Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sisyphus and Stone

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Symbol Reader

Stones symbolize that which is ancient, eternal, impenetrable and unconscious. Unsurprisingly, the first chapter of human history was called the Stone Age. For the ancients stones were infused with the spirit of the gods and ancestors. Stone caves were places … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, Artemis, boulder, fertility, Greek mythology, Jungian psychology, myth, petrus, psyche, rock, Sisyphus, sliding stone, stone, symbolism, symbols, Verena Kast | 13 Comments

Master Arnold Böcklin

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Symbol Reader

Arnold Böcklin (born in 1827) was a Swiss symbolist painter, whose work The Plague (1898) has recently emerged as the emblem of our moment in time. It seems that through his symbolist lens he managed to capture the timeless terror … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, Arnold Böcklin, art, death, Dodona, Mermaids at Play, oracle, painting, symbolism, symbolist art, symbols, The Isle of the Dead, The Plague, The Sacred Grove, Zeus | 8 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

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 (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

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

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 →