W8L2: Symbolism and Metaphors

Overview & Purpose

Deeping insights into the value of Symbolism and Metaphors

What is a Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another to clarify or reveal obscure similarities between the two ideas.

During readings, I often receive metaphorical data. It has a creative way of inviting the Recipient into an experiential-centred mindset versus a cerebral one.

When we open our hearts to receive data about ourselves or another, we do so through our self-connection. That is why I have repeatedly emphasized the importance of doing the Self-Connection Meditation Practice daily to cultivate a deepened, balanced and harmonious self-connection. 

The deeper we can connect to ourselves, the deeper we can relate to others. You can’t connect to another any more in-depth than you have cultivated your connection with yourself.

“Know Thyself” 

The motto is inscribed on the Temple of Delphi.

The secret to being on purpose and living a life of fulfillment begins with knowing and understanding yourself. 

Quote by Socrates: “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”

Still, this does not give instruction.

Accessing unconsciousness is a sacred act where we may connect to various quantum selves, personal symbols and classic historical symbols that are part of the earthly experience and non-terrestrial experience for the star-seeds amongst us.

Personal Symbolism

Our unconscious psyche is an archive of personal experiences. Likewise, we are part of an infinite collective library (an endless number of museums in all time and space varieties and no time and space).

Our unconsciousness is our psychology and our biology intermingling and influencing our behaviour and actions. Only about 5% of our cognitive awareness is conscious.

“Numerous cognitive neuroscientists have conducted studies that have revealed that only 5% of our cognitive activities (decisions, emotions, actions, behaviour) is conscious whereas the remaining 95% is generated in a non-conscious manner.”

Society and culture also imprint the unconscious psyche from lifetime to lifetime.

Our unconscious psyche is also a reservoir for experiences we have unconsciously decided to push out of our conscious mind, such as trauma, painful emotions, unresolved conflict and anxiety.

How to explain or define the unexplainable

In this very moment, we are the end product of the influences and infinite cross-references not only from birth (reincarnation, cycles of death/birth/death/birth/death) but also the effects of our parents and their parents, all our ancestors and their influences and infinite cross-references. The results include unconscious reactions, from traumatic to joyful memories and beliefs held in perpetuity, genetic traits, gifts, inclinations, urges and narratives, from life to life to life. Phew! We are always connected to everyone, everything and everywhere, that ever was, that is now and ever will be.

As you engage with the many realms of archetypes, symbols and metaphors (personal and collective consciousness throughout history), you must take a mindful approach. Interpretations and translations must be as free as possible to assume that any symbol has a constant meaning.

Assumptions are always subject to a departure of the truth relative to the subject and therefore produce a corrupted outcome.

In a nutshell, stop making assumptions. Full stop. When you hear yourself or someone else starts a statement with “You know what I think…” They are accessing their Thinking Mind. When the Thinking Mind shows up, imagination is at work, and it is rarely accurate.

Our intuition and our psychic faculties will use what we ‘know’ and will find the quickest and easiest way to push it in front of our conscious minds. 

As you do your self-connection practice and your Dyad connection sessions, always set an intention to invite all useful information from sensations, impulses, emotions, meaningful thoughts, images, symbols to complete narratives, to rise into your conscious mind.

There is a popular theory that imagination is required to access our intuition. We have been conditioned to ignore and not trust intuition. I disagree in part with this thinking. Yes, creativity is something that, through Edwardian schooling, has traditionally been killed off for the sake of making room for academia.

This business of using the Thinking Mind activity of imagination to connect with psychic data has never been part of my experience. When we stay clear out of the way and remain in first thought, there is no effort required. Accessing imagination involves effort. And this is where I believe we can all too quickly become cerebral. We might access some practical advice but if you want high-level data flowing, stay out of the way, do not interfere, and always accept what, when and how you receive data.

The good news is that on the whole, there is a consensus that humanity is in the middle of a spiritual awakening. We are collectively becoming increasingly more connected to ourselves. (100th Monkey Theory). That awareness of ‘self’ leans towards the idea that we all have a divine or eternal aspect. In other words, who we are.

Helpful links if you are keen

There is nothing like holding a book in your hands. They carry so much more than just words written on the pages. Before the Internet, I often had piles of library books on all sorts of subjects from the occult to shamanism to huge map books, plus I had our family’s Britannica encyclopedias that I loved to use as reference materials. At one point in my mid 20’s, I volunteered at a local New Age Bookstore, so you can imagine I acquired many books then as well. I also inherited a dear friend’s entire library when she passed away. 

Since the internet, if I receive a data point that is new to me, I quickly google it and glance softly at the search results as if it were an oracle and the relevant information always lights up. Most have metaphorical and metaphysical esoteric properties.

Here are some of the standard data points I’ve connected to over the years. It’s impossible to recite them all, and once I started, it began to feel cerebral, so I abandoned the process. Here they are in no particular order. Anything from symbolic, metaphoric, historical, cultural and narratives. I don’t recommend creating your list unless you can’t help yourself (for your analytical mind!)

Common Data Points

  • Animals (wild, domesticated, pets)
  • Esoteric, occult symbols and magic sigils
  • Cosmologies
  • Prophecies
  • Galactic
  • Physical cosmology
  • Mythology/different periods Lists of Mythology from around the world
    • The oldest of which is Mesopotamia
  • Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
  • Nature Spirits/Animism
  • Lists of Trees
  • Lists of Plants
  • Lists of Flowers
  • Minerals, rocks,
  • Crystals/gems
  • Herbs
  • Healing medicines
  • Geometric shapes
  • Transportation systems
  • Writing
  • Art
  • Political and legal structures
  • Civilizations, known and lost
  • Social classes (king, noble, freemen, serf, slave)
  • Wars
  • Dinosaurs
  • Primitive man
  • Major historical events
  • Hierarchies
  • Family crests
  • Non-specific shapes
  • Anything connected to nature, like feathers, seeds,
  • Insects
  • Elements – Air, Water, Earth, Metal, Water
  • Stars, Milky-Way, Cosmos, Universe
  • Dimensions of space
  • Spiritual Dimensions and realms
  • Earthly aspects oceans, mountains, valleys, fields,
  • Elementals
  • Fairies
  • Angels
  • Aliens
  • Reptiles
  • Religious symbols and narratives
  • Physical body, parts, organs
  • An unwinding of parts, limbs
  • Pains in body parts or the energy field
  • Energy Field
  • Energy organs
  • Energy systems (Chinese TCM, Ayurvedic …)
  • Clothing/shoes/jewelry/headwear
  • Ceremonial adornments
  • Warrior adornments
  • Culture
  • Food
  • Time
  • Location
  • Mother
  • Father
  • Siblings
  • Aunts/Uncles
  • Grandparents
  • Ancestors
  • Life Story (no linear time)
  • Push sensations into the emotional body to be the emotions
  • Weather
  • Earth
  • Colours
  • Light
  • Dark
  • Ethereal
  • Density
  • Opacity
  • Viscosity
  • Movement/motion/speed
  • Flight
  • Vehicles
  • The left side of the body (Yin)
  • The right side of the body (Yang)
  • Brain – left and right
  • Architecture
  • Textures
  • Nausea – fear
  • Tools – saw, hammer,
  • Knives, blades, swords – metal – cutting through illusions
  • Pain –  where? Eye? Can’t see
  • Heal your life: Louise L. Hay (Based in TCM)
  • Tarot narratives
  • Geography
  • Topography
  • Maps
  • Oceans, Rivers, Lakes
  • ECT…

I have a great passion for symbolism. In gathering data for you, I stumbled upon ARCHIVE FOR RESEARCH IN ARCHETYPAL SYMBOLISM (ARAS)

Drawing upon Carl Gustav Jung’s work on the archetype and the collective unconscious, the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS) is a pictorial and written archive of mythological, ceremonial, and symbolic images from all over the world and from all epochs of human experience. The collection of 18,000 photographic images, accompanied by commentary on their cultural and historical context, probes the universality of archetypal themes and provides a testament to the deep and abiding connections of all life.

“This encyclopedia explores the hidden meanings of visual symbols across time and geography, from the sun to whales and the human hand. Spanning different eras and cultures, over 800 beautiful images combine with expert illuminations of symbol history, meanings, and psychic associations, offering readers a precious and fascinating resource for thoughtful interpretations of life, art, and spirituality.”

“Yes, the 807-page book is a doorstop. But it is also a stairway to heaven. The amazing gift is not its weight or its cover, but what lies between a tangible (r)evolution in consciousness.”

There is no worksheet for this lesson!