Meanings of the Hourglass

The hourglass was one of the earliest timekeeping devices. The hourglass reminds us to acknowledge the transient and ever-changing nature of our lives. The curvaceousness of the shape directly references the feminine and the specific female cycles. Ancient alchemists recognized the concept of balance in the hourglass. Its very shape is made of two connected triangles interpreted as dual aspects of nature complementing and balancing each other with the upper seen as sky and the lower equated with earth. Other examples of polarity include the sun and moon, yin and yang, male and female, life and death. Energy passes between the two parts of the hourglass just like the energies of our world. All of the natural processes and cycles occur there. Nothing is completely in our own hands. We must trust that nature will guide us in the right direction to some degree.

Meanings of the Logo

The meaning of the hourglass is connected to the meaning of the logo of the Ase World Forum. Ase (Yoruba) means the Divine Within – the divine life force. The logo was designed to illustrate the divine life force running through the hourglass as energy that is constantly moving as long as we are alive. The hourglass symolizes the interconnectedness of everything and the integration of dualities into complements such as the feminine and the masculine seeking for wholeness and oneness.

I personally developed the logo drawing on certain ancient symbols and their meanings: in Latvia the double triangle means Heaven/Earth – the Divine Masculine and Feminine. In West-African symbolism, the double triangle is called the “hourglass” as an expression of the divine life force, which is constantly moving through time. The double spiral in the middle of the hourglass symbolizes the double snake as vibrant kundalini energy, which emphasizes the dynamic spiral movement of all energy that is life itself. The double snake also mirrors the double helix DNA, again an expression of the merging of feminine and masculine energies. The circle around the symbol emphasises the oneness that incorporates the interconnectedness of polarities that leads to unity, the source, essence, original nature, primordial being, and infinity. The inclusion of the three colours also points to a transcendence of duality. Time is for all of us the same, it does not matter where we are, who we are, etc. The hourglass conveys this universal truth: that time is the same for all of us.

All of these meanings embodied in the hourglass logo are important qualities in my healing work, in my scientific work, as well as in my personal life. The meanings are multidimensional on the personal – interpersonal – transpersonal levels.