Soil from Stone

The Star of David is called the Magen David in Hebrew, which means “Shield of David.” Archaeologists have found examples of it dating back to within a few decades of David’s reign in Jerusalem, although it has changed somewhat over the centuries. Originally, it might not have had six points, but the modern incarnation seems appropriate to me. The double triangles can be used to illustrate some important concepts about God and his Messiah. That might or might not be why it came to be as it is. There is some evidence that it could have pagan origins, but the evidence is tenuous. If something more solid comes to light, I might decide to stop using it or anything like it.

The Magen Korper is the symbol I have chosen to represent my house. I began using the Magen David with alternate points connected by arcs as a personal device more than twenty-five years ago, long before I had any conscious interest in the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith. Originally I used it in a series of stories I began writing in elementary school. In the course of my studies of marriage in the Torah, I became convinced that the Jewish tallit, the mantle of Elijah, and the household banners of the wilderness camps are all of the same type. They are emblems of a patriarch’s house and symbols of the authority which God has delegated to them. Deciding that my house should also have a symbol, I took this sign and added a Hebrew kof in the center to represent my family name of Carper. I call it Magen Korper instead of Magen Carper in honor of my family’s immigrant ancestor who spelled it so.

When my son turned thirteen, I had the shield embroidered on the corners of a tallit in a different set of colors to commemorate his adoption of authority in my house as a young man and my firstborn son. I hope that his sons continue to use it or a close variant of it as a sign of familial identity and unity.

Since this symbol represents my house and no other, no one who is not a member of my house or one of my descendants is authorized to use it in any manner. It is my trade mark over which I have exclusive legal ownership.