Prana Symbol? Options

I'm not really sure if I've put this topic in the right category, if not, I apologize. I'm very curious though to know what exactly the symbol for Prana is? Prana -"Sanskrit word meaning 'breath' and refers to a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy in natural processes of the universe." It's equivalent to Qi in traditional Chinese culture, Mana in Polynesian mythology, and Ka in Egyptian mythology and so on..

Right now I'm reading a book called "The secret language of symbols" and when I came across Prana, this was the symbol they showed for it;
(IMG:http://i14.tinypic.com/2a9bihf.jpg)
(Sorry it's kind of bad quality. I took a picture of the page in the book with my camera phone..)
Well, anyways, they refer to that symbol as being "Prana", but since I can't find anything at all that looks like this on the web I'm wondering if maybe the author made an "oops" and it isn't correct. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/head_hurts_kr.gif) So if anybody can tell me if that really is the symbol for Prana? Or if they can find the Prana symbol online and link it to me that would be greatly appreciated~!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)


Also, the reason I'm so curious about this is because I plan on getting a tattoo of the Prana symbol and I'm sure you can understand why I would want to make sure I'm getting the right symbol to permanently put on my body~! Lol, It would suck if I ended up getting the wrong thing.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/fie.gif) So any info on this or comments would be great.


Thanks in advance.

This post has been edited by Naamah: Mar 2 2007, 05:35 PM

That is the sound 'Yam'. it is on the bottom petal of the second chakra. It is also frequently assigned as the Bija mantra for the heart chakra. Whether it means 'prana' or not, I am unsure, although being that it is associated with the heart chakra, it seems likely.

The bija sounds have no specific meaning, traditionally, so it is hard to assign the concept of prana directly to that syllable. However, it is said that each bija sound, the 54 letters of the devanagari alphabet, each have a shiva and shakti principle in them (part of the sacred reasoning of the number 108 in hindu philosophy, as well as buddhist by cultural descent). Each letter therefore possesses the upwards force (prana) and the downwards force (apana).

It would make a good tattoo over the heart center, on the chest or the back.

Hope that helps.

peace

That is the sound 'Yam'. it is on the bottom petal of the second chakra. It is also frequently assigned as the Bija mantra for the heart chakra. Whether it means 'prana' or not, I am unsure, although being that it is associated with the heart chakra, it seems likely.

The bija sounds have no specific meaning, traditionally, so it is hard to assign the concept of prana directly to that syllable. However, it is said that each bija sound, the 54 letters of the devanagari alphabet, each have a shiva and shakti principle in them (part of the sacred reasoning of the number 108 in hindu philosophy, as well as buddhist by cultural descent). Each letter therefore possesses the upwards force (prana) and the downwards force (apana).

It would make a good tattoo over the heart center, on the chest or the back.

Hope that helps.

peace

Thankyou very much for your response. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) It's helped me alot. Thanks again!