The Symbolism & Imagery Paradigm Shift

Rough Notes:

Our ancient ancestors used and believed in symbolism and imagery religiously. It was very important. Once you understand the cosmic history of our solar system, and what the ancients saw as the looked into the sky, you begin to understand that the vast majority of ancient symbolism and imagery is derived from what they saw in the sky. Making sense of ancient symbolism then becomes a lot easier. In almost every culture of antiquity on six continents, we find many common symbols. Symbols like the spiral, the coiled serpents, the crescent horns, the world mountain, dragons, giants, monsters, God seen in the sky, stars near the Earth, the crown, cosmic weapons, wars among Gods, the cosmic wheel, an angry Goddess, the queen of heaven, the hero warrior in the sky, etc. etc.

A paradigm shift from these symbols being made up, to them actually being seen in the sky must take place in order to complete the puzzle of cosmism. 

Many of these symbols are still used today. And much of the symbolism and it's meaning that we use today has evolved from this original symbolism. Our scriptures, our fairy tales, our myths, traditions, rituals, holiday, temples, etc. are loaded with this ancient cosmic imagery. This knowledge greatly magnifies the meaning and affects us in ways that cant be understood until this paradigm shift has been made.

 

A paradigm shift about symbols

The Power of Symbols

The language of the soul is not literal, but symbolic - a creative language that speaks in the form of colors, objects, shapes, art, poetry, riddles, images and metaphor. The soul chooses to convey messages in ambiguous terms; it is not direct in its approach.

For example: the soul may want to alter your perception about the color black. It will not come out and tell you that it wants to do this, but what it will do is send you promptings in the forms of moods, insights, feelings, ideas to help you to decode its message.

We believe the universe does not hear our requests or our pleas for help or guidance, but on the contrary, it contact us via the above mentioned routes, or answers us using symbolic tongues that we do not yet understand. To become acquainted with universal symbols and their meaning is a valuable asset to your life. Symbols are a powerful influence on our psychological and spiritual life. Within our inner world, a symbol can present potential or a calling meant only for your understanding.

Humanity has always used symbols to express its awareness of the Divine - the creative force. Such expressions resulted in symbolic stories such as myths and legends that have been used to express abstract qualities, such as truth, honor, justice, heroism, love, wisdom, forgiveness and courage. These qualities are innate within all of humanity, and it can be brought into consciousness, where they express themselves in the forms of symbols.

On an individual level, it is highly encouraged to identify and focus upon symbols that hold special meaning for you. At first these symbols may appear in dreams, doodles, but over time they become personalized, take on a deeper meaning, and come to represent aspects of our psyche that had previously remained dormant or difficult to put into words.

Through the art of meditation, all the major religions around the world have harnessed the power of symbols in the quest for spiritual transformation. What are the benefits of using symbols during meditation? The use of symbols helps the mind to focus on a single element and to pacify its restless nature. In return, the symbol stimulates thoughts and insights, stirs and awakens the deeper mind. The aim of using symbols in meditation is to move beyond linguistic interpretations and uncover a level of intuitive understanding beyond language, which profoundly transforms the way we experience the world and ourselves.

In practice, most meditative traditions use symbols as a point of departure, because they provide a pathway back to our spiritual roots. For example: in Native American traditions, nature herself is such a symbol. It provides the meditator a point of departure into the deeper, mysterious layers of the mind. So, the meditator might gaze upon the earth and feel her under his/her body, or commune in silence with the trees and flowers.

Symbols are a tool on the spiritual path, one of many. I highly encourage you to identify and focus upon symbols that call to you, that stir your imagination, that resonate with you on a deep level. By identifying what draws your attention, whether it is a particular color, a shape, a religious icon, or even animals, you will find that over time they take on a deeper meaning, and come to represent aspects of your soul that were previously unknown. By becoming conscious of what attracts you and by understanding its significance within your inner world, you help bring about its manifestation. Symbols mirror rich inner resources that must be harnessed for them to become a reality. Be mindful of what captures your essence on a daily basis, because each time you are, you get ever closer of uncovering a piece of your soul’s mystery.

Symbols are more than just historical and cultural icons. They can help us move toward a fuller and deeper understanding of our spiritual identities.

The Power of Symbolism

April 2nd, 2013 | By Dina Buck

 

Humans are symbolism experts. We seem to live, eat, breathe symbolism.  Almost like the fish that doesn’t know it swims in water, symbolism comes so naturally to us we can forget that it is mainly via symbols – in the form of letters, strings of letters, and the utterances we make representing those strings of letters – that we communicate with each other.

Symbols Facilitating Wholeness, Facilitating Division

And how powerful this is.  Our deepest feelings, our darkest and most difficult thoughts, are often conveyed via words, these words playing a leading role in soothing our pains, fostering our connections, breaking our hearts, rousing our fury, lifting our spirits.

Beyond words and language, we see how symbolism helps us navigate our lives in the form of traffic signs, brand logos, icons on our desktops and smartphones.  Symbols mark boundaries, bounty, groups, and divisions.  They can mark something sacred, or something to consume, an “enemy” or an ally, a reason to draw near, or be cause for us to exclude and distance.

And in this, we again see the power symbolism has because it speaks to what lies beyond.  Symbols can convey our values, lifestyle, aspects of our worldview.

Despite our fluency in symbolism, when we look outside the symbols and symbolism we are familiar with, things can seem suddenly foreign, even occult.  Suddenly things seem elusive, mired in secrecy, veiled, coded.

But the flip side of this is that we may also be opened up to a fresh dimension of something.  We may garner a deeper, even more visceral, understanding of what’s being represented.  We can be moved out of our heads, where so many of our symbols are used for rational, intellectual ends, and into our hearts, where a different, and often greater, comprehension takes place.

The Power of Symbolism in Indigenous Cultures Using the Two Row Wampum as an Example

For indigenous peoples, symbolism plays a vital role in their cultural practices.  And the use of sacred symbolism remains a predominant part of their lives.  The way they use symbols to signify an ideas, principles, values, and wisdom can be eye-opening to those of us wrapped up in the primacy of the words and corporate logos of the modern world.

Take, for example, the Two Row Wampum, which is a belt that represents the first treaty between American Indians and European settlers on the North  American continent.  The Two Row Wampum treaty was an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and European settlers, who were Dutch.  Each party was committing to friendship, peace between them, and living in parallel “as long as the grass is green, as long as the rivers flow downhill and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.”

The Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign, a movement working for the treaty’s revival, quotes Chief Irving Powell who talks about the “wampum” or belt.  He says:

Our leaders informed the Dutch people. “From this day forward we will refer to each other as brothers.”  The Dutch agreed that this would be how we would conduct ourselves and greet each other from that day forward as brothers. The Dutch said to us, “We have pencils and paper, and so we will record this event on a piece of paper.”

We said, “That’s fine for you.” When the Haudenosaunee was formed, we were provided with a process to record events. This process is the use of wampum beads, which are made our of quahog shells……In the center of the shell it is purple. So we were given a process at that time to make beads…These beads were then white and purple.

We use these beads for identification, as carriers of messages, and as records of events…..We then informed the Dutch people that we would put our record of this event in a wampum belt.

The belt has three rows of white beads, and two rows of purple beads.  One row of purple beads represent the American Indians’ canoe, the other the  European sailboat.  The white rows represent the concepts of peace, friendship, and forever.  And the belt as a whole represents the river of life the two groups are traveling down.

It’s interesting that the Haudenosaunee used a belt of beads to represent the treaty, capturing its essence with rows of color.  With a single glance, one can see the belt and get a different sense and understanding of the treaty than one does reading the Dutch settler’s written version (.pdf download).

Opening Yourself to the Power of Symbolism

It is arguable that the modern world’s focus on the written word, symbolic though words themselves may be, has aided in moving us too far into our heads, and further away from our hearts.  If this is true for you, try incorporating other forms of symbolism into your life. Pay more attention to images that stir you, and practice not always having to put into words the things you know and feel in your heart.

Here are a few exercises to try:

-Draw, or create with something, an image of how you’re feeling right now.  It could be more literal (a flower, a cloud), or abstract.

-Think of a time when you felt really seen or validated.  Draw an image of what that felt like.

-Think of one of your greatest strengths.  If an animal or aspect of nature were to represent this, what would it be?

For further exploration: