CHAPTER 1: Fundamental Symbolism

Part 1: Peace! Peace! Peace!

“God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” —Genesis 1:14

“What think ye? If this Book be from God and ye believe it not, who will have gone further astray than he who is in wide separation? We will show them our signs upon the horizons and within themselves, until it become plain to them that it is the truth.” —Korān, Sûra the Made Plain 52–53

The language of symbolism. The language of symbolism is contained in the myths, religious teachings and rites, and other traditional possessions of the world, and applies to psychical processes and phases which every man individually, groups of people and humanity collectively are undergoing and passing through. The meaning of symbols as forming part of a language has been forgotten long ago and is unknown whole this is written, even though implications of some symbols have been preserved. Knowledge of a few words, however, does not give understanding and command of a language. As words used in a particular context, that is, as a rule, in association with other words in a sentence, symbols obtain or reveal power and meaning only in a particular context or situation, in combination with and relation to other symbols.

Words themselves were originally symbols and many are so even now. Others have become more like labels. A study of words, with reference to their etymology and psychological etymology, in connection with the sacred traditions of old, amply repays the trouble by opening up great vistas. These words of modern languages have become shallow, narrow and exact. These languages have become rich only in numbers of words. But plurality is not true wealth. It may appear to be the same whether one possesses a banknote of a thousand dollars or a thousand notes of one dollar. A thousand “chips” are useful for small purposes, but the big note can be used for a big purpose. Narrowness and exactness of meaning are actually smallness. Modern words are suited for rationalistic and materialistic purpose of specialization. Ancient words are like broad and deep hints with a world of meaning, applying to high things. We shall see later that there is a symbolic meaning in the dimensions.

Mirror-symbolism. When dealing with symbols, one must remember that a thing cannot be described and clarified in terms of itself, but only with reference to something else in the universe. The substance and form of a symbol may very well be derived from something which is the opposite of that which the symbol means or intends to convey.

The field from which the substance and the form of symbols are taken is nature. There is no other field from which to derive them. Nature takes the two aspects of “human nature” and the nature of the surroundings of man. Man’s “animal nature” is symbolic of a particular aspect of human nature, derived from the nature of animals in man’s surroundings.

Substance and form of symbols belong to external nature. The meaning applies to the internal nature. Nature is the mirror of consciousness and the picture in the mirror reflect the dynamism of consciousness.

The ancestors of the human race looked in “the mirror of Venus”, and beheld in it the waters, the wind, heaven and earth, mountains and meadows, trees and animals, and a whole world of animate and inanimate objects. They watched the functions of eating, breathing, walking, procreation and other actions, and wondered at sleep and death. They experienced the struggle for existence and studied life and death around themselves. The pictures they saw became the symbols for the inner experiences they had to pass through — experiences which could be expressed on the physical plane in such a manner that others could understand them, in no other way than by means of imagery derived from that plane.

In the course of time the meaning of symbols has become more or less separated from their form. Symbolic forms have come down to us in the scriptures, monuments, rituals and other traditional things which we possess. Their meanings have survived within the psyche of every human being and make up the essential material of his inner life, but they have more or less vanished from the conscious into the unconscious realm. From the point of view of consciousness (in the sense of modern psychology — corresponding to “the waking consciousness” of the traditional teachings) the meanings are largely “lost” or “hidden” (“occult”).

“The mirror of Venus” is not a symbol of a woman’s vanity, as some interpreters would actually make us believe. And as yet, in the conception of “vanity” in looking into the mirror lies a profound significance, overlooked by those who hold the view that the Gods are mere caricatures of humans and “have all their vices and more”. “Vanity” really means emptiness, that which is vain, useless, empty. The deeper meaning is recalled in “vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Eccles. 1:2.) What is “vain”, from the angle of vision of the spiritual man, is the delusions and embroilments of the mind-world. Life is really empty and unsatisfactory without the breath of the Spirit.

The Moon is the mirror that reflects the light of the Sun. In the highest connection the Sun symbolizes Being and Reality and God, and the Moon Consciousness and its creative power.

Because Light is reflected on matter belonging to ever less subtle and more material planes — the realms of the various psychical functions — there may be mention of several mirrors. The mirror of Venus then represents the emotional plane. The Moon-mirror symbolizes the sphere of Consciousness. The mirror of Mother Earth is material nature.

The creative power of consciousness on its own plane is generally symbolized in the form of a Goddess and particularly as Moon-Goddess.

People who use the expression “the reflective faculty of the mind” generally do not realize that it is connected with mirror symbolism.

The creative power of Consciousness is called in Hindu tradition śakti or “Power”, conceived in some contexts as a Goddess. In the Kāmakalāvilāsa Tantra (5.4) Śakti is described as “the Pure Mirror in which Śiva reflects Himself”. Śiva here represents Reality and Being, the static aspect of God, and corresponds to “the Father” of Christian tradition. Śakti, his Consort, represents the dynamic aspect of God in the Manifested Universe (of which the material universe is only the condition of the greatest density). She is the Great Mother, the Creatrix.

For intimately connected moral and spiritual reasons the mirror of the mind must be purified. And concerning advanced stages of meditation the teachers of sacred tradition in the East warn against mental pictures which form an obstruction to pure mystical contemplation, integration of personality, and Self-realization. According to Taoism, when the action of the mind comes to rest, when the attention is fixed and the mind empty of forms (realizing “all is vanity”), it is then the Pure Mirror in which is reflected the ineffable and unnameable Essence of Tao itself. A mirror is found in every Japanese Shinto shrine. According to the tradition, it should be compared with the human heart. If the heart is perfectly pure, the Divine is reflected init. In every tradition and clime the path of the spiritual aspirant involves the systematic purification “of the heart”, which means of feelings, thoughts and aspirations. In Hindu tradition the process of discipline is called cittaśuddhi, “mind-purification”. Yoga, the various mārgas or Paths to God-realization, the rituals of all religions, the moral rules of all the world, have no other object but purification, which is intimately connected with renunciation, sacrifice, good works, service of God, and a noble, fruitful and enjoyable life in the world. Richard of St. Victor said: “Let him that thirst to see God cleanse his mirror”.

Symbols are nothing but pictures in various mirrors. They are psychological signpost and spiritual guides — the only possible one — on the path to harmony and happiness.

It cannot be claimed for any of them that they are absolute in themselves, as is done for theological dogmas, philosophical maxims and laws of science. Yet there is an element of universality about them that comes very near to absoluteness.

Signposts are usually ugly features on the roadside of nature. But symbols, the signposts of the sacred traditions of old, that serve to guide one on the right path and help one to reach the goal, are not ugly, for they consist of the animate and inanimate things of nature itself.

Light and darkness. Symbols should not be defined in a generalizing manner. The danger hereof becomes clear with reference to the symbolism of light and darkness. Light is generally a symbol of spiritual insight and realization, and Darkness of ignorance, sin, and a state of disharmony within the psyche and in life. In some contexts the Sun as Lord of Light is a symbol of God, and the Moon, the Ruler of Night, is a symbol of the World of Creation, or else of “the world”, the world of worldliness and sensuality. But in another context the relation of Light and Darkness is the reverse. Darkness is then a symbol of the Unmanifest, Supreme, Impersonal Deity, and Light of the Manifest, the Universe, the Personal Deity. Darkness is further sometimes symbolic of the “Virgin” state of the soul which gives birth to “the Light”. In some connections “day” is a synonym for the world and its hustle and bustle, and “night” is associated with silence, prayer and meditation. Hence the verse in Bhagavad-gītā (2.69):

“The waking of the beings
Is Night for the silent Seer,
But the night of the beings
Is Waking for the Self-restrained.”

Night and day here, of course, need not actually indicate the time-periods of night and day, but rather symbolize moods or state of consciousness. In this connection see also Diagram 1b. Furthermore light and darkness often symbolize the conscious and the unconscious.

Fundamental symbolism. The most fundamental symbolism is that of the Four Elements of Manifestation, which correspond to the four lowest of the Seven Spheres. These Four Elements are conceived as based on, or springing from, a fifth, the Quintessence or Fifth Element — Ether, which corresponds to the Sphere of Light.

Beyond these are the Spheres of the Moon and the Sun. The Element Earth symbolizes the physical body and the material world, The Element Water the plane of feeling, the Element Fire the lower mind, the Element Air the sphere of the spiritual functions, including the intuition, the Element Ether the sphere of the essential function, that is faith and insight — faith being unconscious insight, and “insight” conscious faith. The Moon-Sphere is the domain of Consciousness and its creative power. The Sun, in its highest symbolic aspect, represents the Inexpressible, which, through the glasses of the lower Spheres, is denoted by the names of God, Reality, Being, the Unmanifest, the Self, and by symbols.

Hermes Trismegistus called the Fifth Element also Cosmos: “That, then, from which the whole Cosmos is formed, consisteth of Four Elements — Fire, Water, Earth, and Air; Cosmos (itself is) one, (its) Soul (is) one, and God is one”. (The Perfect Sermon, III:1.)

The fundamental symbolism is mentioned in Diagram 1a. The groups of symbols contained in it are dealt with systematically in suitable order and connections.

The traditions of the Four Elements and Seven Spheres are universal. They are conceived as ruled by emanations, aspects and powers of GOD, who are variously termed Gods or Angels or given some other title. People who are prejudiced, because they do not see the deeper meaning of teachings, often object to the term “Gods”. It is clear that the exact term is not important. It is the meaning that counts.

These Elements play an unequal part in the life of people. While in the perfect man they are in balance and harmony, in the life of the imperfect, one or more predominate. A man for whom the Element Earth predominates unduly is a materialist. For him a symbol is only a form which should be taken at its face value. He looks for its utilitarian value, for instance as an ornament. He worship matter for its substance and form, and its usefulness. His Gods are the Machine, Mammon and Comfort, and his “worship” is idol-worship. He believes in the letter of the Law.

One in whose life the Element Water predominates will have an emotional attitude to symbols, and one in whom the Element Fire predominates will be inclined to take them for mental images with a figurative or allegoric value. Science has dealt with Gods as personifications of natural phenomena.

A man in whose life the Element Air predominates will experience the inspiring influence of symbols and will note that often they move him to the depth of his being, stirring “the very elements” of his soul. He may experience symbols as containing more life and meaning than the everyday occurrences of life. He will come to realize that symbols represent the very forces which move the world — and his world — “up” or “down”. His intuition will convey to him their meaning.

When his Buddhi, the spiritual-discriminative function, becomes “pure” and the Elements within his being are harmonized, he will have the Four Winds, representing the Four Elements in a spiritualized form, in his bag and at his command, to blow him withersoever his spirit desire to fly. And if he chooses to direct the four currents inwards, back to the Cave whence they sprang, he will come to know the Quintessence, in which symbols dissolve like salt dolls immersed in the ocean.

Since all traditions are intimately interrelated, some will be explained first from one point of view and in one context, and later in others. As the great scheme of Tradition unfolds, the more profound things dealt with later on will be found easier to understand than the simpler things taken as an introduction. For insight comes when the interrelationship of things is seen.

Animal Symbolism. Man has always felt that he has a double nature. He has sensed that in his deepest being he is divine, and that his “lower nature” is “animal”. Therefore animal symbolism is connected with the lower mind. A man has always been apt to call his brother a pig, a monkey, an ass or a viper, in the need of his soul to relieve himself of his own unworthiness. He tries to do this by projecting it upon others.

Each animal represents a particular sensual or mental tendency or appetite — for good or for ill. The domestic and the wild animals therefore serve their own purposes in symbolism, and appear in sacred traditions and fairytales in favorable aspects as friends, or in unfavorable aspects as enemies. It is a most unfavorable sign if a domestic animal becomes wild and dangerous, and it is symbolic of the highest spiritual achievement if wild animals become tame, and if a man can live in friendship with the beast of the wilderness.

The symbolic animals are shadows of man, because they live and move in his shadow. The entire psychical story of man, as applying to the world of manifestation, can be told — and has been told in all tradition — in terms of animals. And human nature is ever fond of recreating the animal with human traits, representing the human with animal traits.

The Zodiac. While the “higher” or spiritual levels of psychology are represented by Gods or Angels, the “lower” or worldly levels are represented by animals. In the traditions of the Zodiac the two are combined. The divisions of the Zodiac are in the main represented by symbolic animals, for which reason it is called “the Animal Belt”.

This Zodiacal scheme is divided in twelve Signs, that is, symbols. Eight of these symbols are animals. Of the twelve Signs of the Zodiac three are Earth-Signs, three Water-Signs, three Fire-Signs and three Air-Signs. (See Diagram below). It is significant that the Air-Signs, the spiritual symbols, show a human form, while the Earth, Water and Fire-Signs are represented by animal forms. (The Earth-Sign Virgo is the only exception to this rule, surely because it is ruled by Mercury, the God of the Element Air, the spiritual sphere).

Besides the animals which are found in the Signs of the Zodiac, all other animals that are encountered in traditional contexts have their place in one or more Signs of that Animal Belt. The same applies to the Gods and Angels of the various religions. These are the emanations, powers, aspects, attributes, names, servants and forms of GOD, in accordance with the characteristics of the Seven Spheres, and are conceived as the Rulers of the Signs and of the animals of the Signs.

The Zodiac is the starry path through the heavens which appears to be taken by the sun, moon and the planets on their wanderings. These are the exterior representatives of part-aspects of the human soul in the material world, from which the material for symbolism is largely taken. The Zodiac is the animal picture-book of the Spiritual Path, on which all the episodes of spiritual life take place and the Battle of Life is fought. The word Zodiac is derived from the Greek Zôdiakos, which is commonly said to be derived from the Greek Zôdion, the diminutive of Zôon, meaning animal. The Greek word Zôdiakos is also said to come from an ancient Oriental root Sôdi, meaning a Way. The Sanskrit word sodaya is connected with the rise of the heavenly bodies and also implies succession in time and on a path.

Animal vehicles. In the Vedas the Gods were called diva-narāḥ, “heavenly men”, or simply narāḥ, men, and they were described as nṛpeśas, which means the same as anthropomorphic. In Hinduism every God is represented as having a vehicle, which is either an animal or a car drawn by one or more animals. The word for vehicle, vāhana, is etymologically related to it. The root of these words means to carry. The Animal-vehicle “carries” the God in the manifested world, symbolically represented by, because externalized to the ultimate extent in, the starry heavens, through which leads the spiritual path through the Signs of the Zodiac. The entire Universe is the Vehicle of GOD. As we shall see later, this is taught especially by the symbolism of the Wain, which is conceived as carrying the Pole Star, symbol of the Immovable Centre of the ALL: GOD.

The Wain is in several traditions of the World especially associated with Jupiter, the God of the function of faith and insight. In Hindu tradition the seven stars of the Wain (the Great Bear) are called the Seven Rishis, aspects of the Guru or Jupiter, and in central Europe they were called Irmin’s Wain, Irmin being the same as Jupiter or Guru.

Among Hindu Gods Śiva has his Bull to ride on, the Goddess Durgā her Lion, Viṣṇu his Eagle, and Nirriti his Man. Ezekiel had his well-known vision of the four Living Creatures, which had the heads of a Bull, a Lion, an Eagle and a Man. It will be seen later that these represent the same spiritual stages on the Path through “the heavens”, that is the Zodiac. The symbols of Lamb, fishes and Lion, that occur in the Christian tradition, represent the Zodiacal Signs of Aries, Pisces and Leo.