Spirals

Shocker: Spirals symbolize the Goddess, both in Marked and in religious iconography from the real world. We'll toss you a few examples:

• When Zoey has a vision of Nyx, she follows the mysterious voice underground, finding the path to be a spiral: "The cave narrowed until it was a rounded tunnel. It curved and curled around and around, in a gentle spiral" (5.37).
• The symbol of the third former class at the House of Night (the class Zoey's in) is a spiral. As Stevie Rae explains, the spiral is "the silver labyrinth of the Goddess Nyx" (8.79) and "It stands for our new beginning as we start walking the Path of Night and learn the ways of the Goddess and the possibilities of our new life" (8.81).
• When Zoey's Mark is added after the Samhain ritual, spirals and swirls figure prominently: "My shoulder was tattooed, too. Stretching from my neck, down my shoulder and back, were sapphire tattoos in a swirling pattern much like that on my face" (28.92).

Yup: Spirals are definitely representing Nyx in this book—and insofar as Zoey's journey is leading her toward Nyx, spirals represent this path, too; heck, they even wind up on her body. Nyx uses spirals to decorate her chosen ones, and her worshipers—the vampyres—also use spirals in their imagery, like on their school uniforms. It's almost as though by keeping spirals in sight and close, they'll also keep the Goddess close… and vice versa.