Category Archives: Uncategorized

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 →

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

On Removing Racially Charged Images

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Symbol Reader

The white domination – this tectonic plate that underlies the Western culture – is shifting radically, steering for a massive earthquake. I do not feel I possess the right to express my opinion on the subject; I would rather quote … Continue reading →

Posted in racism, Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, blackamoor, George Floyd, history, language, Mohrenkopf, Moors, racism, silence, St James, Switzerland, symbolism, symbols, words | 2 Comments

Reading The Red Book (21)

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Symbol Reader

I. “We spread poison and paralysis around us in that we want to educate all the world around us into reason.” II.”The outer opposition is an image of my inner opposition. Once I realize this, I remain silent and think … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung, Uncategorized | Tagged analytical psychology, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Carl Jung, depth psychology, egg, fantasy, Gilgamesh, Izdubar, Liber Novus, psyche, psychology, science, sick god, snake, symbolism, symbols, the black sun, The Red Book | 1 Comment

The Innocent Weaving of Stories

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“To begin with, it is not true that the Gods dwell only in the Heavens, for all things are full of the Gods.” Iamblichus In this current season of Venus retrograde in Gemini I have been feeling a deep desire … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, Arundhati Roy, Borges, collections, forty, Franz Schubert, Iamblichus, Istanbul, Jorge Luis Borges, literature, museums, novels, Orhan Pamuk, Osvaldo Ferrari, quarantine, songs, stories, storytelling, sunthemata, symbolism, symbols, the Museum of Innocence, Venus retrograde | 6 Comments

Reading The Red Book (20)

Posted on May 17, 2020 by Symbol Reader

“Neither good nor evil shall be my masters.” C.G. Jung, “The Red Book” Chapter VII of Liber Secundus, the second part of The Red Book, is called “The Remains of Earlier Temples.” It is preceded by a curious blue mosaic … Continue reading →