Indian symbolism
 

When tidying up a bit to day, I found an old note. It is not dated and I have not written from where I have it, but it says as follows. “ The lotus means purity, but according to how it is made it can also be an interlocking knot, meant to symbolize a ‘net’ to trap the evil eye, by dazzling it with complexity, and then entangling it.

Five dots, one at each corner and one on the middle are ‘khamsa’ patterns, to blind the evil eye.

It is clear to me that not only had colours their symbolism and meaning, but flowers and other forms of decoration as well - although they were also used for decoration.

Ariel has on another thread told something about the symbolism of metals.

The hamsa hand (Arabic) or hamesh hand (Hebrew) is an old symbol for magical protection from the envious or evil eye. The words hamsa and hamesh mean "five" and refer to the digits on the hand. An alternative Islamic name for associated hand symbol is the Hand of Fatima, in reference to the daughter of Mohammed. An alternative Jewish name for it is the Hand of Miriam, in reference to the sister of Moses and Aaron.