Tag Archives: symbolism

Famous Paintings: “Anatomy of the Heart” by Enrique Simonet y Lombardo

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Symbol Reader

“The Spanish painter Enrique Simonet y Lombardo, in the last year of the nineteenth century, … produced an admirable canvas showing the anatomic exploration of a woman’s body. … an old man holds in his hand the heart he has … Continue reading →

Posted in Painting | Tagged Anatomy of the Heart, art, autopsy, Enrique Simonet y Lombardo, heart, painting, symbolism, symbols | 26 Comments

Images of the Zodiac: Contemplating Aquarius

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Johfra Bosschart, Aquarius 1.“And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight, And the lotus rose, quietly, quietly, The surface glittered out of heart of light.” T.S.Eliot, “Burnt Norton” 2.“Praise to the jewel in the lotus.” (Om mani padme … Continue reading →

Posted in Johfra Bosschart | Tagged Aquarius, archetypes, astrology, C.G. Jung, Celestial Sea, enlightenment, implicate order, Johfra, Johfra Bosschart, Krishnamurti, lotus, prana, Ram in Thicket, Saturn, symbolism, symbols, truth, unus mundus, Uranus, waterbearer David Bohm, Zodiac | 33 Comments

The Secrets of the Odyssey (1)

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Timanthes, “The Sacrifice of Iphigenia” (detail: Odysseus) Homer’s Odyssey has always held an extreme fascination with me. All the characters and what happens to them have been coming back to me recently, perhaps in connection with Mercury retrograde with Neptune. … Continue reading →

Posted in The Odyssey | Tagged archetypes, astrology, Florence and Kenneth Wood, Homer, Homer’s Secret Odyssey, Mercury, Mercury retrograde, Neptune, Odysseus, Pisces, symbolism, symbols, The Odyssey, Thoth, trickster | 26 Comments

Iris: the Goddess of the Rainbow as the Harbinger of a New Era

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Symbol Reader

There is a well-known saying that the rainbow comes only after the storm. In the Bible, after the Deluge, God places a rainbow in the sky and pledges solemnly not to send another flood upon the earth: “I have set … Continue reading →

Posted in Iris | Tagged Aquarius, archetypes, asteroid, astrology, covenant, deluge, depth pychology, Electra, flood, goddess, Greek mythology, Iris, James Hillman, mythology, Pleiades, pothos, Rainbow, seven, symbolism, symbolism of number seven, symbols | 42 Comments

Poetic Genesis

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Symbol Reader

The poetry of Dylan Thomas is deep, passionate, sensual, musical, forceful and simply magical to me. I remember I was awe-struck when I first read “The Force That Through the Green Fuse” at an English literature class. This year we … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged archetypes, Dylan Thomas, In the Beginning, poetry, symbolism, symbols | 12 Comments

Symbolism of the Island

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Symbol Reader

1.“Theseus is cruel because he leaves Ariadne on the island of Naxos. … Just a beach lashed by thundering waves, an abstract place where only the seaweed moves. It is the island where no one lives, the place where obsession … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands | Tagged archetypes, Atlantis, Calypso, Carl Gustav Jung, desert island, Greek myth, Island, Lost, mythology, Odysseus, Ogygia, Saramago, Source, symbolism, symbols, The Tale of the Unknown Island | 37 Comments

Of Mountains and Valleys

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Kashmir valley, image credit “Call the world if you please ‘the vale of soul-making.’ Then you will find out the use of the world.” John Keats, in a letter Mountain valleys can be breathtakingly beautiful. Lusciously green, nested between high … Continue reading →

Posted in Psyche | Tagged archetypes, James Hillman, mountain, mountains, Soul, spirit, symbolism, symbols, Valley | 21 Comments

Smell – A Potent Wizard

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Symbol Reader

Jan Brueghel and Peter Paul Rubens, “Smell” “A sigh isn’t just a sigh. We inhale the world and breathe out meaning. While we can. While we can.” Salman Rushdie, “The Moor’s Last Sigh” Helen Keller compared the sense of smell … Continue reading →

Posted in Smell | Tagged bear smell, frankincense, incense, Perfume: the Story of a Murderer, Proust, Süskind, scent, sense of smell, Smell, snake smell, symbolism, symbols | 56 Comments

Senex and Puer

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Symbol Reader

image credit The turn of the year is ruled by the senex/puer archetypal polarity. In the most popular allegorical depictions, the old man gives way to a young boy. This happens when the Sun is in Capricorn: the sign of … Continue reading →

Posted in Senex and Puer | Tagged archetypes, depth psychology, James Hillman, puer, senex, symbolism, symbols | 22 Comments

Botticelli’s “Mystic Nativity”

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Symbol Reader

Sandro Boticelli, Mystic Nativity This beautiful painting has been one of my favourites for many years. I was always touched by the beautiful twelve angels dancing in a circle at the top, the three angels gracing the roof and the … Continue reading →