Tag Archives: symbols

Two Symbols of the Jewish Warsaw: the Wall and the Palm Tree

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Symbol Reader

I. THE WALL “In Rome on the Campo dei Fiori baskets of olives and lemons, cobbles spattered with wine and the wreckage of flowers. Vendors cover the trestles with rose-pink fish; armfuls of dark grapes heaped on peach-down. On … Continue reading →

Posted in The Jews, Uncategorized, Warsaw | Tagged ghetto, Jews, Poland, Polin, Simon Schama, symbolism, symbols, the ghetto wall, the Holocaust, the palm tree, Warsaw | 11 Comments

Redeeming the World by the Mystique of Words: Tibetan Prayer Flags

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Symbol Reader

“The cairns of piled stones that mark the high passes are spiked with poles where prayer flags fly. Who hung them in these lonely defiles we cannot tell. As the wind funnels through the passes, their inscriptions stream in faded tatters. … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations, Uncategorized | Tagged symbolism, symbols, Tibetan prayer flags | 3 Comments

Only Symbols or Silence

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Symbol Reader

I “The anthropologist Paul Radin points out that … ‘it must be explicitly recognized that in temperament and in capacity for logical and symbolical thought, there is no difference between civilized and primitive man,’ and as to ‘progress,’ that none … Continue reading →

Posted in The Symbol, Uncategorized | Tagged Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, mystery, mysticism, symbolism, symbols | 15 Comments

Lakshmi – the Goddess of Worldly Enjoyment and Spiritual Liberation

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Symbol Reader

Lakshmi, the most widely worshiped Indian goddess, emerged on a lotus out of the primeval ocean of milk. In the pantheon of goddesses she is a soothing and gentle presence. In her book Awakening Shakti, Sally Kempton includes compelling words … Continue reading →

Posted in Lakshmi | Tagged abundance, artha, dharma, Diwali, goddess, Indian mythology, kama, Lakshmi, Laksmi, lotus, luck, moksa, Padma, Sakti, soma, sri, symbolism, symbols, tantra, Visnu, wealth | 16 Comments

Soft and Strong: Notes on Water

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I. ”Water nourishes and soothes us. But this same stuff also carved the Grand Canyon out of solid rock over the course of millennia, and every day thunders down with unimaginable fury at Niagara and Victoria Falls.” II. ”One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, Water | Tagged Leonardo da Vinci, symbolism, symbols, water | 18 Comments

Symbolism of Gardens

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I.”The men where you live,” said the little prince, “raise five thousand roses in the same garden–and they do not find in it what they are looking for.” “They do not find it,” I replied. “And yet what they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardens | Tagged depth psychology, Eden, garden of Earthly Delights, Gardens, Hieronymus Bosch, Hortus Conclusus, Jung, paradise, rock garden, rocks, Song of Songs, Soul, stones, symbolism, symbols, Zen garden | 20 Comments

Mary Magdalene: the Treasure in the Heart

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I.“There is something special about their relationship, something not simply reducible to teacher and devotee, and all attempts to hedge and prevaricate about its nature merely render its energy more palpable. The unspoken bond between them reverberates through even the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mary Magdalene | Tagged celibacy, Christianity, Eve, Gnostic gospels, Gnosticism, goddess, gospels, Jesus, Jesus's wife, Lilith, Mary Magdalene, Nag Hammadi, patriarchy, sacred feminine, Sophia, symbolism, symbols | 10 Comments

Giulio Camillo and His Theatre of Memory

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Symbol Reader

Giulio Camillo was a sixteenth-century Italian philosopher, most notable for his idea of the “Theatre of Memory.” The following passage comes from chapter 6 of The Art of Memory by Yates Francis (the embedded quotes are by Camillo himself): “The … Continue reading →

Posted in Giulio Camillo, Quotations | Tagged astrology, Giulio Camillo, hermeticism, Marsilio Ficino, memory, Renaissance, solar magic, symbolism, symbols, Theatre of Memory | 11 Comments

The Shattering Power of the Theatre

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Symbol Reader

I. “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all that is needed for an act of theatre to be … Continue reading →

Posted in The Theatre, Uncategorized | Tagged Ancient Greece, art, Birth of Tragedy, Dionysus, dithyramb, drama, Mahabharata, mask, Nietzsche, Peter Brook, Samuel Beckett, symbolism, symbols, theatre, tragedy | 11 Comments

Genesis in Motion

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Symbol Reader

According to the Book of Genesis (New American Standard Bible), “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was … Continue reading →