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Tag Archives: symbolism
The Reality of Dreams in Henry Fuseli’s Art
Henry Fuseli’s paintings fire up the soul. What is special about this eighteenth-century artist is that he never painted from “nature” but rather he chose to cast his eye inwards and look for inspiration in the fiery depths of his … Continue reading
Posted in Henry Fuseli, Painting
Tagged archetypes, art, Carl Jung, dreams, Henry Füssli, Henry Fuseli, Leucothea, Leukothea, mysterium tremendum, myth, numinous, Odysseus, painting, reality, Rudolf Otto, symbolism, symbols, the collective unconscious, The Red Book
19 Comments
Inanna at the Ground of Being
“Quiet, Inanna, the ways of the underworld are perfect. They may not be questioned.” “Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer,” translated by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer In the well-known Sumerian myth, Inanna, … Continue reading
Posted in Inanna
Tagged alchemy, archetypes, axis mundi, Dark goddess, depth psychology, descent, Diane Wolkstein, Dumuzi, eight-pointed star, Enki, Ereshkigal, Gilgamesh, goddess, hermeticism, huluppu tree, Inanna, incarnation, initiation, Jung, Lilith, magic, Mesopotamia, mysteries, myth, mythology, rebirth, seven spheres, shadow, Sumer, Sylvia Brinto Perera, symbolism, symbols, transformation, Underworld, Venus, World Tree
16 Comments
Odysseus’ Return from the Dead in the Vision of Tadeusz Kantor
Cricoteca, the Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990), a Polish avant-guarde artist, stage designer and, above all, a celebrated theatre director, is a striking addition to the unique architecture of Krakow, Poland. I found their … Continue reading
Posted in Tadeusz Kantor, The Theatre
Tagged anxiety, archetypes, art, Cricot 2, cricoteca, death, fear, Odysseus, reality of the lowest rank, symbolism, symbols, Tadeusz Kantor, theatre, War
6 Comments
The Black Madonna of the Luminous Mountain
The Shrine of Our Lady of Jasna Góra (Luminous Mountain or Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland, houses a most unique image of the Black Madonna. It is a Byzantine icon of the Hodegetria type (from Greek “She who shows the … Continue reading
Posted in Black Madonna
Tagged archetypes, Black Madonna, Czestochowa, Dark goddess, Einsiedeln, goddess, heart chakra, hermit, isis, Jasna Góra, Jerzy Duda Gracz, Mary, Paulines, religion, St Paul of Thebes, symbolism, symbols, way of the cross
12 Comments
Turin like a Dream
“Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears,” wrote Italo Calvino in Invisible Cities. Though Turin is not the first Italian city I have fallen in love with, what I experienced there had not happened to me before. I … Continue reading
Posted in Turin, Uncategorized
Tagged 45th parallel, alchemical caves, alchemy, Angelic Fountain, Apis, archetypes, art, “White Magic”, black magic, black magic triangle, Castor, Church of the Great Mother of God, cities, coniunctio oppositorum, darkness, duality, Egyptian Museum of Turin, first capital of Italy, Frejus monument, Giorgio de Chirico, Holy Grail, isis, Italo Calvino, Italy, light, magic, Nietzsche, Nostradamus, occultism, Osiris, Palazzo Madama, Piazza Solferino, Piazza Statuto, Pillars of Hercules, Pollux, shroud of Turin, symbolism, symbols, Torino, Turin, union of opposites, white magic triangle
7 Comments
“Nocturne” by Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz, “Nocturne”, translated by Eliot Weinberger “Shadow, flickering shadow of voices. The black river drags its sunken marbles. How to speak of the assassinated air, of the orphaned words, how to speak of the dream? Shadow, flickering shadow of … Continue reading
“Blessed is he who leaves” – “Flights” by Olga Tokarczuk
This year’s Man Booker international prize went to a Polish author, Olga Tokarczuk for Flights. It is an absorbing tale, or rather a collection of tales, devoted to the nomad in everyone of us. More than that, a large part … Continue reading
Posted in Novel review, Uncategorized
Tagged Bieguni, body, book review, Flights, International Man Booker Prize, literature, nomads, Olga Tokarczuk, relics, symbolism, symbols, wanderers
11 Comments
The Suffering of Perseus and Medusa
“I wasn’t hurt enough when I should have been, Kino admitted to himself. When I should have felt real pain, I stifled it. I didn’t want to take it on, so I avoided facing up to it. Which is why … Continue reading
Posted in Medusa, Uncategorized
Tagged archetypes, Cellini, Gorgon, Greek mythology, healing, Jungian psychology, Medusa, Men Without Women, monster, Murakami, myth, patriarchy, Perseus, shadow, suffering, symbolism, symbols, trauma, wound
2 Comments
On Play
The vision of the world as an unfolding game is a very alluring idea. Once you start viewing all reality through that lens, it is quite hard to step back into ordinary perception. In Hinduism, the concept of Lila, divine … Continue reading
Posted in Play, Uncategorized
Tagged archetypes, Brahman, child, consciousness, dice, Eric Berne, gambling, Game, Hinduism, homo ludens, Huizings, Kairos, leela, lila, number seven, Parvati, Play, prakriti, purusha, Shiva, Smoley, symbolism, symbols, transactional analysis
16 Comments
Native Americans: Stories in Stone
I. “Whenever, in the course of the daily hunt, the red hunter comes upon a scene that is strikingly beautiful or sublime–a black thundercloud with the rainbow’s glowing arch above the mountain; a white waterfall in the heart of a … Continue reading
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