Tag Archives: goddess

The Symbolism of the Heron

Posted on November 8, 2025 by Symbol Reader

Ever since I watched The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki – twice, drawn back by the questions it left me with – I’ve been captivated by the symbolism of these enigmatic birds. Herons appear frequently in Japanese art, … Continue reading →

Posted in Heron | Tagged Athena, augury, Bagalamukhi, Bennu, Birds, consciousness, Egypt, Gimbutas, goddess, Greece, Heron, Iliad, Japan, magic, Mahavidyas, Mary Oliver, Miyazaki, mythology, Odysseus, omens, ornis, phoenix, Shakti, shapeshifter, Soul, symbolism, symbols, trickster, unconscious, Yeats | 6 Comments

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

The Sibyls

Posted on February 10, 2024 by Symbol Reader

“But she stood … black like an ancient citadel … as the words, which unrestrained now multiplied in her against her will, screamed and flew around her in incessant circles, while those that had returned home set darkly beneath her … Continue reading →

Posted in The Sibyls | Tagged Aeneas, Aeneid, Apollo, archetypes, Black Madonna, black meteor, cave, Christianity, Cumae, Cybele, Delphi, Gaia, goddess, Great Mother, Greece, Hermes, Libyan Sibyl, Loreto, mythology, oracle, Pausanias, Pessinus, poetry, prophecy, Pythia, Sibylline Books, Sibyls, stone, symbolism, symbols, Tarquinius | 7 Comments

Sedna

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Symbol Reader

The Inuit peoples have a profound connection to the Arctic as their ancestral homeland. Across the Arctic, one deity stands out as an all-powerful goddess of the sea and the underworld. Her name is Sedna. The name itself is an … Continue reading →

Posted in Sedna, Sedna | Tagged Adlivun, archetypes, art, Bitternis, christianization, creation myth, Demeter, dismemberment, goddess, handicapped, Inuit myth, Joanna Bator, limbless, mutilation, mythology, Sedna, shaman, Soul, symbolism, symbols, trauma, Underworld, violence | 2 Comments

Hekate: World Soul, Cosmic Bridge and a Liminal Goddess

Posted on October 21, 2023 by Symbol Reader

“Ever since the ‘Timaeus’ it has been repeatedly stated that the soul is a sphere. As the anima mundi, the soul revolves with the world wheel, whose hub is the Pole. … The anima mundi is really the motor of … Continue reading →

Posted in Hekate | Tagged anima mundi, Apuleius, archetypes, boundaries, C.G. Jung, cave, Chaldean Oracles, cosmic harmony, daimones, dogs, goddess, Greek myth, Hekate, Helios, Hellenistic era, Hesiod, iynx, Karians, keyholder, keys, kourothropos, liminality, limits, magic, Moon, Olympians, Persephone, Plato, Plutarch, Porphyry, Sibyl, sun, sunthemata, symbola, symbolism, symbols, sympathy, Theogony, theurgy, Titans, torches, Underworld, world soul, Zeus | 3 Comments

The Veil of Isis and the Black Madonna: the Mysteries of Nature

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Symbol Reader

I. “The mother is the first world of the child and the last world of the adult. We are all wrapped as her children in the mantle of this great Isis.” Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 9 (Part 1): … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Madonna | Tagged archetypes, Black Madonna, blackness, C.G. Jung, Chaos, darkness, goddess, Goethe, Hadot, hidden, isis, light, lumen naturae, mystery, nature, Nietzsche, Orpheus, Plutarch, Proclus, Prometheus, Sais, sphinx, symbolism, symbols | 7 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

Symbolism of the Cave

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Symbol Reader

A well-known passage from Plato’s Republic describes how a group of people, chained to the wall of a deep cavern, spend their entire lives looking at the shadows dancing on the cave wall in front of them. The captives are oblivious to … Continue reading →