Skip to content

Spiritual Meaning Of Gourd

In this article, we will discuss the spiritual meaning of gourd, ash gourd in dream meaning and seeing ridge gourd in dream. People are not perfect. So, exist any spiritual meaning of gourd to be perfectly human. It is normal. Thus, they have time to time totally make mistakes and fool themselves at times resulting in hurting others or being hurt themselves. A person should learn a lesson of gourd each day of his life to be a spiritually balanced person in the society. There are many people who want to know about spiritual meaning of gourd in simple form so that they may easily grab the knowledge. I Gourd is the common name for a large, hardy and usually dry fruit with a thin, papery shell. Gourds are most easily identified by their coarse, thick, unevenly shaped outer shell. The gourd family there are many species of gourds in the world. They are native to various parts of Africa, Asia and America. Gourds are used for many different things such as containers and musical instruments.

You may find it hard to access the right information on the internet, so we are here to help you in the following article, providing the best and updated information on spiritual meaning of gourd . Read on to learn more. We at Churchgists have all the information that you need about spiritual meaning of gourd .

Spiritual Meaning Of Gourd

Bottle gourd is the common name for the calabash. It has a multitude of uses and is considered extremely auspicious in both Chinese and Japanese cultures.

“” The gourd may also appear on the signboards of signifying the magic of medicine. In Japan, the gourd has similar meanings: longevity, fecundity mystery. It also symbolizes “plenty.”‘ In Hawaii, “The common people remembered the fructifyin. Lono [god of fertility] in the shape of a symbolic gourd …

Chinese Gourd Symbolism

In Chinese, the gourd is called hulu (葫芦). The first character hu (葫) is the homophone of the word “to protect or guard” (hu 护) and the word for “blessing” (hu 祜). In the olden days, hulu were tied onto the back of small children, in case they fall into a stream, river or sea. The hulu is popular as a charm to ward off evil spirits and diseases.

In Chinese mythology, many Taoist immortals (such as Iron-Crutch Li) were depicted as holding a gourd. Besides using the gourd as a container for liquors, magic elixirs or medicine, the immortals also used the gourd to suck and confine evil spirits to it. Hence, the gourd is believed to have the ability to absorb negative energy in the surroundings.

Hulu, the Chinese word for gourd, has other auspicious associations as well. Its pronunciation is very similar to fulu (福禄), which means “happiness (or good fortune) and high official rank”. The trailing gourd vines are called wan dai (蔓带), which sounds like “ten thousand generations” (万代). By linking the above words together will result in the phrase “fulu wan dai”, meaning “good fortune throughout the generations”.

As the gourd contains many seeds, the Chinese also associate it with “Hundred sons, thousand grandsons” (百子千孙). The gourd, therefore, symbolizes fertility as well. (Note: To the ancient Chinese, having generations of descendants to carry on the family line is an important aspect of filial piety.)

The number “8” is the most favourite number of the Chinese. The Cantonese pronunciation for this number is fatt (发), which implies “to prosper”. Since the shape of the gourd resembles “8”, the gourd is regarded as an auspicious object.

Additionally, the shape of the gourd is likened to Heaven and Earth united; the top part of gourd being Heaven and the bottom Earth. This represents completeness and harmony.

In ancient days, travellers stored water or potions in bottle gourds. As water is essential to life and without it the travellers cannot survive the long journeys, the gourd earned the name of “Giver of Life” for its role in the storage of water.

Old men in those days were also frequently seen carrying gourds on their backs. Gradually, the gourd became associated with good health and longevity.

There is a Chinese idiom “xuan hu ji shi” (悬壶济世), meaning “practise medicine to relieve the pain and sufferings of others”. Literally translated, it will be “carry pot to aid the world”. The pot “hu” (壶) is the ancient Chinese reference to the bottle gourd.

The phrase “xuan hu ji shi” often appears in the congratulatory message or plaque for the opening of a new clinic, especially Chinese physician clinic. Hence, the bottle gourd hulu becomes closely related to Chinese medicine and is a popular logo of Chinese pharmaceutical companies and traditional Chinese medical halls.

Ash Gourd In Dream Meaning

The gourd is a symbol of protection and healing. The gourd plant grows in the wild and is not cultivated, which makes it a symbol of freedom. The gourd is also associated with fertility because it can grow in poor soil and survive extreme weather conditions. In addition, the gourd’s hard shell protects the seed within it from harm.

The gourd plant was also used as an instrument in ancient times by indigenous peoples to make music or to carry water. The hollowed out shape of a gourd makes it easy to be used as a container for holding liquids or even for keeping insects out of food supplies.

The gourd is a symbol of spiritual protection. It is used in divination and for scrying, which is the practice of looking into a reflective surface to gain insight on future events. Gourds are also associated with the moon, which was once known as “the mother.” Gourds were once used as musical instruments, which is why they are thought to hold healing properties when used in rituals.

Japanese Gourd Lore

Known as hyotan (瓢箪) in Japan, the earliest records of gourd can be found in Nihongi, the Chronicles of Japan (completed around 720 C.E.).

The hyotan was described as having power to confound the mizuchi (poisonous water serpent) of Kahashima River. It was also portrayed as a magical object that can be used to capture the giant catfish (believed to be the cause of earthquake).

Such depictions appeared in many old prints and paintings, as well as in folk festival rituals and religious rites and rituals. One antique painting, the “Catching a Catfish with a Gourd”, is the greatest masterpiece of Josetsu, a Zen priest.

In the 16th century, Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Japan’s second “great unifer”) adopted a water gourd as the symbol for his banner. A big gourd was tied upside down to the top of the flag-pole, and additional small gourds added to it after every victory. It is called “Sen nari hisago “, meaning “the thousand gourds”. Hideyoshi came to be known as “The Lord of the Golden Water Gourds”. Since then, the gourd became a famous symbol of victory.

Besides serving as flasks for water, sake and medicine, the gourds were especially used as seed containers. The seeds stored in the gourds were said to have always bloomed successfully, signifying happiness and success.

The Japanese believe that a set of three gourds is auspicious, and a set of six gourds brings you good health and safety.

Small bottle gourds are commonly used as protective amulets for children and the elderly.

Gourd In Feng Shui

Being so rich in symbolism, the hulu gourd is considered a powerful feng shui enhancer and cure for problems relating to health, longevity, fertility, prosperity, and so forth.

seeing ridge gourd in dream

The gourd is a symbol of spiritual growth, protection, and rebirth. It represents the ability to overcome obstacles and transform one’s life.

In China, the gourd is thought to be the first plant to have grown in the world after creation. The legend is that when Buddha was meditating under a tree, he accidentally dropped his drinking cup on the ground below him. When he picked it up again, there was a gourd growing where it had fallen. He took this as a sign that it was time for him to leave his meditative life behind and begin teaching others about enlightenment.

In Native American folklore, the gourd is associated with the moon because its shape resembles the way a full moon looks against the night sky. This association makes sense because Native Americans consider gourds to be symbols of fertility and abundance; they are often used in rituals related to corn harvest or planting season because they represent fertility and abundance during times of great change or growth in nature (such as spring or autumn).

The Gourd in Biblical Symbolism

Gourds were a sacred symbol among Abraham’s Horite Hebrew people. They represented fertility, new life, the arousal of the High God (whose emblem was the Sun), the rising of the Sun and, as with the pomegrante, the hope for bodily resurrection. 

Gourds carved into cedar decorated the inner sanctuary of the temple.

The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. There was cedar on the house within, carved in the shape of gourds and open flowers; all was cedar, there was no stone seen. 1 Kings 6:18

Gourds also decorated the bronze sea, a circular basin which held a supply of water for ritual use.

Now he made the sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and thirty cubits in circumference. Under its brim gourds went around encircling it ten to a cubit, completely surrounding the sea; the gourds were in two rows, cast with the rest. It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the sea was set on top of them… 1 Kings 7:24

In the story of Jonah, the LORD prepares a gourd plant to shelter Jonah. This pleases Jonah, but a worm destroys the plant. The gourd represents the new life to be enjoyed by the people of Ninevah after repentance and deliverance from destruction. The worm is Jonah’s bitterness that his enemies should be saved, just as he feared, knowing that the LORD is gracious and merciful.

The LORD said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?” Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.… Jonah 4:4-6

The gourd is a solar symbol. As it matures, the gourd swells. It is a reference to the Creator God whose emblem, the sun, swells as it rises in the morning. There is a connection to the ancient Egyptian root bn, meaning to swell, and to the the Proto-Dravidian root brih, which means to swell or enlarge. The Egyptian word for the rising sun is wbn, and that which is enlarged or swollen to its limits is designated by the reduplication bnbn.

The Old Arabic word for the swelling of the sun is yakburu, meaning “he is getting big” and with the intensive active prefix: yukabbiru, it means “he is enlarging.” This it is related to the Proto-Dravidian word for an east-facing Sun temple, which is O-piru. The caste of priests who served in the sun temples were called Hapiru, Habiru, ‘Apiru or Abru, from which the English word “Hebrew” is derived. The priests’ morning ritual involved greeting and blessing the rising sun and offering prayers as it swelled on the horizon. 

This practice of venerating the sun is very ancient. It continues today in the morning ritual of devout Hindus (Agnihotra) and in the Jewish Sun Blessing ritual (Birkat Hachama) that is performed every 28 years. 

Similarly, the Horite Hebrew priests of Nekhen (c. 4000 BC) placed invocations to Horus at the summit of the fortress at dawn. The priests faced the eastern horizon to greet the rising sun, the emblem of Re and his son Horus. Prayers were offered at dawn and dusk. One of the Chief Inspectors of the Horite priests of Nekhen was Horemkhawef. His tomb has been identified.

Nekhen is where the oldest life-sized human statue was found: a priest from the temple of Horus, c.3000 BC. Votive offerings at the Nekhen temple were ten times larger than the normal mace heads and bowls found elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine city.

The Horite Hebrew priests of Nekhen were among Abraham’s ancestors. By the time of Abraham the Horite Hebrew were widely dispersed throughout the ancient Near East. The peoples with whom they came into contact regarded them as outsiders. They preserved their customs and religion by practicing endogamy: The Hebrew Horites/Hurrians/Hittites/Hethites married within their related clans. Esau the Elder married Adah and Basemath, daughters of the Hittite chief Elon. Esau the Younger married Oholibamah, a Horite Hebrew bride (Gen. 36), and Judith, daughter of the Hittite chief Beeri (Gen. 26:34). The Hittites of Hebron recognized Abraham the Hebrew as “a great prince” among them. (Gen. 23:6).

Join the conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *