- Hey everybody! So you know that mistletoe
that you're thinking of hanging this Christmas or that Jesus fish that might be on the back of your car, or that swastika that
might be in your house, hopefully not. Well, guess what, none
of those things mean what you think they do. Here are 10 symbols that aren't
what you thought they were. Number 10 is the Jesus fish. Okay, you've likely spotted the Jesus fish on the back of more than just a few cars. Well the Jesus fish is actually an ichthys and is one of the most recognized
symbols in Christianity. The symbol has been found
in Christian artwork and writings from as far
back as the 2nd Century AD. But it's true identity
dates back even farther. As Christianity developed
symbols from other religions and pagan belief systems were
adapted to Christian beliefs, since they would have been more familiar to the people of the time. The ichthys had originally been associated with various goddesses,
including Aphrodite and Venus and represented female fertility. In fact, if you flip that
fish long way around, it pretty clearly looks
like some lady parts. This is because back
in the day, the vagina was believed to be super-sacred, since it literally brought
life into this world. Look at all y'all drivin'
around with little metal vaginas on the back a ya car. What are you trying to advertise? Number nine is mistletoe. (bells jingling) Every December bundles of
mistletoe are hung from doorways, and if your lucky enough
to meet someone beneath it, it's time to pucker up. But kissing under the mistletoe, is the result of two
even older traditions. Legend has it than arrow
poisoned with mistletoe, killed the Viking God, Baldur. But he was brought back
to life and decided that the plant must not
be a symbol of death, and so it must never touch the ground. The Celtic Druids also
worshiped mistletoe, that grew from oak trees. They believed that it was a
secret symbol of fertility strength and overall manliness. What's up girl? You like this mistletoe, hmm hmm. And cutting it from the
tree was seen as a form of ritual castration and
hanging it in your home would bring you the same qualities. Since the mistletoe
berries grow in winter, it eventually became
associated with Christmas. Oooh, what's happening girl? You wanna kiss me under
this castrated plant. Number eight is the pentagram. (bells jingling) The pentagram is a five-pointed star made of inter-connecting
lines in a circle, and it has long been
associated with witches, Satanists and anything
basically resembling anything to do with devil worship. Christian tradition has
labeled the pentagram, a symbol of evil, but in pagan traditions, it was a symbol of protection from evil. In early Christianity, the
pentagram was interpreted to represent the five wounds
of Christ on the Cross. Historically the number
five has been considered sacred and magical, and
represents all the elements that make up life. The pentagram's upward facing point, represents the spirit
and the other four points represent the elements,
earth, wind, fire and water. But today, of course, the
pentagram, and particularly the inverted pentagram
is generally considered to represent the dark side. But it really represents conquering evil. Still, that being said, kids
please don't go to school with a pentagram, talkin'
to your teacher like, "Oh, Matthew Santoro
said that it was okay!" Arrgh! Number seven is the inverted cross. Much like the pentagram,
the inverted cross has become associated with Devil worship. In modern society Satanist have adopted it as one of the most popular symbols, which shows allegiance to the anti-Christ. But the inverted cross
is actually the symbol of St. Peter, the very first Pope. I am the Pope, this is my symbol, and everybody got it wrong. What's up with that? When Peter was said to be crucified, he requested to be hung
upside down because he didn't think that he
was worthy enough to die in the same way that Jesus did. In fact, the inverted cross
is still used frequently in Catholicism. It's even on the Pope's
throne and his big ole hat as a reminder of St. Peter's martyrdom. This is why confused
Catholics and Satanists have used this as fuel
for conspiracy theories that the Pope is actually the anti-Christ. But hey, I guess that's
what happens when you sleep through Sunday school, or
a Matthew Santoro video. What's up? Number six is Uncle Sam. (bells jingling) The Uncle Sam that we all know today, actually started out in satirical comics about the United States government. He first came about
during the War of 1812, with Uncle Sam being
the nickname for the US, that was on soldiers' uniforms and stamped on government property. He's officially been
recognized as being inspired by the businessman, Sam
Wilson, who supplied the army with barrels of beef during the war. Yeah, but this cartoon
image originated from a mix of Yankee Doodle Dandy, and
the character Brother Jonathan. Uncle Sam was actually used
to embody the US government and political system and show
how inept and dishonest it is. It wasn't until after
the America Civil War that his image was used
on recruitment posters during the First World War, and eventually becoming
the unofficial mascot for America and its military. America I want you to tell
the truth about who I am! I don't even know who I'm
supposed to be anymore. Number five is a rabbit's foot. Rabbits are adorable,
hoppy, floppy fur babies. So when did we decide chopping
off their feet and hanging it from a key chain was lucky. Well, it's actually a
tradition that has existed for centuries across many cultures, going as far back as 600 BC in Europe. Yeah, that rabbit, it looks so lucky! You bring it home, I cut it up. But in North American
culture, it's associated with African American hoodoo folk lore, which believed that witches
were actually disguising themselves as rabbits. So if you cut one,
you'd inherit its power. But it wasn't exactly
that straight forward. There were lots of rules
involved to actually getting that power to work. First of all, the rabbit
had to have been shot, preferably with a silver bullet,
or caught in a graveyard. Okay, sounds reasonable so far. Next, it had to be the left
hind foot of the rabbit that was chopped off. And most importantly, it had to be taken, either on a full moon or a new moon. Okay, yeah, no, that's just weird. This is all just weird. Stop choppin' off bunny feet, weirdos. Number four is the swastika. The swastika came to mean hate and evil, when it was adopted by
Adolf Hitler to become the symbol of the Nazi Party. But the swastika symbol is
actually nearly 12,000 years old, and was used in many
cultures, all over the world, before the Aryans started to use it. It actually dates back to
the Indian subcontinent, and is considered a
sacred symbol in Buddhism, Hinduism and more. So contrary to modern associations, its name in ancient
Sanskrit, actually means, auspiciousness or good fortune. But that's not all. It was even used by ancient Greeks, the Druids, Celts,
Nordic tribes and various Native American tribes. Unfortunately, despite
thousands of years of history and culture, a symbol that once meant life and eternity, has been completely stripped of any positive meaning. So this is more for the adults, but yeah, even though you know the truth now, don't be goin' out and gettin'
that and tryin' to explain to people 'cause it's not gonna work. Number three is the peace sign. (bells jingling) The hippie days might be long gone man, but this symbol has continued
to be a universal symbol for peace, love and unity, but it didn't actually start that way. In 1958, British artist, Gerald
Holton, designed the symbol as a logo for the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament March, which was protesting nuclear weapons. Holton was actually
using semaphore letters from the hand-held flag signaling system. He chose the letters N and
D for nuclear disarmament. Then he superimposed the
symbols which look like an inverted V and a
straight line in a circle that represented the earth. His intent was for it to
look like a human being bent over in despair. He actually regretted
that the symbol's origins we're so depressing and made
a flipped version, of it. But by that time, the original
was already too popular. Disarm the nuke man (faint speaking). Number two is Guy Fawkes. Anarchists and hackers
have adopted this mask as a symbol for anyone
fighting against corruption. The mask features a pointed
mustache and goatee, and is worn by those who don't want their true identity exposed. It was designed by the
illustrator, David Lloyd, for the V for Vendetta comic series, that began back in 1982. The comic's lead character and his mask were meant to represent a resurrection of the real Guy Fawkes, from the 1600s. If you don't know your
history, allow me to explain. On November 5, 1605, Guy
Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Lords in British Parliament, as part of a larger
plan to kill King James. The only problem is that
he wasn't just trying to overthrow a corrupt
monarchy and government. He was also trying to
reinstate the Catholic church as the ruling power, which is probably not the utopian society current
Fawkes fans have in mind. True, but still a Halloween favorite. And number one is the heart. (bells jingling) Hearts are everywhere in our culture. In fact, if you look in the
most recently used section of your phone for emojis,
it's probably in there. But where did this symbol of love and Valentine's Day come from? Well the symbol actually comes from the shape of the silphium pod which was used by the Greeks and
the Romans as a natural form of birth control. But if you turn the heart upside down, you'll also spot something else. Testicles. For them, it meant sex
and health and they loved the stuff so much, that
the shape of the seed pod, was even on their coins,
but if you're wondering why we don't still use
this magic plant today, it's because they used it
so much, that it literally went extinct by the 1st Century AD. It wasn't until the Middle
Ages, that the symbol lost its direct ties to sex,
and started to become associated with our
modern notions of love, partly in thanks to religious imagery, like the sacred heart of Christ. And now you know, so
go ahead and send those silphium pod emojis to the one you love. You know what I'm sayin' hmm hmm. You know what I mean. So that was 10 symbols that aren't what you thought they
were, but now you know. If you enjoyed this, remember
to give it big thumbs up. Also be sure to subscribe
and turn on notifications by clicking the little
bell beside the subscribe button, so you never miss a thing, because I release new videos all the time. Thank you guys for watching and I'll see you in the next video! That's a silphium pod,
right there for your face! Right from me, bye!
