Author Archives: Symbol Reader

Reading The Red Book (26)

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“There are not many truths, there are only a few. Their meaning is too deep to grasp other than in symbols.” C. G. Jung, The Red Book, Liber Secundus, chapter XIII Chapter XII of Liber Secundus, the second part of The … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung, Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, C.G. Jung, depth psychology, Dionysus, dismemberment, Holy Communion, Liber Novus, liver, mandala, Osiris, Prometheus, psyche, sacrifice, Soul, suffering, The Red Book | 8 Comments

Hamnet and Tutankhamun

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Symbol Reader

Shakespeare’s life is a great mystery but we do know that he had a son, Hamnet, who died at the age 11, possibly from the plague. Four years after his son’s death, Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, maybe his greatest masterpiece. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged afterlife, ancient Egypt, archetypes, art, burial, death, fiction, grave, Hamnet, Howard Carter, literature, Maggie O'Farrell, mask, Osiris, Shakespeare, symbolism, symbols, tomb, truth, Tutankhamun, Tutankhamun's mask | 4 Comments

Reading The Red Book (25)

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“I know your shadow and mine, that follows and comes with us, and only waits for the hour of twilight when he will strangle you and me with all the daimons of the night.” “The Red Book,” chapter XII “Hell” … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged analytical psychology, anima, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Carl Jung, depth psychology, evil, evil eye, good, Liber Novus, psyche, shadow, Soul, symbolism, symbols, the eye, The Red Book | 5 Comments

Reading The Red Book (24)

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Symbol Reader

Chapter XI of Liber Secundus is called The Opening of the Egg. Having sung his incantations, Jung kneels on the rug and carefully opens the egg. Completely healed, Izdubar appears in front of him. The god relates what his experience … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged archetypes, C.G. Jung, darkness, depth psychology, Divine, egg, evil, Gilgamesh, God, good, Izdubar, Liber Novus, Liber Secundus, life, light, Medusa, snake, solar, solar hero, symbolism, symbols, The Red Book, the sun | 8 Comments

Lilith

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Symbol Reader

On the ceiling of the Sistine chapel we can see an atypical depiction of the serpent of Paradise. Michelangelo chose to portray the snake as a red-headed woman, undoubtedly Lilith. Why did Michelangelo decide to include Lilith in his biblical … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Adam, Adam Kadmon, alchemy, Aramaic magic texts, archetypes, Black Madonna, Burney relief, C.G. Jung, Dark goddess, depth psychology, desert, Elijah, evil, Genesis, Gnosticism, huluppuh tree, Inanna, Ishtar, Kabbalah, Lamashtu, Lilith, lilitu, Mandaean Gnosis, materia prima, Mesopotamia, myth, nigredo, paradise, patriarchy, red, sephiroth, serpent, Shekhinah, Sumer, symbolism, symbols, Talmud, the Bible, The Dark Goddess, The Red Sea, Tree of Life, whore of Babylon | 15 Comments

The Black Madonna of Hergiswald

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Symbol Reader

One of the most stunning Black Madonna chapels in Switzerland is located near Lucerne on a hill with a view of the mountains and Lake Lucerne. It was built in the seventeenth century after a Capuchin Friar Ludwig von Wyl … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Madonna, Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, art, Baroque, Black Madonna, chapel, emblems, Hergiswald, Mary, pilgrimage, Switzerland, symbolism, symbols | 11 Comments

Reading The Red Book (23)

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Symbol Reader

Chapter X of Liber Secundus is called Incantations. God (Izdubar) is now enclosed in the maternal egg. Jung sings “the incantations for his incubation.” If we are the children of Gods, perhaps Gods can also be our children, he says: … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung, Uncategorized | Tagged analytical psychology, Apep, archetype, archetypes, Brahma, C.G. Jung, Carl Gustav Jung, coincidentia oppositorum, depth psychology, fire, gods, golden egg, incantations, incubation, Izdubar, Liber Novus, life, meditation, opposites, solar, Soul, sun, symbol, symbols, The Red Book, unity | 3 Comments

Michelangelo’s Immortality

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like … Continue reading →

Posted in Michelangelo, Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, architecture, art, biography, dome, Florentine Pieta, Freud, Mary Magdalene, Michelangelo, Moses, Pan, Rome, sculpture, St Peter's, symbolism, symbols, the unconscious | 9 Comments

Reading The Red Book (22)

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Symbol Reader

We have reached chapter IX of Liber Secundus, entitled “Second Day.” God Izdubar (Gilgamesh) is resigned to dying; Jung, however, is determined not to let him perish. A thought occurs to him, as he watches Izdubar’s suffering: “And this speech … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung, Uncategorized | Tagged amulet, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Carl Gustav Jung, divinity, egg, fantasy, God, gods, imagination, Izdubar, Know thyself, Liber Novus, psyche, religion, science, Soul, symbols, The Red Book | 4 Comments

Symbolism of the Wetlands

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“I enter a swamp as a sacred place, a sanctum sanctorum. … My temple is the swamp.” *** “Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious … Continue reading →