Author Archives: Symbol Reader

The Private Self

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Symbol Reader

  William Turner, “Choir of Salisbury Cathedral” “Bene vixit, bene qui latuit.” (To live well is to live concealed) Ovid An article on Virginia Woolf’s idea of privacy written by Joshua Rothman has caught my attention recently. The author quotes from … Continue reading →

Posted in Psyche | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

The Beneficent Maleficent

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Symbol Reader

I see the movie Maleficent as an apotheosis of the rising feminine power. I only had the chance to see it yesterday and thought the movie was magnificent. I loved it how Maleficent’s character echoed so many powerful and wrathful … Continue reading →

Posted in The Dark Goddess | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (10): Return to Ithaca through the Cave of the Nymphs

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Venus the Morning Star (Venus Phosphorus – Light-Bringer) “When on the East the sheer bright star arose that tells of coming Dawn, the ship made landfall and came up islandward in the dim of night. Phorkys, the old sea baron, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Cultivating the Dark Core of Passion

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Psyche | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

A Few Thoughts on Power

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Paul Kane, “Mount St Helens Erupting at Night” “Business has defeated everything in its path. Its last enemies are the oldest: it is still defied by the ancient Gods of blood revenge, territorial tribalism and the strangely recurrent death struggles … Continue reading →

Posted in Power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The White Birds

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Symbol Reader

THE WHITE BIRDS by W.B. Yeats I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea! We tire of the flame of the meteor, before it can fade and flee; And the flame of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | 18 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (9): Leucothea in the Sea of Space and Time

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Symbol Reader

The climax of the Odyssey is the hero’s arrival in Ithaca but a harbinger of that pivotal moment is his sojourn on the island of Scheria (Phaecia), which I have written about here. William Blake also connected these two events, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Ancient Wind Chant

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Originally posted on Proem…:
[audio http://maxadaland.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/wind-chanter.mp3%5D Old Hopi lies prostrate upon a deep-red sandstone mesa, while under him the ground remembers noontime heat. His rib cage barely lifts?with narrow breaths of chanting. His voice is hushed and reedy. Ki-tana-po, ki-tana-po,…

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The Erotic Watery Dreamland of Henri Rousseau

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“In 1910, the year of his death, Rousseau gave the world his last dream, his extraordinary painting Le Rȇve. In a moonlit jungle clearing, a naked woman lies on a brown velvet-covered couch. In attendance are she-lions, birds of paradise, … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The World Is Like a Divine Language

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Symbol Reader

René Guénon “1. … symbolism seems to us to be quite specially adapted to the needs of human nature, which is not exclusively intellectual but which needs a sensory basis from which to rise to higher levels. 2. Fundamentally, every … Continue reading →

Posted in Language | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments