Three symbols above the head of Jesus

[namax91]

I have seen many Orthodox and Eastern Catholic icons where the halo of Jesus has three Cyrillic looking letters on it. I assume it’s the same symbols every time but I don’t know. Could anyone tell me what they stand for? Here is an example. (I know this is not an Orthodox or Eastern Catholic icon, but they look like the familiar symbols.)

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[RyanBlack]

They are not Cyrillic; they are Greek. They are the “ho on” from “ego eimi ho on,” the Greek translation of the Tetragrammaton (“I am that I am”).

 

[namax91]

They are not Cyrillic; they are Greek. They are the “ho on” from “ego eimi ho on,” the Greek translation of the Tetragrammaton (“I am that I am”).

I understand. Weird, I know most of the Greek letters but these don’t look familiar. It is hard for me to see them, plus there are accent marks above the letters. I guess that threw me off. Thank you though. God bless!

 

[GEddie]

Yep, they are accented.

The one above the head is omicron (small o).

The one on His right is the lowercase omega (big o).

The one on the left is capital Nu, or N.

It’s all Greek to me!!!

ICXC NIKA.

 

[7_Sorrows]

Interesting! I would like to learn Greek.

 

[midori]

A lot of times you’ll see that sort of tilde (a “curled macron”) over a letter to show that it’s an abbreviation. Like with IC XC for Jesus Christ, or MP OY for Mary (Mater Theos).

It was explained in my icon-writing class that “O-” is an article for being. Like O-Michael or O-Fred. “Oh-on” is “he who is existing.” “I am that am.” “Being.” “The Being.” “The Existing One.”

In Russian icons, I’m told, it’s done with the “O” in the center top, and then “W” to the left, and “N” to the right, for a “W-O-N” sort of pattern. In Greek icons, though, it’s O-W-N.