"The deepest core of life is poetry and symbol." - Dane Rudhyar
Like Symbol Reader on Facebook
-
-
Recent Posts
Categories
Archives
Meta
Author Archives: Symbol Reader
The Alchemical Salt and Its Taste of Infinitude
I.“Thus the fire began to work upon the air and brought forth Sulphur. Then the air began to work upon the water and brought forth Mercurius. The water began to work upon the earth and brought forth Salt. But the … Continue reading
Posted in Alchemy, Salt
Tagged alchemy, C.G. Jung, depth psychology, mummification, natron, Salt, symbolism, symbols
15 Comments
Symbolism of the Lighthouse
The world’s first lighthouse, the Pharos, was erected in the ancient city of Alexandria. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it turned the insignificant port of Pharos into one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. … Continue reading
Posted in Lighthouse
Tagged Alexandria, Carl Jung, depth psychology, fire, Heraclitus, individuation, Lighthouse, Pharos, symbolism, symbols, the unconscious, Vesta
16 Comments
“Alchemy” by Jane Yeh
If it could be done, I’d do it In an instant. I’ve got the charts, The mortar and pestle, the fullest Array of flasks that side of Rome. My walls are papered with symbols, and the biggest Is gold. There’s … Continue reading
Shiva and Shakti – Consciousness and Power
I. “Since Shiva is only the silent, immobile witness, whereas she is the power herself, the devotees of Shakti and Devi have concluded that it might be best to direct one’s attention and prayers exclusively to the Goddess. Not the … Continue reading
Discovering Intellectual Fire: the Birth of English
The written word is both of the earth and of the spirit, positioned on the intersection between mind and flesh. It freezes the living, shimmering organism of language in time, petrifies it, making it immortal. The intangible, impenetrable roots of … Continue reading
Posted in English, Language
Tagged Anglo Saxons, christianization, English, history, language, Latin, Lindisfarne Gospels, Melvyn Bragg, Old English, origins, runes, The Adventure of English
5 Comments
Cultivating the Mysterious Essence: on Authenticity
I. “The ancient masters cultivated the mysterious essence. They were profound, subtle – beyond our ability to comprehend. For this reason we cannot know them, but we can try to describe their existence: Cautious, as if crossing an icy … Continue reading
Posted in Authenticity
Tagged analytical psychology, Authenticity, C.G. Jung, empowerment, Hegel, Heidegger, individuation, personality, psychology, tao, Taoism, Trilling
25 Comments
Sense and Meaning
“Contrary to what is generally believed, meaning and sense were never the same thing, meaning shows itself at once, direct, literal, explicit, enclosed in itself, univocal, if you like, while sense cannot stay still, it seethes with second, third and … Continue reading
Posted in Quotations
Tagged "All the Names", Borges, butterfly, Chuang Tzu, dream, meaning, Saramago, sense
17 Comments
Jung on Alchemy (6): Sol and Sulphur – the Fiery Ferment of the Soul’s Hidden Depth
“As in the hand a sulfur match flares white and sends out flicking tongues on every side before it bursts into flame –: in that ring of crowded onlookers, hot, eager, and precise her round dance begins to dart and … Continue reading
Like the Rainbow on the Waterfall: the Mystical Aura of Consumption
While the fourteenth century was ravaged by the Black Death, the nineteenth century belonged to tuberculosis, or the White Death, a disease much more insidious and widespread. John Keats died of it at the age of twenty-six, and so did … Continue reading
Posted in Tuberculosis
Tagged art, consumption, Davos, death, disease, Edgar AllanPoe, Hans Castorp, illness, John Keats, life, literature, Magic Mountain, myth, Romanticism, sanatorium, symbolism, TB, Thomas Mann, Tuberculosis, White Death
6 Comments
“That’s just who I am”: Is that Kafka? 99 Finds by Rainer Stach
Originally posted on roughghosts:
“Now I’ve taken a closer look at my desk and realized that nothing good can be produced on it. There’s so much lying around here, it creates disorder without regularity, and with none of that agreeableness…
symbolreader 