The Story Behind The Snowflake

The Story Behind The Snowflake

When you see a young girl in winter wearing earrings or a pendant made in the shape of a snowflake, what would your first thought be? Is there any symbol behind the snowflake or is this just another new thing in fashion? If you look into it a little deeper, you'll be surprised that even an innocent looking snowflake has not escaped the symbol stamping practice of man.

For people living in countries where it snows, the first sign of the arrival of winter is usually the fall of the first snowflakes. There is really nothing like watching the snowflakes swirling down from the sky and falling silently on the ground, mysteriously covering the land with a white blanket. It's a delightful feeling to have a snowflake fall on your spread palm or even on the tip of your tongue as many have tried. Man, observing the snowflakes, came up with many meanings and embed many symbols behind the sky-borne ice crystals.

One obvious association based on the whiteness of the snow and its falling straight from the sky without touching anything before reaching the earth is of course immaculateness and purity. This sense of purity can be felt just by looking at an even once familiar land now covered with snow. The snowflake also symbolizes individuality as one very striking fact about snowflakes is that no two snowflakes are exactly identical. This is so because the water molecules which make up the snowflake grow in different rates and patterns depending on the temperature and humidity as they descend the earth. Many attempts were made to find two identical snowflakes by taking thousand of pictures of the snowflakes.

Another thing the snowflakes represent is perfection as they are found to have perfect geometric forms. Snowflakes possess a hexagonal symmetry of six roughly equal arms. Snowflakes also represent serenity and tranquility. Think how tranquil it is just to look outside the window and watch the snowflakes falling silently. It goes very well with the peace that the season brings. And speaking of the season, snowflakes also symbolizes the most popular image of the season - Christmas. This is evident by the silver and white snowflakes on display windows, wrapping papers, and Christmas cards that you can see at Christmas time.

This time when you see a snowflake swirling down from heaven or dangling on the ear of a beautiful girl, take another look. It may still contain meanings that you have never seen before.