Symbols and the Search for Meaning

<body background="/symbols/images/swirlgrey.gif"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="6" width="440" height="151" align="center"> <tr> <td width="18" height="15"></td> <td height="15" width="449"> <p align="center"> <font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#333399" size="5" ><strong><em><br> Symbols and the <br> Search for Meaning<br> </em></strong></font></p> <p align="right"><a href="/home/commentary.htm" style="color: rgb(0,128,128)"><strong><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What does the <br> lyre represent?</font></strong></a></p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3" ><br>     <font color="#000080"><strong> </strong></font><br>      </font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >Although we hold a symbol language in common, we don't always interpret individual symbols in the same way. Symbols point to deeper truths that we usually experience as individuals or as members of a particular culture. This variety of experience is part of the joy of the human adventure. It can also be confusing when we study art or literature!<br>      So, where do all these symbols lead you? Perhaps to a better understanding of your inner, emotional life and the world as you experience it, to specific areas requiring growth and effort on your part. And, finally, to a better understanding of what is Universal to all human beings.<br>      In working with his patients, Swiss psychologist Carl Jung identified universal, primordial symbols he called </font><font color="#000080" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >archetypes</font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >, which he believed were common to all people regardless of their gender, age, or society. He understood archetypes to represent recurring patterns of experience. These archetypes or patterns of human experience include the animus, anima, shadow, trickster, hero, and many others <a style="color: rgb(0,128,128)" href="/herojourney/primalscream.htm" target="_top">(see Primal)</a>.<br>      One of the most important things you can do in your creative work is to take notice of your own </font><font color="#000080" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >personal symbol language</font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" > and recurring patterns. What visual images attract you and why? Does this change over time? What symbols or events appear regularly in your </font><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >dreams</font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >? <br> </font><font color="#000080" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >     <a target="_top" style="color: rgb(0,128,128)" href="/dreams/dream.htm">Dream symbols</a></font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" > <em>can</em> be strange, intricate, and beautiful, but they can also be everyday objects that represent for you a concept or a way of thinking, being, or feeling. These ordinary objects or events can be a kind of shorthand, a way your soul uses to communicate with you.  <br>      Keep a dream journal and pay attention both to your dreams and to the events in your life. Can you piece together the thread of meaning that runs through all of them? Are your dreams telling you anything about your life? Work with your symbol language in the art form of your choice. And be patient. Gold gleams within the darkness. <br>      </font><font color="#000080" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" >Symbols can be found</font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" > in nature, in our dreams, in works of art, and in our daily life. When you begin to understand the language of the imagination, you will see that it is alive and well around you everyday,  calling you to come out and play.</font></p> <blockquote> <p align="left"><font color="#000080" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" ><strong>Symbols, like music, are a language we hold in common. Transcending our cultural differences, symbols teach us much about our humanity   and help us see connections. As we look below the surface appearance of things, we experience life more fully, glimpsing the eternal meaning of times and events.   </strong></font></p> </blockquote> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="4" color="#800080" ><strong>Books about Symbols</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><strong><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#000080" size="2" ><em>Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them</em></font><font color="#000080" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" > by Hans Biedermann and tr. by James Hulbert </font></strong><br> <font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2" color="#000000" >(New York: Meridian Books, 1994)  </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#000080" size="2" ><strong><em>An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols</em></strong></font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2" color="#000000" > </font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#000080" size="2" ><strong>by J.C. Cooper</strong></font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2" color="#000000" ><br> (London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1978)</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#000080" size="2" ><strong><em>Man and His Symbols</em> ed. by Carl G. Jung<br> </strong></font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2" color="#000000" >(New York: Doubleday, 1969. Reprint edition)</font></p> <p align="left"><strong><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3" color="#000080" > </font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#000080" size="2" ><em>The Secret Language of Symbols </em>by David Fontana</font><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3" color="#000080" ><br> </font></strong><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" >(San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994)</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" ><font color="#000080"><strong><em>The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols: Thousands of Signs and Symbols from Around the World</em></strong></font> <strong><font color="#000080">by Miranda Bruce-Mitford</font></strong><br> (New York: DK Publishing Book, 1996)</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#800080" ><strong> </strong></font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#800080" ><strong>On this Site</strong></font></p> <p align="left"><a target="_self" style="color: rgb(0,128,128)" href="/stories/amaterasu/sunsymbols.htm"><strong><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" >About Sun Gods and Symbols  in Mythology and Your Psyche</font></strong></a></p> <p align="left"><a style="color: rgb(0,128,128)" href="/home/commentary.htm" target="_self"><strong><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" >Gloss on the Symbols</font></strong></a></p> <p align="left"><a style="color: rgb(0,128,128)" href="/dreams/dream.htm" target="_top"><strong><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" >Dreams Are Slippery Things</font></strong></a></p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left"><font size="3" face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" color="#006666"><b>This page uses frames, but if you are reading this, your browser doesn't support them. 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