Ruth St. Denis Pushed the Envelope

My envelope represents Ruth St. Denis, a modern dance pioneer. Ruth was inspired by religious philosophies from all over the world, but specifically those of Egypt, and Asia (including India). She was not a religious woman, but a spiritual one, and used what she learned from each culture (like the Egyptian goddess Isis or the Indian god Vishnu) as her inspiration for choreography as well as the technique, yoga, and meditation classes that she taught along side her husband at their Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts.

I made my envelope using one piece of paper with no scissors or glue in the Japanese folding art of Origami because Ruth's students at Denishawn had allocated time each day for arts and crafts and most likely did Origami as it is in keeping with Ruth's love of all things Eastern.


Here are the explanations for the symbols that I chose to include inside my envelope:

Lotus—All Asian religions as well as Japanese Buddhism

From ancient times the lotus has been a divine symbol in Asian traditions representing the virtues of sexual purity and non-attachment and divine beauty.

In Japanese Buddhist symbolism, the lotus represents purity of the body, speech, and mind as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. According to legend,Gautama Buddha was born with the ability to walk, and lotus flowers bloomed everywhere he stepped.

Wheel of Becoming (Bhavacakra)—Tibetan Buddhism

The wheel is a complex symbolic representation of “samsara” in the form of a circle. Samsara is the continuous cycle of birth, life, and death (reincarnation) from which one liberates oneself through enlightenment.

Jen/Ren—Confucianism

There have been a variety of definitions for the term ren. Ren has been translated as "benevolence," "perfect virtue," or even "human-heartedness." When asked, Confucius defined it by the ordinary Chinese word for love, saying that it meant to "love others."

Confucianism says that if a ruler does not possess Ren, his people will not act humanely toward each other and, basically chaos will ensue,

Yin Yang—Chinese Taoism

The Yin Yang is used to describe how seemingly contrary forces are actually connected and dependant on each other in the natural world.

Hand—Jainsim

The word in the middle of the hand is the Jain “Vow of Ahimsa,” meaning nonviolence.

The wheel represents achieving the end of the cycle of reincarnation and finding the final peace through the pursuit of truth.

Aum—Hinduism

Though Aum is a single syllable, it symbolizes an all-encompassing mystical entity: basically it is the manifestation of reality and God in form. It includes in it not just the entire physical world, but every aspect of consciousness.

Khanda—Sikhism

The Sword to the left represents truth, and the sword to the right represents the willingness to fight for what is right (dharma). The circle in the middle means that there is only one God, never beginning and never ending.

Eye of Horus—Egyptian Mythology

Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health


Pyramids--Egyptian Mythology

Pyramids were tombs for the great men and women of Egypt. They were thought to be the best way to help the soul get to the afterlife. The shape of a pyramids and their location had to do with the sunset, because that was associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian mythology. The shape of the sides of the pyramid are thought to mimic the rays of the sun, and all pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile, because the sun sets to the west.
The Egyptians believed that the stars revolved around the gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow shafts that extends from the main burial chamber through the entire body of the Great Pyramid points directly towards the center part of the sky.