Tag Archives: alchemy

Disasters and Their Symbolic Dimensions

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Symbol Reader

“In the beginning, there was nothing at all that anyone could have discerned – only a yawning gap that stretched in all directions – featureless, indefinite, without orientation.” Sarah Iles Johnston, Gods and Mortals: Ancient Greek Myths for Modern Reader … Continue reading →

Posted in Disasters | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, Blatten, C.G. Jung, calamities, catastrophe, depth psychology, Derborence, disaster, Enkidu, enlightenment, Gilgamesh, hope, landslide, literature, mountain, nature, Pandora, Piuro, psyche, Ragnarok, Ramuz, Switzerland, unconscious | Leave a comment

The Rose as a Symbol

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Symbol Reader

Rose,the unfading rose beyond my verse—rose that’s full and fragrant,rose of the black garden in the deep of night,rose of any garden and any night,rose that’s born again by the art of alchemyout of tenuous ash,rose of the Persians and … Continue reading →

Posted in The Rose | Tagged albedo, alchemy, Aphrodite, archetypes, art, astrology, Briar Rose, C.G. Jung, Dante, death, depth psychology, Dionysos, Eros, etymology, goddess, love, Mary, Mystical Rose, pain, Paradiso, Rilke, Rosalia, rose, rose window, rubedo, Sleeping Beauty, Soul, suffering, symbolism, symbols, thorns, transition, Venus, Virgin Mary, wine, Yeats | 10 Comments

Symbolism of Mermaids: The Beauty and Danger of Unconscious Depths

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Symbol Reader

“Her hair was as a wet fleece of gold, and each separate hair as a thread of fine gold in a cup of glass. Her body was as white ivory, and her tail was of silver and pearl. Silver and … Continue reading →

Posted in Mermaids | Tagged alchemy, anima, archetypes, art, Atargatis, C.G. Jung, church, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, consciousness, depth psychology, enlightenment, Eros, fantasy, gender fluidity, goddess, hybrid, incarnation, liminal, Little Mermaid, Melusine, mermaid, Mermaids, merpeople, merperson, monster, morality, mythology, Odysseus, Odyssey, passion, Picasso, Pisces, psyche, queer, seduction, selkie, sexuality, sirens, Soul, Starbucks, symbolism, symbols, the unconscious, Typhon, Warsaw, Wild Woman | 9 Comments

The Symbolism of the Dragon

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Symbol Reader

“Dragons are subterranean, winged, smoke- and fire-breathing creatures, hybrid go-betweens in a magical bond between heaven and the underworld, where they guard secret treasures and reign over fires and concealed palaces.” A description found on Dragon Path on Mount Pilatus … Continue reading →

Posted in Dragons | Tagged Agathis Daimon, alchemy, archetypes, Bilbo, C.G. Jung, Cadmus, Campbell, China, depth psychology, dragon, Dragons, drakaina, drakon, drakontes, etymology, fantasy, Gaia, goddess, gold, golden apples, Greek myth, guardian, Hermes, hero, Hesperides, James Hillman, Krakow, Ladon, Mercurius, Mysterium Coniunctionis, mythology, Nagas, Pilatus, ring, river, shadow, Shesha, Smaug, Soul, Stilbon, symbolism, symbols, The Red Book, treasure, Typhon, uoroboros, Vishnu, water, Yggdrasil | 12 Comments

Odilon Redon: Master of Life

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Symbol Reader

“Not only are we the products of multiple entangled ancestors, spanning vast ranges of the evolutionary field; we are not even individuals at all. Rather, we are walking assemblages: riotous communities of multi-species, multi-bodied beings, inside and outside of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, art, consciousness, creation, Darwin, entanglement, evolution, intelligence, life, metamorphosis, monsters, Oannes, Odilon Redon, Origines, painting, symbolism, symbols, transformation | 10 Comments

Prague: A Threshold

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Symbol Reader

You may have heard of two magical triangles, one of black, the other of white magic. The origins of that legend are impossible to fathom. The white magic triangle is said to include Lyon, Prague and Turin, while the black … Continue reading →

Posted in Prague | Tagged alchemy, Alphonse Mucha, archetypes, art, Art Nouveau, astrology, Black Madonna, C.G. Jung, Cancer, city, Don Giovanni, Edward Kelley, goddess, Il Commendatore, Jaroslaw Rona, John Dee, Kafka, Kepler, literature, magic, magic triangle, Mother, mystery, Prague, Rudolf II, Secession, Soul, symbolism, symbols, Tycho Brahe | 7 Comments

His Dark Materials

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Symbol Reader

Philip Pullman finished his trilogy of fantasy novels His Dark Materials in 2000. But I feel his epic has a lot to say about the symbolic portents of our times and the near future. I tremendously enjoyed the HBO/BBC adaptation … Continue reading →

Posted in His Dark Materials | Tagged Age of Aquarius, air, alchemy, alethiometer, archetypes, C.G. Jung, consciousness, creativity, daemon, daimon, Dust, freedom, Gnosticism, His Dark Materials, Milton, orthodoxy, Paradise Lost, Philip Pullman, psyche, religion, Soul, symbolism, symbolreader, symbols | 10 Comments

Number Three and Its Mysteries

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Symbol Reader

Three is intimately connected with the myth of the goddess and with the three main phases of the moon – waxing, full and waning, corresponding to the three phases of a woman’s life – maiden, mother and hag. Pythia sitting … Continue reading →

Posted in three, Uncategorized | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, Aum, Binah, C.G. Jung, Cora, Demeter, Dion Fortune, duality, Ereshkigal, evil, force, form, four, Hekate, Holy Trinity, Inanna, Kabbalah, manifestation, Morrigan, numbers, Pillar of Severity, quaternio, Saturn, symbolism, symbols, The Tree of Life, three, Tridevi, Trimurti, triple goddess, Underworld | 10 Comments

Lyon

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Symbol Reader

Posted in Lyon | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Celts, Cybele, dark, Fourvière, France, Gaul, Hermes, light, Lion, Lugdunum, Lyon, magic triangle, Marianne, Mercurius, Mercury, Romans, shadow, Soul, symbolism, symbols, traboules | Leave a comment

Reading The Red Book (42) – Seven Sermons to the Dead

Posted on May 22, 2022 by Symbol Reader

“… what they rejected will be most valuable to them.” Philemon’s words uttered after the sixth sermon to the dead We have now reached the sixth Sermon to the Dead, which you will find in the third section of The Red … Continue reading →