Circle of stars all EU leaders as the official emblem of the European Communities, and in 1993 inherited by the successor organisation, the European Union. All European institutions now use an emblem of their own. The Zodiac is an ancient "circle of stars" where some stars are symbolically combined into 12 Star signs also known as constellations. The etymology of the term Zodiac comes from the Latin zōdiacus, from the Greek ζῳδιακός [κύκλος], meaning "[circle] of animals", derived from ζῴδιον, the diminutive of ζῷον "animal". The Crown of Immortality is a separate and earlier motif (and metaphor) which also uses a circle of
Barbarous name supposed effectiveness of barbarous names rested in their utterance, not their meaning. Barbarous name A barbarous name is a meaningless or seemingly meaningless word used in magic rituals. The term "barbarous" comes from the Greek "barbaroi" () meaning those who do not speak the Greek Language (barbarians). Often these names were derived from foreign sources and acquired their "barbarous" nature from the magician's lack of understanding of that language. Many ancient barbarous names were of Egyptian origin, though there were plenty of Hebrew and Persian names that were corrupted by transcription into Greek. They appear throughout the Greek Magical Papyri,