Symbolism

Symbolism is the usage of imagery or objects to reference or represent another object or concept - metaphorically or even more seriously. Examples include a crucifixion cross representing Christianity, a set of square and compasses referencing the Freemasons (Illuminati), the pentagram referencing Paganism (Illuminati), the tomoe[1] representing Japanese culture (Illuminati), and the Google Chrome logo representing ... uh... Google Chrome (666/Illuminati). One should not confuse symbolism with the art-movement Symbolism[2] that developed in the late-19th century as a reaction against the naturalism and realism movements.

Some dare call it
Conspiracy
What THEY don't want
you to know!
Sheeple wakers
v - t - e

The practice of associating images and objects and ideas forms a major part of the rich tapestry of every human culture (perhaps of some more than of others...[3][4]).

Symbolism saturates art. And literature. And mathematics. And superstition. And religion. And everyday existence (commonly dubbed "life"). Happy hunting!

Conspiracies

In conspiracies, everything is a symbol, even something as simple as covering one of your eyes. Symbolism is often shoehorned into everything including Video Games, Music Videos, and every celebrity. If you ask a Conspiracy Theorist if there is even one hand sign that wouldn't be considered Illuminati related, don't expect to get an answer.

A-ok

It used to only mean exactly that. But use it in front of the wrong person, and they'll think you support the Loominarty.[5]👌👌👌

V-Sign

Whale.to decided to make a Pseudohistory about it.[6]

Any signs involving two hands.

Sorry, NarutoFile:Wikipedia's W.svg fans!

Also sorry to:

Jay-ZFile:Wikipedia's W.svg fans, S3RLFile:Wikipedia's W.svg fans, most modern Pop fans, etc.

Covering either your eyes

Bonus points if you do the A-Ok sign at the same time!

Rock-On

They're apparently the Devil's Horns.

Why they're everywhere

Genetic fallacy. The meanings for symbols change and vary constantly. Just because the Egyptians used an eye to signify Ra doesn't mean the Eye of Providence has anything to do with Egypt. In contrast, the pentagram was only relatively recently adopted by Satanism. It has had various meanings and been used by various cultures throughout history.

gollark: Silly people with iPhones.
gollark: https://github.com/termux/termux-app/issues/1072
gollark: Not iOS ones, mostly, and unfortunately Google seems to be trying to kill them (or, well, is doing that indirectly).
gollark: Although it would be very slow.
gollark: I bet you can get ffmpeg on phones somehow.

TV Tropes has a great article about this.Try not to crash your browser while you check it out.

References
  1. See the Wikipedia article on tomoe.
  2. See the Wikipedia article on Symbolism (arts).
  3. Vanderburg, Willem H. (2016). The Growth of Minds and Culture: A Unified Interpretation of the Structure of Human Experience (2 ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. xxi - xxii. ISBN 9781487520342. Retrieved 30 June 2020. "[...] symbolic cultures implicitly and explicitly recognized that every human group or society contributed to, and was an integral part of, a local world in which everything was related to everything else and evolved in relation to everything else.
    Through our discipline-based approaches to human knowing and doing, we gained an almost unlimited ability to improve everything on its own terms by playing down its dependence on everything else. [...] In contrast to all this, symbolic cultures are based on understanding everything in relation to everything else and on dealing with things in terms of the contributions they make to that interconnectedness [...]. To summarize, [...] symbolic cultures and discipline-based approaches to understanding human life and the world are diametrically opposite. It is possible that this chasm could be bridged - but that is not the path our civilization has chosen."
  4. Champion, Erik (2010). "Cultural and Social Presence". Playing with the Past. London: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 75. ISBN 9781849965019. Retrieved 30 June 2020. "In order to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural learning there needs to be a measure of the cultural 'immersivity' of a virtual heritage environment. [...] Hermeneutic richness may allow awareness of Cultural Presence, or awareness of one's own ability to express oneself symbolically to oneself or to others [...]."
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjKiS7fXGao
  6. http://www.whale.to/b/v_s.html
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