Tag Archives: alchemy

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 →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung, Uncategorized | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, C.G. Jung, daimon, depth psychology, Dove, enantiodromia, feminine, goddess, Liber Novus, light of nature, masculine, matter, Mercurius, Paracelsus, psyche, Septem Sermones, Seven Sermons to the Dead, snake, Socrates, Soul, spirit, symbolism, symbols, The Red Book | 3 Comments

Black Madonna: An Icon of Mystery

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Symbol Reader

“There is a grave aura about many of the Black Virgins, an expression of utter solitude so intense that the child on her knees or in the embrace of her left arm seems strangely appended. She sits, solitary, weighted, at … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Madonna | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, black, Black Madonna, blackness, C.G. Jung, chaosorder, Christianity, creation, Dark Feminine, Dark Virgin, depth psychology, earth, enlightenment, feminine, God, goddess, matter, mysticism, nature, nigredo, religion, Soul, symbolism, symbols, transformation, transmutation, Trinity | 7 Comments

Autumn

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Symbol Reader

Whenever autumn is in full colour, I always remember the alchemical dictum “Nature rejoices in nature, nature conquers nature, nature rules over nature.” In volume 13 of Collected Works, Jung explained it in the following way: “This principle is pagan … Continue reading →

Posted in autumn | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, autumn, C.G. Jung, cauda pavonis, citrinitas, evolution, Hillman, individuation, lumen naturae, metamorphosis, nature, plants, psyche, psychology, rubedo, symbolism, symbols, trees | 6 Comments

The House of the Black Madonna

Posted on September 26, 2021 by Symbol Reader

One of the most important Black Madonna shrines in Europe is The Basilica della Santa Casa (Basilica of the Holy House) in Loreto, Italy. Catholics believe that it enshrines the authentic house, where Mary lived, where she heard the Annunciation … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Madonna | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, black, Black Madonna, blackness, butterfly, cave, Dark goddess, death, feminine, fire, goddess, hearth, Hestia, kitchen, Loreto, Mary, medlar, Persephone, psyche, rebirth, sacred, Solothurn, Soul, symbolism, symbols, the underworld, tomb, vessel, womb | 10 Comments

Reading The Red Book (36)

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Symbol Reader

“The place of your work should be in the vault.” C.G. Jung, The Red Book, Scrutinies We have now reached Scrutinies – the third part of Jung’s Red Book. As Sonu Shamdasani points out in his introduction to The Red … Continue reading →

Posted in The Red Book by C.G. Jung | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, belief, Brimo, C.G. Jung, Dark goddess, dead, depth psychology, ego, gnosis, HAP, Hekate, I, knowledge, Liber Novus, love, phallus, Philemon, pride, psyche, Scrutinies, Self, shadow, solitude, Soul, symbol, symbolism, symbols, The Red Book, vanity | 2 Comments

Symbolism of Mountains

Posted on July 31, 2021 by Symbol Reader

In Memories, Dreams, Reflections, C.G. Jung talks about his childhood dream of going to the Swiss mountains. Owing to the fact that he was born in a poor family his dream came true only in late childhood. One day his … Continue reading →