SYMBOLS

I have noticed a curious developmental cycle in people learning to understand the symbolic process.  In the early stages , we are often caught up with the meanings of individual objects, colors and numbers.  It is like learning language when we first must learn and understand letters and phonetic combinations.  Soon the individual letters become words, words become paragraphs which turn into to entire stories. The letters themselves hold the words together but no longer retain their same level of importance.  The same is true in understanding your own symbolic process.  The individual symbols lose their importance as you begin to sense the overall themes and lessons that move through your waking and dream life.

There are many possible interpretations for any symbol; yet, there are universal meanings that appear across culture and time as people try to grasp the meaning of life and death.  The symbols and explanations below are very simplified cross section of possible meanings.  They are meant to provide a jumping off point rather than a final destination.  The most important interpretation is the one offered by the person who is working with it, the personal association.  There are also cultural and universal possibilities of interpretation.  In the clinical setting, follow the lead of your client.

THE ELEMENTS

       , energy,  hot, initiating, creative and destructive, it relates to energy, passion, anger, movement and expression. Its colors include reds, oranges and gold. Symbols may include the sun, stars, comets, fires, matches, smoke, Apollo, the phoenix, Icarus

·          form, stability, sensuality, nurturance, solidity.  Its colors are usually rich browns and greens.  Its symbols include the forest, caves, mountains, Mother Earth, Venus, earthquakes.

·      movement, objectivity ,the ability to speak and communicate, and detachment.  Its colors are yellows, blues and whites.  Symbols may include, wings, birds, clouds, messengers, wind hurricanes, Mercury

·        is depth, fluidity, emotion, mystery, assimilation and changeability.  Its colors are deep blues, turquoise, greens, purples and black.  Its symbols may includes, lakes, rivers, ponds, Neptune, mermaids, fish, whales, shells, tsunamis.

·        the fifth element is space, the divine the unknown, without form full of all potentialities, stars, nebula, spirals, sparkles

like all symbols can mean many things to many people.  Do not assume you know what another person relates to a particular color.  Allow your own information to emerge.  The quality, light dark, clear or cloudy can affect how a color is perceived.

Archetypes are those characters that appear throughout time in stories and myths and carry importance by their mere presence, quest and message.

Archetypal images include:

•         Hero is a person on a quest for wholeness who must endure the task of initiation . The most famous maybe Hercules or Luke Skywalker , Princess Lea or Harry Potter, Frodo, Sam and Aragon in Lord of the Rings, Artemis

•         Healer the wise man or woman with knowledge of ways of healing usually due to their own suffering and initiation

• The Wounded Healer  Lupin in Harry Potter, Bert the chimney sweep in Mary Poppins, Chiron, Hestia

•         Trickster, Coyote in Native American Lore the prankster who turns your world upside down to remind you there is always another perspective.  Anasazi the spider in African folklore.   Mary Poppins is one of my favorites.

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• Shadow, the villain, the thief, the boogeyman.   The fears that steal or threaten your life energy or beliefs , unacceptable or unintegrated parts of SELF .  Gains power through denial, judgment and projection. Addictions and illness will often take these nighttime forms

• Sarunan in Lord of the Rings, Darth Vader, The Emperor, Hades

·        Teacher/Mentor can be any number of images, which lead the dreamer to greater self-understanding often through great effort.  Wise women and wise men, Gandolf in Lord of the Rings, Dumbledore in Harry Potter , Obi wan and Yoda in Star Wars,  Athena

·        Child,  innocence, which embraces life but also, requires attention and protection of a new and developing aspect of Self. Will often have an important piece of the puzzle.

Anne of Green Gable is one of my favorites . R2D2.  Merry and Pippin in Lord of the Rings, Persephone

·        SELF  mandala, light , angels,  new birth

Tarot and Astrology use  archetypal images and numbers  which make their way through our consciousness on a regular basis .  The following  material is provided for your information on the symbols.  I am not ascribing any divination powers to their study in this course.   People have used these systems and their symbols for centuries to transmit teachings and  knowledge in an attempt to illuminate man’s quest for universal meaning. Their meanings that have been ascribed to them  for thousands of years.  Whether you “believe” in them or not is irrelevant to the fact that they exist and millions of people search sites for “their horoscope” daily.  They provide a basis of communication through symbols that people recognize from the “the Wheel of Fortune” to the Grim Reaper of “Death”  There are very few people that do not “know their sign” and some attributes associated with it.  This material is presented as a study of archetypal symbols, synchronicity and man’s quest for deeper meaning.  However, if this material is uncomfortable to you in any way, please feel free to skip over it and explore the other symbol sites.

The Tarot is from the word is derived from the word ROTA and is based upon the Qaballah, the tree of life.  The cards of the Major Arcana contain archetypal images than point to the development of an individual’s consciousness along the path of life.  The Minor Arcana concern the more mundane aspects of life and eventually evolved in to today’s playing card with the 4 suits and 13 cards.   We will look at the symbols represented by the traditional card and the equivalent form the Medicine Woman’s Inner Guidebook  by Carol Bridges are presented.  Traditional Tarot decks our based upon medieval symbolism; whereas, the Medicine Woman deck includes Native American Symbolism combined with Eastern teachings.  For Native American Teachings I would also recommend the Medicine Cards and the Sacred Path Cards.  There are very interesting teaching stories shared throughout these decks

  The Major Arcana

ASTROLOGY

Astrology is the study of the Wheel of the Zodiac that like Tarot describes our attempt to understand the development of consciousness and meaning in the universe.  Astrology as an area of study has been around for thousand of years.  What most people are familiar with is their "sun sign" where the sun was at the time poof their birth.  A horoscope designed for an individual is determined by their time, date and place of birth. The horoscope is cast and the position of the planets and their relationships are described. This means although you may have your sun in Scorpio, your other planets can be in many other signs giving you a totally different demeanor.   As with any tool for understanding, study and resonance are essential.  If it makes no sense and holds no interest for you.  to you don't use it.  If you are interested in further exploring astrology please visit www.astrodienst.com  This sites is operated and maintained by Robert Hand and Liz Greene tow prominent astrology scholars.  Liz Greene is a Jungian analyst that has written extensively on the archetypes and the deeper psychological guidance found in astrology.  Robert Hand is currently involved in and extensive project of researching the Ancient Texts. 

The Zodiac is divided into 12 signs.  Each sign is associated with n element a quality and a planet.  I have found astrology most easily understood as related to the developmental stages of being human. For the sake of brevity and an introduction to the meanings attributed to sun signs and the developmental levels.  This does not in any way indicate that people born under the later signs are " more evolved than those born in the beginning of the zodiac.  This is presented a developmental way of understanding the movement of the Zodiac. 

The qualities of the signs refer to the cycle of creation, transformation and change. 

• Cardinal-initiating beginning, forceful

• Fixed- stable, resolute, predictable

• Mutable-changing, assimilating