Tag Archives: fire

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 (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

Notre-Dame de Paris

Posted on May 12, 2019 by Symbol Reader

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUrULTifMPc In “Civilization,” a classic TV series of 1969, standing in front of Notre-Dame, Kenneth Clark asked: “What is civilization? I don’t know. I can’t define it in abstract terms — yet. But I think I can recognize it when … Continue reading →

Posted in Notre-Dame, Uncategorized | Tagged alchemy, archetypes, architecture, C.G. Jung, cathedrals, chimeras, Christianity, civilization, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, fire, Fulcanelli, gargoyles, goddess, Gothic, isis, light, Mary, masons, Notre-Dame, Our Lady, Ouspensky, Paris, spirituality, stained glass, Stryge, symbolism, symbols, the Middle Ages, Vasari, Virgin | 27 Comments

Symbolism of the Lighthouse

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Symbol Reader

The world’s first lighthouse, the Pharos, was erected in the ancient city of Alexandria. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it turned the insignificant port of Pharos into one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. … Continue reading →

Posted in Lighthouse | Tagged Alexandria, Carl Jung, depth psychology, fire, Heraclitus, individuation, Lighthouse, Pharos, symbolism, symbols, the unconscious, Vesta | 14 Comments

Jung on Alchemy (6): Sol and Sulphur – the Fiery Ferment of the Soul’s Hidden Depth

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Symbol Reader

“As in the hand a sulfur match flares white and sends out flicking tongues on every side before it bursts into flame –: in that ring of crowded onlookers, hot, eager, and precise her round dance begins to dart and … Continue reading →

Posted in Alchemy | Tagged alchemy, Black Sun, devil, fire, gold, Jung, Lucipher, Mysterium Coniunctionis, psychology, Sol, Soul, sulfur, sulphur, sun, symbolism, symbols, Venus | 10 Comments

The Guilt of Prometheus and Pandora’s Gifts

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Symbol Reader

Prometheus was one of the Titans – the gods who descended from primordial deities, and preceded Olympian gods and goddesses. His name meant “forethought;” he proved he deserved it by showing a gift of premonition and prophecy when he sided … Continue reading →

Posted in Prometheus | Tagged afterthought, Athena, C.G. Jung, Chiron, depth psychology, fire, forethought, Franz Kafka, Greek myth, Greek mythology, guilt, Heracles, Hesiod, individuation, Pandora, Pandora's box, Pandora's jar, pithos, Prometheus, redemption, suffering, Titans, Zeus | 39 Comments

The Music of the Elements

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Sufi mysticism has been something I have wanted to delve into for quite some time now. In this book I have come across a beautiful passage on the auditory qualities of the elements: “The earth has various aspects of beauty … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air, archetypes, earth, ether, fire, Four elements, sacred geometry of sound, sacred sound, Sufi mysticism, symbolism, symbols, water | 35 Comments

Images of the Zodiac: Contemplating Gemini

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake- it’s everything except what it is! ” William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet I. Romeo and Juliet as an alchemical work Many years ago … Continue reading →

Posted in Johfra Bosschart | Tagged "Tlön, Alan Oken, archetypes, astrology, Bakhtin, Boaz, Borges, C.G. Jung, caduceus, dialogue, dualism, duality, fire, Gemini, hermaphrodite, Jachin, Johfra, Johfra Bosschart, language, Mercurius, Mercury, mind, Orbis Tertius", reptilian brain, Romeo and Juliet, Self, Shakespeare, Soul, spirituality, symbolism, symbols, the unconscious, Thoth, transformation, trickster, Uqbar, Venus | 28 Comments

Tell Me a Story

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Symbol Reader

I have always lived by stories. I wither without them. Myths, legends, fairy tales, novels, short stories, poems, plays, films, all kinds of narratives: they are my daily sustenance. My mind can only be opened and activated by storytellers. I … Continue reading →