This page was created in an attempt to explain the meanings of the symbols above, found on the untitled fourth album, better known as Led Zeppelin IV or Zoso. The album was never really meant to have a name, a fact which the recording companies considered "commercial suicide".
"We decided the album couldn't be called Led Zeppelin IV. Each of us decided to choose a metaphysical symbol which represented us individually."
Robert Plant
John Bonham's Symbol
Several guesses have been made as to the meaning of John Bonham's symbol, the three interlocking circles. The most accepted interpretation is that it symbolizes the relationship of the man, woman, and child. I believe that this was confirmed by John's son Jason not too long ago.
Other suggestions have been presented, some are more interesting than others. It has been said that sometimes while John Bonham was having a drink, he would make interlocking rings from water that dripped off of the bottle. Also, it has been suggested that Bonham just liked the way the three rings reminded him of a drum set. Robert Plant observed that it was the emblem of Ballantine Beer.
John Paul Jones's Symbol
Jones's symbol has been seen on the cover of a book about the Rosicrucians, a religious cult in the middle ages which was of some interest to Aleister Crowley and his fellow members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, such as Westcott.
Jimmy Page's Symbol
No one really knows for sure what Jimmy Page's symbol means. The most recent theory that seeks to explain it has it that it that it symbolizes a near-death or Tantric sex experience to unify the worlds of the living and the dead, and thus to reveal the secrets of the universe.
A post on the mailing list said that a symbol very similar to Jimmy Page's was found in the book "The Collected Works, Volume 1" by Aleister Crowley. I can't remember the page number, it was either 143 or 345. I myself haven't gotten around to checking on this, but I plan to soon.
