White doves are symbolic of new beginnings, peace, fidelity, love, luck and prosperity. Their release is a tradition that has been making ceremonies, rituals and celebrations more powerful and meaningful for thousands of years.
Releasing doves uplifts the eyes, signifies new beginnings and true celebrations in flight.
The symbol of the pure white dove transcends all cultures and traditions.
“As I sit I see a dove and think of our deep, dear true love”
anonymous
If you see a dove on your wedding day, a happy home is assured.
Doves have long been a symbol for eternal peace.
God chose the white dove to portray the holy spirit.
Doves are wonderful parents and work together equally to raise their young, one reason they are the sign of love, faithfulness and fertility.
Dovesmate for life, are incredibly loyal to each other and work together to build their nest and raise their young. Because they tend to nest in areas that humans can watch, people picked up quickly on the idea that doves were dedicated, honorable and peaceful.Doves have been chosen by God to be the messengers of the day.
The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Christian iconography. Some iconographers show Mary being blessed by a dove at the moment of Annunciation, and Jesus was blessed by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove at his baptism.
The dove is said to be so pure that it is the one form into which Satan cannot transform himself.
Luke 3:22 states: “The heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove.
The dove is commonly seen in Christian art with Mary as a symbol or care, devotion, purity and peace.
Noah sent a dove knowing the dove would always return. Which she did with an olive branch in her mouth, a sign of land and the waters receding.
And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, see, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
The Gospel narratives describe a dove descending upon Jesus at his baptism.
In Scripture, doves are more numerous than all other species.
Beginning with the Egyptians, the dove was as symbol of quiet innocence. The Chinese felt the dove was asymbol of peaceand long life.To early Greeks and Romans, doves represented love and devotion, and care for a family. The dove also symbolized the peaceful soul for many cultures.
The dove is also seen as representing love. It was the sacred animal of Aphrodite, the Greekgoddessand of Venus, her Roman counterpart. Two goddesses of love and friendship. Lovers are said to “bill and coo” like doves. The dove is a monogamous bird, which is the source of its connection with romantic and eternal love.
The goddesses Atargatis, Inanna, and Astarte are all depicted with doves. The legendary queen Semiramis was raised by doves, connecting her to the goddesses. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the dove was released to search for the end of the deluge.
The dove is a companion of Ishtar too, the Great Mother of Assyrian culture. In this motherly light, the dove elicits a promise of hope and salvation.
The dove appears as a symbol of purity on the Holy Grail in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. In Muslim lore, a dove murmured the words of God into the ear of Muhammad.
In Slavic folklore, doves were believed to conduct the souls of the dead to heaven. For the Celts, the mournful call of a dove meant the peaceful passing of someone.
Doves and pigeons were the only birds suitable for sacrifice by the Hebrews, as stated in Leviticus 1:14.
Doves appear in the symbolism of Judaism, Christianity, and Paganism, and of both military and pacifist groups.
The dove is even associated with several mother figures in historical dove symbolism.
Today the dove is a symbol of peace, often portrayed with an olive branch in its mouth.
Doves call you to regain your serenity. The dove reminds you to take a deep breath and release all your tension and stress.
A dove may encourage you to wipe the slate clean and start again. The dove is associated with the mystical fifth elementof spirit. Let your sighting of a dove remind you to reconnect with the spiritual aspect of your life; accept it as a blessing.
