Tag Archives: mythology

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

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

Symbolism of Amber

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Symbol Reader

Nicola Tesla once said that though we cannot understand the life of crystals, they are nevertheless living beings. When it comes to amber, this precious gem, which is not even a stone per se, seems to vibrate with more life … Continue reading →

Posted in Amber, Uncategorized | Tagged Amber, ancestors, archetypes, Baltic Sea, electron, gems, healing, Helios, Jurate, legend, mythology, Phaethon, Poland, precious metals, resin, stones, sun, symbolism, symbols, trees | 13 Comments

The Nymphs

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Symbol Reader

I. To Nereids “O lovely-faced and pure nymphs,daughters of Nereus, lord of the deep,at the bottom of the seayou frolic and dance,fifty maidens revel in the waves, maidens riding on the backs of Tritons,delighting in animal shapes,bodies nurtured by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ancient Greece, Apollo, archetypes, beekeeping, Calypso, cave, Cave of the Nymphs, Chariklo, childbirth, Chiron, civilization, Crete, Daphnis, Delphi, Dionysos, divination, Dryads, fertility, Greek mythology, healing, Hera, Hermes, Ida, Ithaca, Maia, marriage, mountain, mythology, Naiades, Nereids, nostos, numpholeptos, nymphs, Oceanids, Odyssey, oracle, Pan, Pleiades, Porphyry, psyche, Soul, symbolism, symbols, Syrinx, water, Zeus | 3 Comments

Gilgamesh: He Who Saw the Deep

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Symbol Reader

If you happen to have some time on your hands, I strongly recommend that you take a look at Ancient Masterpiece of World Literature (https://www.edx.org/course/ancient-masterpieces-of-world-literature), a course which Harvard University is currently offering online free of charge. You can also … Continue reading →

Posted in Gilgamesh, Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, Carl Gustav Jung, cedar, culture, death, deluge, depth psychology, Divine, Enkidu, epic, flood, Gilgamesh, goddess, human, humbaba, immortality, Inanna, Ishtar, Mesopotamia, myth, mythology, nature, Rilke, Sumer, Sumerian, symbolism, symbols, Underworld, Uruk, Utnapishtim | 12 Comments

Hermes in the Forest of Symbols

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Symbol Reader

I. “…Hermesian reading is an open, in-depth reading, one that lays bare the metalanguages for us, that is to say, the structures of signs and correspondences that only symbolism and myth make it possible to conserve and transmit. To read, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hermes, Uncategorized | Tagged Adocentyn, alchemy, archetypes, Argus, Botticelli, C.G. Jung, caduceus, Carl Jung, Corpus Hermeticum, crossroads, dead, esotericism, Faivre, God, Greek myth, Greek mythology, guide, herma, hermaion, Hermes, Hermes Trismegistus, Hermetica, hermeticism, Hermopolis, magic, Marcilio Ficino, Mercury, messenger, myth, mythology, peacock, Picatrix, Primavera, psychopompos, Soul, symbolism, symbols, Thoth, Zeus | 6 Comments

The Underworld in Finnish and Greek Myth

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Symbol Reader

I have been reading The Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert MacFarlane, which is a dazzling exploration of the author’s daring travels into the bowels of the earth. He devotes space to mining, caving, cave painting, Parisian catacombs, glaciers … Continue reading →