How Symbols Speak To Us
The famous psychologist Carl Jung, who wrote extensively on the subject of Symbology, stated: "The symbolic meaning of a phenomenon helps to link the instrumental with the spiritual, the human with the cosmic, the casual with causal, disorder with order, and finally, it always points to the transcendental." In other words, symbols convey meaning at a non-rational level that penetrates our psyche and connects us with a deeper understanding. Visual symbols communicate their meaning more directly and more fully just words.
Defining 'The Unconscious'
The unconscious (both individual and collective) is the matrix of the human mind. Since we do not know whether our unconscious mind is lower or higher than the 'conscious' mind, we are better to call it 'unconscious' instead of the popular 'subconscious'. Through our dreams, legends and myths, layers of our individual and collective psyches are revealed. I believe these symbols communicating their meaning to us in symbolic form for no other reason than for our growth and healing. I bleive it is the path for Higher consciousness to communicate with us
When we begin to take conscious notice of these messages, this sends a message back into our unconscious that we are listening to its wisdom. A certain give-and-take relationship is established. And then, as if tuned into that frequency, we begin to notice that more messages, of yet greater significance and clarity, are being sent from the unconscious.
For example, one day a squirrel came to me in my yard. I watched with fascination as it scurried about its business. And then later that night, the squirrel appeared in my dream. It became clear to me that the message of the squirrel, first in my yard and then in my dream, was that I needed to save more and spend less. My unconscious mind was telling me that like the squirrel, I needed to stash away a few ‘acorns’ for winter.
When we make a habit of listening to its messages, the unconscious speaks to us through both day-to-day events and through our dreams. Many people hear messages from mundane things that happen, such as an injury or catching a cold, meaning that they need to slow down. This all falls into the realm of the Collective Unconscious (God-force, Spirit, Universe, Whatever), which naturally guides us, through the language of symbolic meaning, so that we may consciously evolve.
Symbols can be a "precise and crystallized means of expression and healing, corresponding to the inner life", says Diehl. Goethe asserted that "in the symbol, the particular represents the general, not as shadow, but as a living, momentary revelation of the inscrutable." In other words, it is the personal, subjective nature of these inner symbols that makes their communication of meaning so clear and so direct. When we encounter a symbol such as this, there is no doubt as to its meaning. Doubt only arises when we try to rationalize it instead of intuiting it. Symbols, in their intimate structure, show us all that has been and all that will be, in one archetypal form.
Potential Resource Traps
It is important to understand that the formulation of a hard and fast system of allegories can be limiting. The interpretation of the meaning of a symbol coming from our own unconscious is a highly subjective process, so it varies from person to person and from moment to moment. When I look up the meaning of a dream symbol in my dictionary of symbols, there are frequently contradictory definitions. Such is the case with Owls and Bats, for example. For some, Owls and Bats are revered creatures and for others they are feared. This reflects the fact that culture and personal experience both effect how a symbol is interpreted. Since the interpretation of the messages from one's own unconscious is so subjective, these dictionaries don't always provide the absolute answer but they can serve as a helpful guide to understanding the personal significance of a symbol.
