I just finished reading Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism by Douglas Keister.

Despite my deep appreciation for cemeteries–and my habit of dragging my grumpy kids through them–I didn’t know much about the symbolism on gravestones. If you had asked me a week ago to type out a list of everything I knew about symbolism in graveyards, it would have looked like this:

Square and Compass: Freemason thing
Dove: Christian thing
Lamb: Christian thing
Angel: Christian thing
Cross: Christian thing
Upside-down cross: A demon is present

Most of these things I learned from years sitting in church, although my confirmation class worryingly skipped over that tidbit about an upside-down cross indicating the presence of a demon. This seems like information good Christian children should have, but I had to learn about it from The Conjuring 2 as an adult.

Having now read this book, I can confidently alter my list thus:

Square and Compass: Freemason thing
Dove: Purity and peace
Lamb: Innocence
Angel: Comfort in grief
Cross: Christian thing
(This book did not address the upside-down cross, and I am beginning to think James Wan is the only person who cares about disseminating this important information.)

Despite this oversight, I learned quite a few new things from this book. Did you know the four evangelists are often represented as a group by an ox, a lion, an eagle, and an angel? And a wheel represents infinite divine power? Did you know that an anchor is a symbol of hope? And a scallop shell can represent either baptism or a pilgrimage? I did not.

But you also have to wonder if the people being memorialized by these symbols know these things. Did Great Aunt Doris actually go on a pilgrimage or did her daughter just really like the look of the scallop shells for her mom’s gravestone?

Here is an incomplete list of animals that I have learned represent Satan in cemetery iconography:

Snake
Squirrel
Cat
Woodpecker

I am particularly amused by the presence of the woodpecker on this list, and now have big summer plans to shout “Go back to hell, creature of Satan!” at the woodpecker who likes to peck on our cabin.