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Updated 11/25/10

When Jessica looked up the wolfsangel rune on her telephone, we also saw two other runes. One was based on a diamond. A number of them strung together would look like a chain link fence.

Originally the odal rune was assosicated with material wealth. The Nazi’s used it to represent blood and soil. In True Blood the diamond pattern has been used extensively. It seems to indicate some kind of barrier or restraint, either physical or psychological.

Here are just a few examples.

In the screencap below there are three diamond patterns. We’re looking through one in the fence. When the image is enlarged, you can see there is a diamond pattern in the metalwork covering the window of the business next door to Fangtasia, and the upholstered door also has one (more about it later).

In the two images below, the Mickenses’ living room has three different types of mullioned windows and shadows cast another diamond pattern on the wall.

In his dream, the wallpaper in Bill’s entry hall had a diamond pattern.

Was that original to the house or does it symbolize Billl blocking the truth about what happened to his family from himself, even in his dream?

This image is from the same episode, so clearly we are supposed to notice the difference.

Diamond patterns appear frequently on men’s ties.

Andy has several with them.

Shirts are also a popular place for them.

Pam, Yvetta, and Destiny all wear diamond patterned fishnet.

Russell wears his diamonds on his robe and gives Talbot diamond slippers.

His werewolf, Johnson, has a diamond pattern tattoo on his forearm. The faint lines criss cross between his elbow and wrist.

Daphne and Pam wore similar diamond patterns.

Amy, but never Jason, was shown in front of a mattress with diamond pattern ticking.

Eddie is restrained in a lounger with a diamond pattern. The woven pattern appears to be something that was custom made instead of just a commercial lounger without cushions indicating that the use of all of these diamonds is deliberate.

Another thing that indicates we should pay attention to this patter is the curious image in Eric’s office hanging to the right of the door.

When turned horizontally, it can be identified as mullioned windows viewed through a quatrefoil Gothic screen. (This brilliant insight and photos came from Gee back in September.)

Quatrefoils are another recurring image.

Jason has a quatrefoil clock.

There are quatrefoils in the tile surrounding Sookie’s fire place.

They also appear in her quilt. It’s interesting that the quatrefoils at Gran’s house are blue.  Contrary to the false blues that were the subject of a recent post, Sookie, Gran, and Hoyt’s blues are indeed true blue. By that I mean that they are associated with the traditional blue symbolism faith, protection, honesty, and tranquility. (No wonder so many other characters co-opt those associations to use for their own purposes.) Sookie wears blue when she feels lost and lonely, perhaps as a way to feel closer to Gran.

But enough about color. We were talking about shape.

In her dream, as Arlene reels in her fishing line, the float leads the eye straight to a pair of leaves arranged in a perfect quatrefoil.

These two leaves are very similar to a prominent picture at Merlotte’s of a bird in flight.

(Image soon.)

At Fangtasia behind the bar there is a mask with eyes and nose that also form a brown quatrefoil and resemble the bird at Merlotte’s. (It is just above Sookie’s head on the right.)

Godric had a piece of antique stonework that incorporated a quatrefoils where the circles overlapped.

Why are quatrefoils associated with Eric, Jason, Gran, Sookie, and Godric?

They were also on the silver doors Talbot (Sookie’s doppel) installed when he redecorated the guest room.

Eric had quatrefoils overlaying a diamond pattern in the photo next to his door, and now we have Bill framed in a doorway wearing a shirt with a diamond pattern and standing next to quatrefoils. What is the connection? Does it go back to Portia, whose name means door and who is the gateway to grace in The Merchant of Venice? Can the diamond barriers holding back so many characters only be broken by the grace of God? Is Sookie the gateway that will, over the course of the series, finally allow Bill to access that grace and be redeemed?

In the image below you can once again see the diamond pattern in Fangtasia’s upholstered door. You can also see the quatrefoil in the lampshade next to it. This is the third door connected with both diamonds and quatrefoils. If you count the St. Andrew’s cross underneath the window in the Mickenses’ door as a quatrefoil, it is the fourth. There are also mullion windows in the entry at Merlotte’s. Wanna bet that when we finally get a good look at the area, quatrefoils will be present, too?

Does this combination indicate that freedom from bondage is always possible through grace? I’m not certain this is the message but  have no idea what else it could be.

The quatrefoil is an ancient symbol. In non-Chrisitan cultures it was associated with the material world: the four elements and the four cardinal directions, and in Christian ones, with the four evangelists. They were tasked with spreading the good news of salvation, which ties in to the idea of grace. (See Amil’s comments below about how this symbolism relates to Eric.)

A question for Anna: We’ve been discussing how this diamond pattern might relate to Buddhism and the diamond sutra. Do you think the diamond vehicle, which cuts through illusions and afflictions, could be represented by the quatrefoil?

Update: Steve obscures a quatrefoil in episode 3.09.

In 3.10 it’s barely recognizable.

*Thanks to Osterby and Amil for contributing additional images.