Tag Archives: symbols

Rusalki: the Slavic Nymphs

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“She shook the bright drops from her hair And gazed upon the anchorite; To look upon her form so fair The good monk trembled with affright. And he beheld her from afar With head and hand strange signals make, Then … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged archetypes, Great Goddess, mermaid, rusalka, rusalki, Slavic myth, symbolism, symbols, the collective unconscious, water nymphs | 26 Comments

On the Birth of Aphrodite

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Symbol Reader

If our exact time of place and birth is like a lodestar to interpreting our qualities and our destiny, it must make a lot of sense to look closely at the birth of Venus and relate what we find to … Continue reading →

Posted in Aphrodite/Venus | Tagged Ananke, Aphrodite, apple, archetypes, beauty, birth of Venus, blood, castration, Furies, Gaia, goddess, Greek myth, Greek mythology, harmony, Kronos, love, Ouranos, red, Rilke, rose, sexuality, symbolism, symbols, Titans, Uranus, Venus | 17 Comments

The Wild Abandon of the Vine Month

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1.“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk roses and with eglantine. There sleeps Titania sometime of the night, Lulled in these flowers with … Continue reading →

Posted in Summer, The Vine | Tagged blood, Celtic calendar, Christ, communion, Dionysus, fairies, Maenads, Midsummer Night's Dream, sacrifice, Shakespeare, symbolism, symbols, vine, vine month, vineard, wine | 12 Comments

Rose Red: Symbolism of Blood

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1.“White and red combined are the colour of the mysterious rose, the whiteness of milk and the redness of blood, the white of light and the redness of fire.” Eliphas Levi, “The Book of Splendors” 2.“Blood is the first incarnation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Blood | Tagged alchemy, bleeding, blood, body, Carl Gustav Jung, color, Dark goddess, dark moon, depth psychology, family, fate, flesh, goddess, Kali, menstruation, passion, red, rose, rubedo, Sekhmet, symbolism, symbols, ties, whore of Babylon | 17 Comments

Hathor: the Exuberant Goddess of Abundant Life

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Symbol Reader

I.”Who fills the earth with golden motes of sunlight, who comes alive in the liminal east and sets in the liminal west.” II.”I give thee everything that the sky provides, that the earth creates, and the Nile brings from his … Continue reading →

Posted in Hathor | Tagged ancient Egypt, archetypes, celestial cow, Dendera, Divine Cow, Egyptian myth, goddess, Hathor, isis, Milky way, myth, mythology, Nefertim, papyrus, summer solstice, symbolism, symbols, the afterlife | 27 Comments

Clarissa Pinkola Estés on the Animus as a Merchant of Soul

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“By classical Jungian definition, animus is the soul-force in women, and is considered masculine. However, many women psychoanalysts, including myself, have, through personal observation, come to refute the classical view and to assert instead that the revivifying source in women … Continue reading →

Posted in Animus, Quotations | Tagged animus, archetypes, C.G. Jung, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, depth psychology, feminine, masculine, Soul, symbols, Wild Woman, woman | 19 Comments

In Praise of Witches

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Symbol Reader

1. “We are an evolving, dynamic tradition and proudly call ourselves Witches. Honoring both Goddess and God, we work with female and male images of divinity, always remembering that their essence is a mystery that goes beyond form. Our community rituals are participatory … Continue reading →

Posted in The Witch | Tagged archetypes, darkness, discrimination, evil, Hekate, magic, symbolism, symbols, The Malleus Malleficarum, witch, witch trials, witch-hunt, witchcraft, witches, women | 16 Comments

Symbolism of Lakes

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Symbol Reader

“And near him stood the Lady of the Lake, Who knows a subtler magic than his own– Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful. She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword, Whereby to drive the heathen out: a mist Of incense … Continue reading →

Posted in Lakes | Tagged archetypes, Avernus, Byron, Chillon Castle, contemplation, death, Lady of the Lake, lake, Lake Geneva, Lausanne, Lausanne Lyrics, Mickiewicz, mirror, poetry, reflection, Romantic poetry, Shelley, symbolism, symbols, transition | 22 Comments

Drawing with Light: on Photography

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Symbol Reader

It is easy to romanticize the dawn of photography (literally “drawing with light”). I am not pretending I understand the technical intricacies of the entire process but I am drawn to the alchemical feel and terminology of the first photographic … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | Tagged acheiropoietos, archetypes, art, Barthes, camera obscura, Charles Baudeleaire, daguerrotype, darkness, history of photography, image, light, narcissism, photography, shroud of Turin, Sontag, St Veronica, symbolism, symbols | 18 Comments

Insects: Smaller-Than-Small in Appearance, Bigger-Than-Big in Effect

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Symbol Reader

Jainism, an Indian religion prescribing a path of nonviolence towards all living beings, professes a doctrine of Ahimsa (non-injury, absence of desire to harm), one expression of which is sweeping the ground with very small brushes before stepping on it … Continue reading →