Author Archives: Symbol Reader

The Doll as a Symbol

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Symbol Reader

The doll is a curious and polyvalent symbol. On the one hand, there is no shortage of creepy dolls in horror movies. Furthermore, in his Dictionary of Symbols, Juan Eduardo Cirlot speaks of dolls solely in the context of psychopathology … Continue reading →

Posted in The Doll | Tagged Ancient Greece, archetypes, bride, C.G. Jung, doll, Doll's House, dolls, femininity, Ibsen, Imbolc, individuation, nymph, nymphs, Pinkola Estes, psyche, Self, socialization, society, symbolism, symbols, Vasilisa, votive offerings, wedding, women | Leave a comment

Reading The Red Book (30)

Posted on February 3, 2021 by Symbol Reader

“I feel the things that were and that will be. Behind the ordinary the eternal abyss yawns. The earth gives me back what it hid.” Liber Secundus, chapter XVII Chapter XVII of Liber Secundus, the second part of The Red … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged analytical psychology, Aquarius, archetypes, astrology, Atman, Atmavictu, Bollingen, breath, Carl Jung, Christ, dragon, gift, Hermes, Holy Grail, kabiri, lapis philosophorum, Leo, Liber Novus, Mercury, opposites, Parsifal, philosopher’s stone, pleroma, polarization, psyche, Saturn, shadow, Soul, stone, symbolism, symbols, talent, Telesphoros, The Red Book, Wagner | 5 Comments

Carl Jung and the Ways of Hermes

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Symbol Reader

Before I continue my journey through Jung’s Red Book, I would like to draw your attention to an excellent essay by Lance S. Owens, The Hermeneutics of Vision: C.G. Jung and Liber Novus. You can download it here along with … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged anagoge, analytical psychology, archetypes, Black Books, C.G. Jung, gnosis, hermeneutics, Hermes, interpretation, Lance Owens, language, Liber Novus, mysticism, psyche, Soul, symbols, The Red Book, vision | 3 Comments

Symbolism of Amber

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Symbol Reader

Nicola Tesla once said that though we cannot understand the life of crystals, they are nevertheless living beings. When it comes to amber, this precious gem, which is not even a stone per se, seems to vibrate with more life … Continue reading →

Posted in Amber, Uncategorized | Tagged Amber, ancestors, archetypes, Baltic Sea, electron, gems, healing, Helios, Jurate, legend, mythology, Phaethon, Poland, precious metals, resin, stones, sun, symbolism, symbols, trees | 13 Comments

Reading The Red Book (29)

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Symbol Reader

I. “Your sun will rise from muddy swamps.” II. “The lowest in you is the source of mercy.” III. “But the lowest in you is also the eye of the evil that stares at you and looks at you coldly … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged analytical psychology, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Chaos, crucifixion, depth psychology, evil, good, language, Liber Novus, life, madness, Neo-Platonism, Nous, Phanes, psyche, shadow, Soul, symbolism, symbols, system, The Red Book, unconscious, words | 5 Comments

The Nymphs

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Symbol Reader

I. To Nereids “O lovely-faced and pure nymphs,daughters of Nereus, lord of the deep,at the bottom of the seayou frolic and dance,fifty maidens revel in the waves, maidens riding on the backs of Tritons,delighting in animal shapes,bodies nurtured by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ancient Greece, Apollo, archetypes, beekeeping, Calypso, cave, Cave of the Nymphs, Chariklo, childbirth, Chiron, civilization, Crete, Daphnis, Delphi, Dionysos, divination, Dryads, fertility, Greek mythology, healing, Hera, Hermes, Ida, Ithaca, Maia, marriage, mountain, mythology, Naiades, Nereids, nostos, numpholeptos, nymphs, Oceanids, Odyssey, oracle, Pan, Pleiades, Porphyry, psyche, Soul, symbolism, symbols, Syrinx, water, Zeus | 3 Comments

Reading The Red Book (28)

Posted on December 13, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“I see behind you, behind the mirror of your eyes, the crush of dangerous shadows, the dead, who look greedily through the empty sockets of your eyes, who moan and hope to gather up through you all the loose ends … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged Anabaptism, animal, archetypes, Bergson, C.G. Jung, Chaos, Christianity, Cook, Ezechiel, Ezekiel, four, instinct, intuition, intuitive method, Liber Novus, madness, mandala, psyche, psychology, Soul, symbolism, symbols, tetramorph, the dead, The Red Book, the Self, the unconscious, unconscious | 3 Comments

Reading The Red Book (27)

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Symbol Reader

The title of Chapter XIV of Liber Secundus, the second part of The Red Book, is Divine Folly. Jung* finds himself in a library, where he engages in a dialogue with a librarian. He summarizes the atmosphere as “troubling-scholarly ambitions-scholarly … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung, Uncategorized | Tagged analytical psychology, archetypes, beatitudes, blessings, C.G. Jung, Christ, Christianity, depth psychology, Eugen Drewermann, imitation, individuation, Jesus, Liber Novus, librarian, life, Nietzsche, psyche, Soul, symbolism, symbols, The Imitation of Christ, The Red Book, the unconscious | 4 Comments

Women’s Wisdom: Hildegard of Bingen

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Symbol Reader

Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth-century German Benedictine abbess, was a mystic, a healer and an intellectual, whose achievements are hard to believe if we realize that she lived in the times, when women had very limited opportunities. In the so-called … Continue reading →

Posted in Hildegard of Bingen | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, Blue, canticles, Carl Jung, cosmic tree, egg, Gothic, green, High Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen, love, Middle Ages, mysticism, psyche, Soul, symbolism, symbols, universe, viriditas | 14 Comments

Symbolist Art: The Mysteriarch (The One Who Presides over Mysteries)

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Symbol Reader

In volume V of Collected Works (Symbols of Transformation, par. 299) Jung quotes a passage from Goethe’s Faust, in which he hero must descend to the realm of the Mothers: “MEPHISTOPHELES: This lofty mystery I must now unfold.Goddesses throned in … Continue reading →