our many inter-religious text dialogues. At least they will be for me from now on!

Cover Photo: betches.com

Insert Image: Pixabay