With their origins in prehistory, pagan sigils were part of our ancestor's pictorial language, created in a golden age of symbol literacy. Following a millennia of religious repression and demonization by the Christian church, they were rediscovered and revived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since that time pagan sigils have functioned as a spiritual and graphic resource for the modern, Earth centered, religious movement of Neopaganism. In the late 20th century, they were assimilated by the Counter Culture and New Age movements as symbols of ageless wisdom. Pagan sigils continue to inspire the Earth centered movements of Eco paganism.