Cornucopia

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Cornucopia

The cornucopia is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.

In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Amalthea

Amalthea (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Amalthea or Amaltheia is the most often mentioned among foster-mothers of Zeus. Her name in Greek is clearly an epithet, signifying the presence of an earlier nurturing goddess, whom the Hellenes, whose myths we know, knew to be located in Crete, where Minoan civilizations may have called her a version of "Dikte"...
was a goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae....
who raised Zeus

Zeus

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The cornucopia is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.

In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Amalthea (mythology)

Goat

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
on her breast milk. When her horn was accidentally broken off by Zeus while playing together, this changed Amalthea into a unicorn with 17 whiskers. The god Zeus, in remorse, gave her back her horn

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various mammals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone....
. The horn then had supernatural powers which would give the person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat's horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, was depicted with the horn of plenty. The cornucopia was also a symbol for a woman's fertility.

Alternately, Amalthea may have been a nymph

Nymph

In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform....
asked to nurse baby Zeus while he was being hidden from Cronus. Since she hid on Mount Aigaion, which means Mountain of the Goat, suppositions follow that she was either a goat nymph or a nymph who tended goats. Therefore, either her horn was broken or her goat's horn was broken while playing with Zeus. In recompense, the God Zeus created the cornucopia. Further evidence for this is that Amalthea is another name for the constellation Capricornus

Capricornus

Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac; it is often called Capricorn, especially when referring to the corresponding Capricorn ....
, the goat.

In modern depictions, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket typically filled with various kinds of festive fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
and vegetables. In North America, the cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October....
and the harvest. Cornucopia is also the name of the annual November Wine and Food celebration in Whistler

Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver....
, British Columbia, Canada. Two cornucopias are seen in the flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of cloth, often flown from a pole or Mast , generally used symbolically for signaling or identification. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium....
and state seal

State seal

State seal may refer to one of the following:*One of Seals of the U.S. states*One of National emblems of the Russian Empire...
of Idaho

Idaho

The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
. There is also One seen in the state seal

State seal

State seal may refer to one of the following:*One of Seals of the U.S. states*One of National emblems of the Russian Empire...
of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, the state seal of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
, the coat of arms of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
, and the Coat of Arms of the State of Victoria, Australia, symbolising Prosperity.

The horn of plenty is used on jewelery, as it is a symbol of fertility, fortune and abundance. Some evangelical Christians warn against wearing the symbol, or the similar Italian horn symbol of male fertility, saying it is actually demon infested or unlucky, and equating it to the "little horn", a figure described in the bible sometimes considered to be the Antichrist

Antichrist

The Antichrist is one who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of New Testament view on Jesus' life while resembling him in a deceptive manner....
.