Symbol Watcher

Ma'at or Mayet, Egyptian Goddess of truth, balance, order and justice.

Several years ago my Aunt Cyndi returned from a trip to Egypt and presented me with a beautiful painting of the Egyptian Goddess Ma’at.  I had just moved and told myself I would get it framed and hung as soon as I was settled.  So I rolled up the papyrus and put it in a closet for safe keeping.  Here it is, at least four years later, and as I was cleaning out the closet in my newly set up home office, I found the gift my aunt was thoughtful enough to give me. This time I didn’t stow it away. I bought a frame for it and put it on top of a bookcase in my office.

At first, I couldn’t remember which goddess my aunt told me it was, so I started pouring through my mythology books and searching the web. I found she is Ma’at or Mayet, the Egyptian Goddess of truth, balance, world order and justice. She’s easy to recognize because she wears an ostrich feather in her headband.  It’s the feather she uses to weigh the hearts of the deceased. (“Maat” means ostrich feather.) Both the ostriches and the feathers are depicted several times in my painting.

I found several variations of exactly how the soul-weighing rite is conducted, but basically the heart of the deceased (believed to be the soul) is placed on one side of the balance scale and an ostrich feather on the other. Ma’at sits on her heels at one end of the scales. If the scales balance, the soul is not heavy with wrong doing and the departed is on the way to paradise. This seated Ma’at is pictured in the upper right of my painting with an ankh (a symbol of immortal life) atop her knees.

If the scale doesn’t balance and the deceased soul is found guilty, the heart is thrown to Ammut “the Devourer,” who sits on the other side of the scales. Ammut is evidently a nasty combination of lion, hippo and crocodile.

Ma’at’s role in Egyptian mythology also includes instilling order out of the chaos of creation by regulating the stars and seasons. Her far reaching responsibilities are probably why she is often depicted as having outstretched wings, as she does in the painting my aunt gave me.

Thank you for such a meaningful gift Aunt Cyndi.

– Writeye

February 22nd, 2009 | Tags: ancient Egyptian afterlife rite, ankh symbolism, Ma'at or Mayet symbolism | Category: Art |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

When we make love in our dreams, we are most often attempting to unite with some aspect of ourselves.

Carl Jung said, ”All consciousness separates; but in dreams we put on the likeness of that more universal, truer, more eternal man dwelling in the darkness of primordial night. There he is still whole, and the whole is in him, indistinguishable from nature and bare of all egohood. Out of these all uniting depths arises the dream, be it never so childish, grotesque and immoral.”  (As quoted in the glossary of Jung’s autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections.) 

Dreams introduce us to attitudes we’re unaware of and parts of ourselves we’re blind to for one core purpose: to help each of us become whole. I can’t think of any dream symbolism that undertakes the task of psychic union better than sexual intercourse.

In general, when we dream we’re having sex with someone, our psyche is trying to unite our conscious mind with the characteristics inside ourselves that our dream sex partner represents.  So when we have a sex dream, we have to ask ourselves, “What are my associations with the person I’m having sex with?”

Whether you know the person in waking life or not and whether the sex of the person matches your conscious sexual orientation is not as immediately important as the personal associations you have for the person.

For instance, if, as a heterosexual female, I have a dream of making love with a woman who is a teacher, the dream might be pointing out that I have teacher-like qualities within myself that I need to be aware of and perhaps utilize in some way in conscious life. It might also be commenting on an unconscious desire to expand my education in some way. The dream will hold other clues to help me decipher the exact message.

Of course dreams can be crucial in helping us come to grips with our sexual orientation if we are not living true to nature in conscious life. It’s just that, since dreams communicate on a symbolic level, a message about unrealized sexual preference probably wouldn’t be conveyed in such a literal way. 

When I say intercourse dreams attempt to help us integrate or unite disparate aspects of ourselves, I don’t mean the psyche is trying to tell us that we have to adopt the sex partner’s characteristics.  What if we have a sex dream that is very unpleasant or even terrifying? What if I’m being raped in my dream or I’m a rapist? Then we need to take a look at what part of psyche is being abused or is abusive to some other part of the psyche. A rape scene may represent an internal power struggle against different characteristics or standpoints within our own minds.

The dream does not tell us which is the right or wrong conscious attitude to take. It simply presents the psychic situation. Free will still reigns. But we do have to be aware that our dream lover’s characteristics lie within us. We have to try our best to know ALL of who we are if we’re going to come anywhere close to being a consciously whole human being.

Many months ago, I had a dream that I was making love to a Rastafari man.  He was extremely handsome and I desired him deeply. Our lovemaking was beautiful and moving. Now, I know very little about Rastafari, almost nothing. My associations were that Rastafaris are free spirited and not tied to Western convention.  This man was peaceful and was not at all committed to the “rat race.”  So, knowing how satisfying it was for me to unite with these Rastafari characteristics within me, does that mean I should stop working and use cannabis as a path toward spiritual enlightenment?  Maybe, maybe not. I do know it’s my psychic duty to accept that his way of being is within me, but I still have to decide which parts of him, if any, I’ll choose to incorporate into my waking life.

– Writeye

February 8th, 2009 | Tags: sex in dreams symbolism | Category: Dreams, Jungian Psychology |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

When grapes are crushed and fermented, the resulting wine becomes a powerful juice capable of changing the behavior of those who drink it. Thus wine's symbolic associations with transformation.

On a day like today, when there’s a foot of snow outside my door and a cold inside my head, I want comfort food.  I want to eat stuff that warms up my insides — soup and chili and lots of hot coffee.

Of course, food is basic to our survival, so we attach a lot of importance to what we eat. Meals are an integral part of most social interactions and life transitions – from baby showers, to weddings, to funerals.  Here’s some food symbolism to chew on:

• Apples: The mother of all fruits, at least in Western culture. Standing for forbidden knowledge and sin — thanks to Eve’s free will, but also sexual ecstasy because of the vulva-shaped core.
• Bread — In Christianity, the food of the spirit; in Judaism, purification and sacrifice.  Common phrases such as ”my bread and butter” and “the bread of life” illustrate our attachment to bread as basic sustenance for human existence.
• Coffee — As in “wake up and smell the coffee.”  If we’re in denial about something or someone in our waking life, we might be drinking coffee or smelling it in our dreams.
• Fish — Their prolific reproduction make them a sexual symbol throughout most of the world. When appearing on the soles of Buddha’s feet, fish became a symbol of freedom from earthly contraints. The fish is also one of the oldest symbols for Christ. Because they inhabit the ocean, fish represent the live contents of the unconscious in analytical psychology.  
• Gravy — “He’s/she’s on the gravy train,” means a life of abundance with little effort. Must be why gravy tastes so good, but in the long run it just makes us fat and clogs our arteries.
• Honey — It’s no wonder “Honey” is a word we usually reserve for those we are most fond of. It’s golden color reminds us of the sun. In some societies, honey is the fundamental ingredient in mead.  So as the “nectar of the gods” honey has long been said to be the food of immortals and seers. 
• Milk — As our first food, food from our mother, milk is the drink of life, the nourishment of the feminine. 
• Olive — A food with differing cultural meanings. In Islam, the olive is the symbolic equivalent of the apple, the forbidden fruit in paradise. In Judeo-Christian belief the olive represents peace. 

– Writeye

January 28th, 2009 | Tags: food symbolism | Category: Jungian Psychology, Symbol Brief |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Past Ox years include 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 and 1997.

The story goes that on a Chinese New Year long ago, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him.  Twelve came — a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Buddha declared that each year would be named after one of the animals, rotating in a 12-year cycle. He also said that people born in an animal’s year would possess some of that animal’s personality characteristics.

January 26 is the beginning of the Year of the Ox. To Chinese who follow the tradition, people born in previous ox years (like me) as well as babies born in this year, are destined to have at least some ox characteristics.  These include being dependable, methodical, logical, hardworking, patient, stubborn, narrow minded and demanding. 

Like Western new years, the Chinese New Year symbolizes renewal, but it also means the coming year will embody many of the elements of the year’s namesake animal.  I guess that means 2009 will be a year requiring hard work and patience if we’re going to face the difficult economic and ecological times ahead.  Maybe it also means we can’t get caught up in the negative aspects of an ox year. We can’t dig in our hooves and demand things stay the same — even in the face of inevitable and much needed change — because the unknown is too scary. 2009 is a year for plowing head, steadily and strongly, into creating a healthier, more well-rounded world for ourselves and each other.   

If you want to learn more about Chinese New Year traditions, log on to 123chinesenewyear.com.  To understand more about the Chinese Zodiac, including the symbology of the 12 animals, visit Wikipedia.

– Writeye

January 25th, 2009 | Tags: Chinese New Year symbolism, Year of the Ox symbolism | Category: Current Events |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

I am always entertained by the ABC show “Lost,” but I was really intrigued this week when I saw the starburst, or spoked wheel illustration during the last few minutes of the season premier. 

Those of us who watch the series know Ben set the island in motion last season by turning a giant wheel located deep underground.  Now the island appears to be free falling through the spacetime continuum. 

During Wednesday’s show, ray-like spokes were being drawn on the floor of a dimly lit room by a giant pendulum. The pendulum was hanging from the ceiling with a piece of chalk (?) attached to the end of it.  That same spoked, or starburst, image on the floor also appeared in multiple places on a map of the earth. The map was visible on the computer screen of the woman working in the room.  All the starbursts on the map were in the ocean — I think in the sourthern hemisphere.  “Event Window Determined” was displayed in large letters across the screen.   (To watch the entire episode or fast forward to this scene, click here.) 

I enjoyed all the overt and symbolic representations of movement in the show and I’m wondering what clues they hold concerning the supposed catastrophe Ben and the white-haired woman are trying to prevent.

The images on the floor and on the computer remind me of both a wheel and a starburst.  The rays aren’t contained within a circle like the spokes of a wheel, but they do intersect in the center, so they have an axis, or common midpoint.  Yet the lines aren’t contained by a border and they’re not a uniform length, so in that way the pattern makes me think of a starburst.  

I think both the wheel and the starburst might hold clues to where the storyline might be taking us. The wheel is the solar image of cosmic momentum, ceaseless change and cyclic repetition.  A perfect image for an island on the move. 

A galaxy, according to Wikipedia, is: “. . . often observed to have a burst of star formation after a collision or close encounter between two galaxies.”  Stars often represent cosmic order. So all this makes me wonder if the impending doom is that the earth, or earth’s galaxy, might be in danger of ramming into another planet or galaxy. 

Is the pendulum swinging in concert with the earth’s gravitational pull or the island’s movement?  Evidently by reading the starburst patterns, the woman is able to tell there are only 70 hours before catastrophe strikes.  And if that’s true, then I’m wondering if the reason the island is so important and seems to contain so much raw energy is because it’s the portal to the earth’s center point, its axis. 

Any thoughts?

– Writeye

January 24th, 2009 | Tags: Lost season premier symbolism, star symbolism, wheel symbolism | Category: TV Shows |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment