What is a symbol?
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 7:33 am
The topic has been on my mind for some time now. And since the question is broad, I would encourage talking from a perspective of your heart, or at least consider the question not only as a philosophical conundrum, but something that has to do with your experience in the occult. So here it is:
What is a symbol? What does the symbol do and why?
I can go first:
A symbol is something that works as a bridge between ”spheres” of existence. For example it can connect the spiritual and material, godly and human, inner and outer, subjective and objective, ethical and aesthetical etc. I can also conceive the symbol as a common point of reference between beings, a sort of resonance that manifests both in horizontal axis (f. ex. resonance felt between disciples) but also in vertical (resonance between master and the disciple).
Symbols are not simply heaps of learnt definitions or free associations. They seem to have a life of their own that can’t simply be contained, and the life of a symbol is exemplified on different micro-macro levels. On a smaller scale my interpretation of a symbol or attitude towards it changes as I change. On a bigger scale I can think of examples, such as the changes in astrological understanding through astronomical findings, creation of new religious systems based on re-interpretation of pre-existing symbols, or for example how a pentagram has changed throughout the ages.
A Symbol is not limited to any particular (human) faculty. It exists to the world of senses, to the world of mind, and to the world of spirit. It is common to think that a symbol is something we can see, but this doen’t necessarily have to be the case. A sound or a scent can be a symbol in as much as a sigil drawn on parchment. And when it comes to language (which is either a blueprint of how symbols operate or a special case amongst them) a magical word or an incantation can be thought of as a symbol - and when it is, it changes from a conveyer of a particular, socially mediated meaning to something different. The acceptance and primacy of the world of spirit (something I believe most occultists adhere to at least on some level) points to the idea that the appearance of a symbol, although not arbitrary, is secondary to its essence. On the said vertical axis, when dealing for example with a deity, an ”economy” of symbols can arise: In the presence of the sacred, the symbol "emanates”, illuminates, consecrates etc. and in a sacrifice the symbol ”re-emanates” from low to high.
Some symbols are, for me, more magnetic than others, that is, I’m drawn towards them, for reasons that are partly known and partly unknown to me. They can nourish something in me (maybe analogously in a way art nourishes me), or, if not approached with care, they can make me obsess over them.
I dislike thinking symbols as something that are thought of as mere correlations, the reduction of a symbol to a sort of cryptogram which you have to decode and then you’re done with it. I believe this happens when the world of spirit is thought of as being so abstract that no word can describe it, and therefore it’s best to just accept common correlations with face value. ”This is how we have understood the symbol for generations, and we’re just going to keep on repeating what has been said - now one knows what it actually means, so just go with it”
What is a symbol? What does the symbol do and why?
I can go first:
A symbol is something that works as a bridge between ”spheres” of existence. For example it can connect the spiritual and material, godly and human, inner and outer, subjective and objective, ethical and aesthetical etc. I can also conceive the symbol as a common point of reference between beings, a sort of resonance that manifests both in horizontal axis (f. ex. resonance felt between disciples) but also in vertical (resonance between master and the disciple).
Symbols are not simply heaps of learnt definitions or free associations. They seem to have a life of their own that can’t simply be contained, and the life of a symbol is exemplified on different micro-macro levels. On a smaller scale my interpretation of a symbol or attitude towards it changes as I change. On a bigger scale I can think of examples, such as the changes in astrological understanding through astronomical findings, creation of new religious systems based on re-interpretation of pre-existing symbols, or for example how a pentagram has changed throughout the ages.
A Symbol is not limited to any particular (human) faculty. It exists to the world of senses, to the world of mind, and to the world of spirit. It is common to think that a symbol is something we can see, but this doen’t necessarily have to be the case. A sound or a scent can be a symbol in as much as a sigil drawn on parchment. And when it comes to language (which is either a blueprint of how symbols operate or a special case amongst them) a magical word or an incantation can be thought of as a symbol - and when it is, it changes from a conveyer of a particular, socially mediated meaning to something different. The acceptance and primacy of the world of spirit (something I believe most occultists adhere to at least on some level) points to the idea that the appearance of a symbol, although not arbitrary, is secondary to its essence. On the said vertical axis, when dealing for example with a deity, an ”economy” of symbols can arise: In the presence of the sacred, the symbol "emanates”, illuminates, consecrates etc. and in a sacrifice the symbol ”re-emanates” from low to high.
Some symbols are, for me, more magnetic than others, that is, I’m drawn towards them, for reasons that are partly known and partly unknown to me. They can nourish something in me (maybe analogously in a way art nourishes me), or, if not approached with care, they can make me obsess over them.
I dislike thinking symbols as something that are thought of as mere correlations, the reduction of a symbol to a sort of cryptogram which you have to decode and then you’re done with it. I believe this happens when the world of spirit is thought of as being so abstract that no word can describe it, and therefore it’s best to just accept common correlations with face value. ”This is how we have understood the symbol for generations, and we’re just going to keep on repeating what has been said - now one knows what it actually means, so just go with it”