OoT religious and cultural symbols

Did anyone besides me notice the religious and cultural symbols used in OoT? I was thinking about it the other day, and wanted to see if other people have opinions behind some of these. If you haven't noticed a lot of them, I will list a few. (If you all have other's that you have found, please name them.) For starters, The origional symbol on the mirror shield, the crescent moon and the star, is actually the symbol of the muslim religion. Also, the origional version of the music played in The Fire Temple features actual Muslim prayer chants. Also, Epona, Link's beloved and uncivilized horse, is actually the name of the druidic goddess of horses. The rupee, currency in Hyrule, is also the form of currency that is used in India.

Ok, so I just want to know what you all think about this. Personally I think it's pretty kool that Nintendo used real world symbols in the game, it added to the meaning and symbolism. Now have at it!

But do you wonder why is Nintendo using these symbols? I mean they could've made up their own.

Originally Posted by OniZack

Did anyone besides me notice the religious and cultural symbols used in OoT? I was thinking about it the other day, and wanted to see if other people have opinions behind some of these. If you haven't noticed a lot of them, I will list a few. (If you all have other's that you have found, please name them.) For starters, The origional symbol on the mirror shield, the crescent moon and the star, is actually the symbol of the muslim religion. Also, the origional version of the music played in The Fire Temple features actual Muslim prayer chants. Also, Epona, Link's beloved and uncivilized horse, is actually the name of the druidic goddess of horses. The rupee, currency in Hyrule, is also the form of currency that is used in India.

Ok, so I just want to know what you all think about this. Personally I think it's pretty kool that Nintendo used real world symbols in the game, it added to the meaning and symbolism. Now have at it!

What, Is this true? Do you also happen to know what they mean?

It would be crazy if there was a secret message or something like that in Zelda.

But do you wonder why is Nintendo using these symbols? I mean they could've made up their own.

Well they redo the Fire Temple song and Mirror Shild design in the Gamecube edition, because muslims were placing complaints. I think it adds to the game to use real symbols though. We can all just draw some cheesy symbol on a piece of paper and be all happy about it. Nintendo kinda took it to the next level though and built the symbols into the game to almost reflect hyrule on our own faiths and beliefs. More interesting in my opinion.

What, Is this true? Do you also happen to know what they mean?

It would be crazy if there was a secret message or something like that in Zelda.

Know what what mean?

The muslim prayer chants you mentioned..

Read the bold text I quoted from you

Originally Posted by Kishiru

But do you wonder why is Nintendo using these symbols? I mean they could've made up their own.

That would've been alot less interesting. References exist to makes a work more interesting.

I guess so Stuit and Onizack. Well since I didn't know about the symbol and the music it didn't really matter that much to me. But it would be wierd if the Triforce was part of a religion. But isn't the Trinity symbol and the Triforce a bit alike?

The triforce is part of japanese culture... If I'm not mistaken it was a sign of a royal familie in japan. (I believe they reprisent dragon scales)

Originally Posted by Iroas

The triforce is part of japanese culture... If I'm not mistaken it was a sign of a royal familie in japan. (I believe they reprisent dragon scales)

I dunno about that. Wasn't this stated alot already...maybe an alternate thread.

Originally Posted by Kishiru

I guess so Stuit and Onizack. Well since I didn't know about the symbol and the music it didn't really matter that much to me. But it would be wierd if the Triforce was part of a religion. But isn't the Trinity symbol and the Triforce a bit alike?

Not really, the triforce was based on the mon (or symbol) of the Hojo family in Japan. As the story went, the triangles represented scales of a shinto dragon, that granted the holder power. Not anything like the trinity, which is an interesting point.

Originally Posted by OniZack

Not really, the triforce was based on the mon (or symbol) of the Hojo family in Japan. As the story went, the triangles represented scales of a shinto dragon, that granted the holder power. Not anything like the trinity, which is an interesting point.

Actually if you look at a symbol of the Trinity, you can see some comparisons

I think it's easy to compare the triforce to a representation of the trinity, mostly because of its implications. (Including the meanings of the individual pieces.) Look at the creation story in Ocarina of Time, look at the meanings of the goddesses. For example, Farore is the incarnation of bravery, and the upholder of the law. Remember what Jesus was known for? "I am not here to destroy the law, but to uphold it." (Might not be exact. It's off the top of my head.) And it doesn't take a genius to make the bravery connection. Obviously, power is Creator, and Wisdom is Spirit. The usage of the RGB color scheme also implies three pieces that are parts of a whole. Does the Hojo family have such connections?

As far as the Gerudo symbols and chanting go, I figure Nintendo was trying to add an Arabian Knights feel to those parts of the game. Japanese are much less worried about potentially offending people with religious symbols. However, it looks like the whiners (or lawyers) eventually got to them, eh?

What i really want to know is whats up with that bird thing on the Hyrulian shield thingy(you know the one before the mirror shield as an adult, cant remember names) Also it appears on the shield on WW.

where they get that from?

Originally Posted by OniZack

because muslims were placing complaints

So THAT's what happened! I noticed the change of symbols all over the Gerudo fortress on OoTMQ but had no idea why... frankly i think the new symbol looks rediculous compared to the Moon and Star looking one.

Originally Posted by Tre

What i really want to know is whats up with that bird thing on the Hyrulian shield thingy(you know the one before the mirror shield as an adult, cant remember names) Also it appears on the shield on WW.

where they get that from?

well i think the bird is suppose to be a pheonix on the shield in oot and the ww shield resembles a unicorn

How does it look like a Unicorn?

I just searched Google images for pictures of the shields and none of them have anything that looks like a Unicorn.

I would be disappointed if they intended some kind of disguised religious-philosophical message in it. It's supposed to be a fairy story, not some allegory to shove some agenda on us. I'm not against using symbols from our world unless you take the meanings as well, because the symbols and the meanings are intended only for our world, it can't apply to something like Zelda because the historical background it's not the same.
You just can't take the Moon and Star and put it arbitrarily inside the game with the muslim meaning because: 1. it's unoriginal, 2. it's stupid, 3.it's offensive to those related with that symbol since it's shows your lack of respect towards it's meaning, intention and/or purpose.
I like it better when they make their own symbols and meanings and that only have an in-game message. I don't like to be preached by some idiot who feels lecturing me his opinions about our world, our cultures, philosophy, religion, etc, disguised in the form of "totally-unrelated-with-our-world" story. Fortunately, I've never felt this when it comes to Zelda.
About the TWW shield, I think it might be some mythological Babylonian creature.....I guess