Tag Archives: art

The Wounded Lion

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Whenever I am visiting the beautiful city of Lucerne in Switzerland, I always must pay my respects to the Lion Monument, a sad sculpture designed by a famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. The sculpture shows a mortally wounded, weeping lion, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sculpture | Tagged archetypes, art, Carl Gustav Jung, ego, ego death, Egyptian myth, Lion, Lion Monument of Lucerne, night sea journey, sculpture, sun god, symbolism, Thorvaldsen | 24 Comments

The Knight’s Feet in Soft Slippers

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Keanu Reeves, seems perfect to have played Hamlet Hamlet is such a famous and celebrated play that it was dubbed a ‘collection of quotes.’ Who has not heard: “This above all: to thine own self be true,” or “There is … Continue reading →

Posted in Hamlet | Tagged art, forgiveness, Fortinbras, Hamlet, Kenneth Chan, literature, mysticism, Pisces, poetry, Shakespeare, spirituality, symbolism, theatre, violence, Zbigniew Herbert | 20 Comments

In Heraclitus’ River: The Mystery of Time

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Symbol Reader

1. Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes … Continue reading →

Posted in Time | Tagged A Sense of an Ending, a union of opposites, Alain de Botton, archetypes, art, astrology, Beckett, clocks, Eliade, eternal return, Heraclitus, illusion of time, In Search of Lost Time, Julian Barnes, literature, Macbeth, memory, novels, painting, Proust, quantum physics, Shakespeare, Switzerland, symbols, Szymborska, the collective unconscious, the unconscious, Time, time and memory, time symbolism, Virgo, Waiting for Godot, watches, Yacek Yerka | 35 Comments

Images of the Zodiac: Contemplating Taurus

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Posted in Johfra Bosschart | Tagged archetypes, art, Buddha, Freud, Johfra Bosschart, Krishnamurti, libido, Mars, myth, mythology, psychoanalysis, Shakespeare, spirituality, spring, symbolism, symbols, Taurus, The Tempest, Venus, Zodiac | 48 Comments

The Eternal Charm of the Feminine

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Spirituality and sexuality are not your qualities, not things which ye possess and contain. But they possess and contain you; for they are powerful … manifestations of the gods, and are, therefore, things which reach beyond you, existing in themselves. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anima, archetypes, art, astrology, Blonde, C.G. Jung, Carl Jung, feminism, goddess, Gustave Moreau, Joyce Carol Oates, Marilyn Monroe, mythology, symbolism, symbols, the eternal feminine | 26 Comments

Crumbling Ruins and Underwater Palaces

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Symbol Reader

My imagination has always been stirred by crumbling ruins and underwater palaces. Their symbolism is directly connected with the astrological Neptune, a planet which governs dissolution by water, getting lost in imagination, fantasy and reverie and being enchanted by inner … Continue reading →

Posted in Neptune | Tagged archetypes, art, astrology, Borges, C.G. Jung, Carl Jung, Circular Ruins, Michaelangelo, Neptune, symbols | 44 Comments

Musings on the Symbol of the Cross

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Salvador Dali, Christ of Saint John of the Cross The symbol of the cross has held a fascination with me for a very long time now. I don’t wear a lot of jewellery but the Celtic cross is something I … Continue reading →

Posted in The Cross | Tagged Ankh, archetypes, art, C.G. Jung, Christ of Saint John of the Cross, Christianity, Dali, mysticism, paganism, religion, spirituality, symbols, the cross, uroboros | 14 Comments

Images of the Zodiac: Contemplating Aries

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Symbol Reader

I am beginning my symbolic journey through the twelve Zodiac signs as depicted by Johfra Bosschart. At the beginning of Spring I am contemplating the Aries painting. The twelve Zodiac paintings by Johfra are contemplative symbols, showing the highest, most … Continue reading →

Posted in Johfra Bosschart | Tagged Aries, art, astrology, development, Johfra Bosschart, mysticism, personality, spirituality, symbolism, symbols archetypes, visionary art | 33 Comments

The Power of Animals

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Symbol Reader

I am not particularly fond of classifications. Most classifications are dry, arbitrary and based purely on conjecture. I always laugh when I see a fictitious, spoof classification of animals, proposed by Jorge Luis Borges, one of the most brilliant and … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals | Tagged Animali, animals, archetypes, art, Borges, classifications, exhibition, myth, mythological creatures, symbols, Zurich, Zurich Landesmuseum | 6 Comments

Enter through the Image and Word

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Symbol Reader

A door to mystery, a photo taken at Jung’s retreat in Bollingen (via http://www.jungiananalystvt.com/1188774.en.html) I have been discovering a lot of interesting books on archetypes and symbols recently. I think I have enough reading material for the next two years. … Continue reading →