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Author Archives: Symbol Reader
The Secret Life of Words: Amen
AMEN. Magic word interpreted as “let it be” in Hebrew, used to evoke divine response to a prayer. Such words often began as deities’ names. This may have originally invoked the Egyptian god Amen (Amun), “the Hidden One” – the … Continue reading
Images of the Zodiac: Contemplating Libra
Johfra Bosschart, Libra “…to know how to think with emotions and to feel with intellect…” Fernando Pessoa “Let your judgements have their own quiet, undisturbed development, which must, like all progress, come from deep within, and cannot in any way … Continue reading
Posted in Johfra Bosschart
Tagged 7-pointed star, Ankh, archetypes, Assyrian sphinx sphinx, astrology, C.G. Jung, Egyptian myth, feeling, Hathor, Johfra Bosschart, lemniscate, Libra, maat, psychological types, psychology, scales symbolism, seven-pointed star, sistrum, symbolism, symbols, thinking, Zodiac
19 Comments
Two Abysses
“We are two abysses – a well staring at the sky.” Fernando Pessoa Cathy McClelland, Raven Reflection (image credit: http://www.cathymcclelland.com/enlarge_htm_pages/Animal/raven_reflection.htm)
Cartography of the Deep Human Psyche (7)
It seems very appropriate that my LSD research series should finish with this last, seventh part. Number seven relates to the seven chakras. Now when I looked back at the themes of each part, I saw how the first three … Continue reading
“Dreams” by Wislawa Szymborska
This is a beautiful post on dreams and it also cites one of my favourite Polish poets.
Posted in Uncategorized
10 Comments
The Woman Who Embodied the Goddess
Aphrodite of Corinth Beyond light and shade, Beyond thing and thought, There is love forever lurking. B.Z. Goldberg, The Sacred Fire Among the many totems of the great Babylonian goddess Ishtar was the fish. Her initiates would eat it as … Continue reading
Posted in Sacred Prostitution
Tagged Aphrodite, archetypes, Atargatis, Corinth, fish symbolism, Hora, Horae, Ishtar, Pisces, priestess, sacred prostitution, Shulamite, stranger, symbolism, symbols
23 Comments
The Lady of the Camellias and Her Myth
The Sun is about to enter Libra, the sign of refined elegance ruled by Venus. Two countries associated with Libra in mundane astrology are France (the Sun in Libra) and Japan (the Ascendant in Libra). One expression of the archetype … Continue reading
Posted in The Courtesan
Tagged astrology, courtesan, Dumas, erotic love, geisha, hetaera, La Traviata, Libra, Marie Duplessis, Venus, Verdi
31 Comments
Cartography of the Deep Human Psyche (6)
Having reread the whole chapter dedicated to LSD subjects reliving their own birth, once again, just like after the first reading many years ago, I feel amazed. Our coming into this world is a metaphor of the process of individuation. … Continue reading
Posted in Stanislav Grof
Tagged Basic Perinatal Matrices, Basic Perinatal Matrix, death, delivery, depth psychology, Grof, LSD research, rebirth, Stanislav Grof, symbolism
28 Comments
Cartography of the Deep Human Psyche (5)
Gustave Dore, Dante at the Gate of Hell Just as Adam and Eve are cast out from Paradise, so our blissful sojourn in the mother’s womb comes to an end in the first stage of delivery. This moment marks the … Continue reading
Posted in Stanislav Grof
Tagged Basic Perinatal Matrices, Basic Perinatal Matrix II, Centaurs, depression, depth psychology, despair, Emil Cioran, evil, Grof, hell, Ixion, LSD research, no exit, Stanislav Grof, symbolism
46 Comments
Cartography of the Deep Human Psyche (4)
Leonardo da Vinci, Studies of Embryos The first nine months of our life are spent in water, where we are surrounded by darkness. We have no conscious memory of that period. Subconsciously, we crave to relive that time later on … Continue reading
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