Author Archives: Symbol Reader

The Symbolic Power of Mushrooms

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Symbol Reader

The Symbolic Power of Mushrooms In the collective consciousness since the recent pandemic, two symbols of self-destruction have emerged, both connected to mushrooms. In the HBO series “The Last of Us,” mind-manipulating mushrooms known as ophiocordyceps possess the minds of … Continue reading →

Posted in Mushrooms | Tagged archetypes, atomic bomb, Aztecs, Bhagavad Gita, C.G. Jung, collective intelligence, creation, depth psychology, destruction, entanglement, evil, farming, fungi, good, Krishna, light, LSD, maya, mushroom cloud, Mushrooms, mycelium, ophiocordyceps, Oppenheimer, psilocybin, psyche, psychedelics, rebirth, regeneration, roots, scapegoat, shadow, Sheldrake, slime moulds, soil, Soul, symbolism, symbols, The Last of Us, the unconscious, wood wibe web | 6 Comments

The Eight Mountains

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Symbol Reader

This post is an attempt at a symbolic reconstruction of a movie I have seen recently. After seeing it, I was so deeply moved that I immediately rewatched it and proceeded to jot down hurriedly ten pages of notes and … Continue reading →

Posted in The Eight Mountains - movie | Tagged archetypes, Bruno, city, civilization, cosmic mountain, country, Dalai Lama, Enkidu, experience, father, father complex, friendship, Gilgamesh, growth, guru, intellect, Mount Meru, mountains, nature, peak, rock, Soul, Sumeru, summit book, symbolism, symbols, The Eight Mountains, Valley, wildness, World Axis | 2 Comments

Odilon Redon: Master of Life

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Symbol Reader

“Not only are we the products of multiple entangled ancestors, spanning vast ranges of the evolutionary field; we are not even individuals at all. Rather, we are walking assemblages: riotous communities of multi-species, multi-bodied beings, inside and outside of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, art, consciousness, creation, Darwin, entanglement, evolution, intelligence, life, metamorphosis, monsters, Oannes, Odilon Redon, Origines, painting, symbolism, symbols, transformation | 10 Comments

Gentleman Overboard: Existential Loneliness

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Symbol Reader

“‘Where is it,’ thought Raskolnikov. ‘Where is it I’ve read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Gentleman Overboard | Tagged archetypes, death, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Gentleman Overboard, Hemingway, Herbert Clyde Lewis, John Donne, literature, Marie Louise von Franz, psyche, Soul, symbolism, symbols | 6 Comments

Christiana Morgan: Her Invisible Life

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Symbol Reader

This is a beautifully written biography of an extraordinary woman, who, as the author puts it, “remains at most a footnote in other people’s history.” She was a prominent patient of Jung’s, who used her paintings and visions as material … Continue reading →

Posted in Christiana Morgan | Tagged anima, archetypes, biography, C.G. Jung, Christiana Morgan, Claire Douglas, depth psychology, earth, Eleusis, Henry Murray, Kafka, muse, psychology, Stach, symbolism, symbols, TAT, veil, visions | 6 Comments

Prague: A Threshold

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Symbol Reader

You may have heard of two magical triangles, one of black, the other of white magic. The origins of that legend are impossible to fathom. The white magic triangle is said to include Lyon, Prague and Turin, while the black … Continue reading →

Posted in Prague | Tagged alchemy, Alphonse Mucha, archetypes, art, Art Nouveau, astrology, Black Madonna, C.G. Jung, Cancer, city, Don Giovanni, Edward Kelley, goddess, Il Commendatore, Jaroslaw Rona, John Dee, Kafka, Kepler, literature, magic, magic triangle, Mother, mystery, Prague, Rudolf II, Secession, Soul, symbolism, symbols, Tycho Brahe | 7 Comments

His Dark Materials

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Symbol Reader

Philip Pullman finished his trilogy of fantasy novels His Dark Materials in 2000. But I feel his epic has a lot to say about the symbolic portents of our times and the near future. I tremendously enjoyed the HBO/BBC adaptation … Continue reading →

Posted in His Dark Materials | Tagged Age of Aquarius, air, alchemy, alethiometer, archetypes, C.G. Jung, consciousness, creativity, daemon, daimon, Dust, freedom, Gnosticism, His Dark Materials, Milton, orthodoxy, Paradise Lost, Philip Pullman, psyche, religion, Soul, symbolism, symbolreader, symbols | 10 Comments

Symbolism of the Cave

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Symbol Reader

A well-known passage from Plato’s Republic describes how a group of people, chained to the wall of a deep cavern, spend their entire lives looking at the shadows dancing on the cave wall in front of them. The captives are oblivious to … Continue reading →

Posted in cave | Tagged archetypes, C.G. Jung, cave, Cave of the Nymphs, death, Egypt, gnas, goddess, Hermes, incarnation, Plato, Porphyry, Power, rebirth, Soul, symbolism, symbols, tomb, transcendence, transformation, womb | 7 Comments

Reading The Red Book (45)

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Symbol Reader

“The one God, to whom worship is due, is in the middle.” C.G. Jung, Black Book 5 “I knew how frightfully inadequate this undertaking was, but despite much work and many distractions I remained true to it, even if another … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged Abraxas, Appendices, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Chnoumis, daimon, depth psychology, Elijah, Epillogue, Eros, individuation, inner child, Liber Novus, logos, opposites, Salome, Seven Sermons to the Dead, Soul, symbolism, symbols, Systema munditotius, The Red Book | 6 Comments

Shiva and Parvati: the Birth of Kali

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Symbol Reader

I have across a fascinating version of the birth of goddess Kali. In this myth she came to the world as a result of Parvati’s anger, which she shed and transformed during her spiritual practice. Lake Manasarovar at the foot … Continue reading →