Category Archives: Uncategorized

Unchanging Waves of Time

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Symbol Reader

The distinction between past, present and future is the most persistent illusion of all, said Einstein. From the perspective of quantum physics, the past, present and future exist simultaneously in time-space. Time is static, it is us who are flowing … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Arrival, enso, film review, heptapods, linguistic relativity, logograms, movie, quantum physics, relativity, seven, Soul, symbolism, Time, Zen | 19 Comments

Soft and Strong: Notes on Water

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I. ”Water nourishes and soothes us. But this same stuff also carved the Grand Canyon out of solid rock over the course of millennia, and every day thunders down with unimaginable fury at Niagara and Victoria Falls.” II. ”One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Water | Tagged Leonardo da Vinci, symbolism, symbols, water | 18 Comments

The Holiness of Trees

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Symbol Reader

“Trees in particular were mysterious and seemed to me direct embodiments of the incomprehensible meaning of life. For that reason the woods were the place where I felt closest to its deepest meaning and to its awe-inspiring workings.” C.G. Jung, … Continue reading →

Posted in trees, Uncategorized | Tagged C.G. Jung, communication, environment, life, nature, Peter Wohlleben, psychology, Soul, symbolism, Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Life, trees | 43 Comments

Hatshepsut: the Woman Pharaoh and Her Rise to Power

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Symbol Reader

Hatshepsut, a woman pharaoh from the renowned eighteenth dynasty, reigned very successfully for twenty-two years. Her rule brought enormous wealth and prosperity to her country. She did not wage unnecessary wars but focused on extensive building projects (she was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Hatshepsut, Uncategorized | Tagged ancient Egypt, Hatshepsut, mythology, Power, women | 16 Comments

The Shattering Power of the Theatre

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I. “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be … Continue reading →

Posted in The Theatre, Uncategorized | Tagged Ancient Greece, art, Birth of Tragedy, Dionysus, dithyramb, drama, Mahabharata, mask, Nietzsche, Peter Brook, Samuel Beckett, symbolism, symbols, theatre, tragedy | 11 Comments

Krishnamurti on Suffering

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Symbol Reader

“Questioner: I seem to have suffered a great deal all my life, not physically, but through death and loneliness and the utter futility of my existence. I had a son whom I greatly loved. He died in an accident. My … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations, Uncategorized | Tagged attachment, conflict, Krishnamurti, pain, self-understanding, sorrow, suffering | 21 Comments

“Perfect Woman” by William Wordsworth

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Symbol Reader

She was a phantom of delight When first she gleam’d upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent To be a moment’s ornament; Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; Like twilight’s, too, her dusky hair; But all things else about her … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Uncategorized | Tagged "Perfect Woman", poem, poetry, William Wordsworth | 11 Comments

Shakespeare and Goethe on Love: from Despair to Hope

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Symbol Reader

“She had a wildness in her eyes and into it I plunged.” Goethe, “Sorrows of Young Werther” In January 1778 Christel von Lassberg drowned herself in the river Ilm, the reason most probably being unrequited love. A copy of Goethe’s … Continue reading →

Posted in love, Uncategorized | Tagged bear, freezing, Goethe, hibernation, literature, love, passion, rebirth, regeneration, Romanticism, Shakespeare, spring, suffering, symbolism, symbols, trauma, Werther, Werther effect, winter, Winter's Tale | 10 Comments

Shadow Inhales and Illumination Exhales Light

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Symbol Reader

In his book The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Juhani Pallasmaa argues that our culture privileges the senses of vision and hearing as the most sociable, while the sense of smell, touch and taste are deemed archaic … Continue reading →

Posted in darkness and light, Uncategorized | Tagged body, chiaroscuro, darkness, Juhani Pallasmaa, Jun’ichiro Tanizaki, light, senses, The Eyes of the Skin | 6 Comments

Black Holes: A Silent, Secret Essence

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I.“He had begun by speaking of mines and metals, of gold and diamonds and all precious elements buried deep in the earth, but now, without my knowing how, he had ranged out into the depths of space, and was … Continue reading →