The Avanyu Symbol

Native American Indians were a deeply spiritual people and they communicated their history, thoughts, ideas and dreams from generation to generation through Symbols and Signs such as the Avanyu symbol. The origin of the Avanyu symbol derives from the ancient Mississippian culture of North America, the culture of the Mound Builders. The Mound Builders associated great mystical value to the serpent. Some Indian tribes still retain some elements of the Mississippi culture. Their sacred rites, myths and symbols and are presumed to descend from the Mississippians. The Great Serpent symbol represented a malevolent creature in Native American mythology but a similar symbols, such as the Horned Serpent andFeathered Serpent, were usually viewed as a benign or benevolent, although fearful, creature. The Avanyu symbol was a horned snake-like symbol. The Avanyu and the the horned serpent both feature in Hopi and other Pueblo art.

The Avanyu symbol is one of the many snake-like deities that figure in the mythology of some Native American tribes, notably the Pueblo. The Avanyu symbol represented a benevolent but fearful creature. The meaning of the Avanyu symbol is the storm bringer and connected with lightning, thunderstorms and the guardian of water. The Avanyu was also revered as the changer of seasons and the bringer of  sudden and sometimes violent change. The symbol of the Avanyu deity is represented by a horned serpent. The zigzag and meandering curves of the serpent or snake are suggestive of flowing water or the zig-zag of lightning. In some tribes Avanyu is believed to be a companion to the Kokopelli. Spiral symbols mimic the coiled serpent, like the Avanyu, representing the underlying mystery that people have felt towards the snake and the serpent and their place in mythology. Antlers and horns signified spiritual power, especially when applied to animals that did not ordinarily have them such as birds and snakes (serpents). For additional information refer to the Snake Symbol.

Mississippian culture

The most ancient Native American Indian symbols, like the Avanyu symbol, came from the Mississippian culture which was established in 1000AD and continued to 1550AD onward. The Mississippian Native Americans were the last of the mound-building cultures of North America in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States. The Mississippian culture was based on warfare, which was represented by an array of emblems, motifs and symbols. The Mississippian culture warrior icons like the Avanyu symbol provides interesting history and ideas for tattoos that include cosmic imagery depicting animals, humans and mythical beasts. The Mississippian Native Americans practiced body painting, tattooing and piercing.

The Avanyu symbol 

Native American Indians of the Mississippian culture were sun worshipers and had a highly complex warfare culture. Their symbols, such as the Avanyu symbol, reflect the warfare culture and the religious beliefs and cosmologies of the different historic tribes who existed at the time of the first European contact.

The Mississippians believed that the universe consisted of three parts with good and bad spiritual forces. These three worlds were linked together and their connection was usually portrayed as a cedar tree or a striped pole. The Underworld was inhabited by spirit snakes, the Upper world was inhabited by spirit birds and the people of the earth who were ruled by these powerful spirits like the Avanyu.

Items displaying symbols, like the Avanyu symbol, from the Mississippian culture have been found in burial sites that contained war axes, knives and other weapons. This type of symbol was embossed in valuable materials such as rare shells, copper and lead and depicted on pottery and stone tools and weapons.