The symbolism of the fish in Christianity
Before we can turn to the symbolism of the fish in yoga, it makes sense to understand the fish as a symbol of Christianity.
Ultimately, the paths of spiritual practice are just different names of one and the same path that has one and the same goal.
In Christianity, the fish symbolizes the gift of the divine. Jesus himself is said to have said that all people should be “fishermen” – bringing people together in the heart of God.
At the same time, the fish in the Bible symbolizes food, which in a figurative sense is food for the soul: the word of the transcendental.
In the biblical story of the multiplication of fish, Jesus feeds a large number of people with just a few fish. The multiplication of the fish here stands for the richness of faith in the universal; the nourishment provided by the fish is the nourishment of the soul that springs from it.
The fish is deeply rooted in Christianity. Its symbol was an identifying mark for the early Christians – and even today it can be said to be a sign for all those who believe in devotion to the divine.
Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr – that means “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. The Greek word “Ichthys“, the “fish”, is an acronym for Jesus, the prophet of love.
The fish appears in the Bible not only as a symbol of the gift of divine love, but also as a sign of deep inner transformation.
In this function, we encounter the fish in the story of Jonah: God appears to Jonah and gives him the task of helping others who lost faith in God to find the right path again. However, Jonah ignores God’s word and thus turns against his own destiny.
Jonah, now on a boat carries the misfortune in his heart, chaos arises in the form of a storm and his companions are forced to throw him into the sea as the storm rooted in Jonah’s heart could kill them all. Jonah drowns in the sea and is swallowed by a fish; at the bottom of the ocean, he turns to God in prayer for three days and nights, after which the fish spits him out. Thereafter, Jonah follows God’s command, and preaches the word, the voice of his destiny.
The fish appears here as the messenger of transformation, and the belly of the fish is the place where Jonah’s transformation takes place. The fish, which dives into the depths and is one with the ocean, is the messenger of God.
There is a very similar story in Hatha Yoga: here it is a fisherman who, in times of crisis, undergoes a miraculous transformation in the belly of a fish. Read more here…
