The Mandorla is an ancient symbol of two circles coming together, overlapping one another to form an almond shape in the middle. Mandorla is the Italian word for almond. The Mandorla is also known as the "Vesica Piscis" , symbolizing the interactions and interdependence of opposing worlds and forces. Although the symbol has its origins before the Christian era, the early Christians used the symbol as a method to describe the coming together of heaven and earth, between the divine and human. The circles symbolize interacting but complementary opposites.

The space within the overlap is the place in which we are called to "remain", the "luminal space" The Mandorla, known in both East and West, expresses the standpoint of the mystic. It symbolizes for us the tensions of life, the tension of complementary opposites. Hamburg: The city takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a fort ordered to be built by Emperor Charlemagne in 808 AD. The fort was built on some rocky ground in a marsh between the Alster and the Elbe as a defense against Slavic incursion. The fort was named Hamma Burg, where "burg" means "fort." The "Hamma" element remains uncertain.

Old High German includes both a hamma, "angle" and a hamme, "pastureland." The angle might refer to a spit of land or to the curvature of a river. However, the language spoken might not have been Old High German, as Plattdüütsch was spoken there later. Other theories are that the fort was named for a surrounding Hamma forest, or for the village of Hamm, later incorporated into the city.

Hamm as a place name occurs a number of times in Germany, but its meaning is equally uncertain. It could be related to "heim" and Hamburg could have been placed in the territory of the ancient Chamavi. However, a derivation of "home city" is perhaps too direct, as the city was named after the castle.

In 834 Hamburg was designated the seat of a bishopric, whose first bishop, Ansgar, became known as the Apostle of the North. In 845 a fleet of 600 Viking ships came up the River Elbe and destroyed Hamburg, at that time a town of around 500 inhabitants. Two years later, Hamburg was united with Bremen as the bishopric of Hamburg-Bremen.