Author Archives: Symbol Reader

Struggle for Love in a Dream

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Symbol Reader

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Poliphilo’s Strife of Love in a Dream or Poliphilo’s Struggle for Love in a Dream), more than just a book but rather a milestone in depth psychology, was published in Venice in 1499. It featured beautiful woodcut illustrations and … Continue reading →

Posted in Hypnerotomachia Poliphili | Tagged archetypes, art, Carl Gustav Jung, depth psychology, dream, dreamlike, Eros, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, psyche, psychology, Renaissance, Soul, Strife of Love in a Dream, symbols | 10 Comments

Icy Lechery: Art by Tamara de Lempicka

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“Was it true that, according to her final wishes, the ashes of the Polish-Russian artist Tamara de Lempicka were dropped from a helicopter by her daughter Kizette into the crater of the Mexican volcano Popocatépetl? What an Olympian, cataclysmic, magnificent … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting, Quotations | Tagged archetypes, art, eroticism, nude, painting, sensuality, sex, symbolism, symbols, Tamara de Lempicka | 10 Comments

Apollo and the Pythia: the Oracle of Delphi

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1.“I count the grains of sand on the beach and measure the sea; I understand the speech of the dumb and hear the voiceless.” The Pythia “Tell the king, the fair-wrought house has fallen. No shelter has Apollo, nor sacred … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, The Oracle of Delphi | Tagged Ancient Greece, Apollo, archetypes, Clea, Delphi, Dionysos, Dionysus, divination, ethylene, Greek myth, Greek mythology, Jelle Zeilinga de Boer, omphalos, oracle of Delphi, Plutarch, pneuma, prophecy, Pythia, Socrates, subterranean gas, symbols, vapors, William Broad | 17 Comments

Poetry and Mystery: “Women” by Evelyn Scott

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“Crystal columns, When they bend they crack; Brittle souls, Conforming, yet not conforming– Mirrors. Masculine souls pass across the mirrors: Whirling, gliding ecstasies– Retreating, retreating, Dimly, dimly, Like dreams fading across the mirrors. Then the mirrors, Stark and brilliant in … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged divine feminine, Evelyn Scott, goddess, mystery, poem, poetry | 6 Comments

To Apollo: The Averter of Evil, the Bringer of Harmony (part 1)

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1.“I am the eye with which the Universe Beholds itself, and knows it is divine; All harmony of instrument or verse, All prophecy, all medicine, is mine, All light of art or nature; – to my song Victory and praise … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo | Tagged Ancient Greece, Apollo, archetypes, art, bow, civilization, Daphne, Delos, depth psychology, Greek myth, Greek mythology, Homeric hymn to Apollo, Leto, lyre, muses, music, nymphs, paean, possession, sun god, symbolism, symbols, the Self, Zeus | 21 Comments

The Attraction to the Divine Unknown

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“I find it relevant to quote here a formulation devised by Dio of Prusa (‘Dio Chrysostom’), a Greek thinker who lived in a period straddling the first and the second centuries CE. In what I am about to quote, taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged daimon, daimonion, Dio of Prusa, divinity, gods, Greek myth, myth, mythology, theos | 13 Comments

Light and Matter: the Perseid Meteor Shower

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Symbol Reader

This year has been announced to be perfect to watch the Perseid meteor shower because the moon will be dark. This shooting star feast usually peaks around 10-13 August (http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide#perseids). I am reposting my own writing about the symbolism of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

“Epilogue” by D.H. Lawrence: Poetry for Hot, Sultry Dog Days of the Summer

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“PATIENCE, little Heart. One day a heavy, June-hot woman Will enter and shut the door to stay. And when your stifling heart would summon Cool, lonely night, her roused breasts will keep the night at bay, Sitting in your room … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged D.H. Lawrence, Epilogue, love poetry, poem, poetry | 9 Comments

Rusalki: the Slavic Nymphs

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“She shook the bright drops from her hair And gazed upon the anchorite; To look upon her form so fair The good monk trembled with affright. And he beheld her from afar With head and hand strange signals make, Then … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, Great Goddess, mermaid, rusalka, rusalki, Slavic myth, symbolism, symbols, the collective unconscious, water nymphs | 26 Comments

Two Shimmering Thoughts by Jung on His Birthday

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1.“The unconscious can be reached and expressed only by symbols, and for this reason the process of individuation can never do without the symbol.” Carl Gustav Jung, Collected Works Volume 13, “Alchemical Studies,” section 44 2.“What takes place between light … Continue reading →