Symbolism, Archetypes & Mythology
The art of symbolism, archetypes and mythology, as a hidden language.
In northern Mexico bordering New Mexico, a desert, framed by mountains, like abandoned bones themselves, the dust and arid landscape forming a vast basin, seemingly empty yet full of richness, of history and ritual. Home of the navaho and apache tribes
Georgia Okeefe’s skull painting is often referred to as an obvious symbol of death and the transience of time, but I feel this skull is more about resurrection, it feels powerful and triumphant, and the purity of the flower to me feels like innocence and cleansing rebirth. Georgia painted this after a period of mental breakdown, when she had been spending time between New York and New Mexico. When she returned to Abiquiu (Abicue) Mexico this time, it was with a new energy, something had shifted for her and it’s felt here in the symbolism..
Not far from Abiquiu (Abicue), a little further south west in Sonora Mexico, and some 15 years later the anthropologist and writer Carlos Casteneda was venturing into the desert with a indigenous shaman named Don Juan. With whom he discovered the nature of plant medicine Peyote and began to explore reality from a different perspective within the realms of Yaqui tradition.
Don Juan taught him to notice the signs and symbols and what they represented in this magical world.
Through reading the teachings of Don Juan I was seduced into trying some of my own magic to find hidden symbolism and meaning to life.
In 1999 I was an art graduate living in Bristol. I frequently visit my family in Finland, staying in a remote woodland cabin during my summer break. This one year I was reading all the Casteneda books and learning about lucid dreaming and shifting my perception. I followed the practises while in the remote cabin, believing this would be the perfect time and place to explore summoning a spirit animal.
Sat on my porch in silence looking out over the vast canopy of trees, a red squirrel came scurrying down a tree and sat directly in front of me. Through half closed eyes we stared at one another for a few moments in acknowledgment. In that moment that felt like infinity but was probably only a second, I connected with the forest and the squirrel on a deep level….before it ran off, from then on I knew I had the power to summon aspects of my reality. It was on some level, magic, with which I had corresponded with an unseen, unknown world. I since have learnt that the squirrel represents playfulness, resourcefulness and fun. Everytime I see one now, I remember to lighten up! Could it be if we truly understood the universe is always speaking to us through spirit, that we could ask questions and receive answers?
Let us explore a little more about symbolism, it’s meanings and appearances.
If you are here I imagine you are interested in art, psychology and history and perhaps things that are a little mystical?
I thought we could go a little deeper into this subject of how art can be used as an unique transformative tool to explore the subconscious mind through symbolism, archetypes and mythology.
I will be exploring some artists who use mythology, archetypes, and the subconscious in their artwork and delving into the purpose and meaning behind why.
By using these motifs as metaphors, they offer us a window into the depths of the human psyche, and give us a better understanding of our own personal mythology.
My interest began in trying to decipher the code of my own subconscious in a curious yet haphazard way in my teens and early twenties, through magic and learning about esoteric topics. I will talk more about that in future videos but for the sake of time today let's stick to the subject of symbolism, mythology and archetypes
Then after a near death experience at 21 I decided to stop exploring such topics and resolved in my mind that this was just the afterlife and I should concentrate on trying to fulfil my perceived dreams in this life. That experience stayed with me and would open up an opportunity later in life to explore that other realm
There are many diversions of this journey I could take, which I will talk about further on this channel when it’s relevant but for the purpose of this video let's assume I had been on a self actualisation path for many years which led me to explore the esoteric and mystical arena.
First of all let's talk a little about symbolism
There is a rich tradition of symbolism in Western art throughout the last 1000 years, when art was used as a didactic tool to teach those who could not read. Before photography, art was the most immediate visual means to convey meaning. People of earlier ages would have understood what these symbols and metaphors alluded to. Whether it be gold to represent wealth and status, or a skull to symbolise death.
Symbolism and metaphor were important aspects of Renaissance art, as artists sought to convey complex ideas and meanings through their works. Here are a few examples of how Renaissance artists used symbolism and metaphor in their paintings:
Sandro Botticelli: Sandro Botticelli's painting "The Birth of Venus" uses metaphor to convey the beauty and purity of the goddess. Venus is depicted emerging from a seashell, which represents her birth and the idea of renewal and rebirth. The painting also includes other symbolic elements, such as the flowers in the foreground that represent springtime and the awakening of nature.
Michelangelo: Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel contains many symbolic elements, including the figures of Adam and God reaching out to touch each other's fingers. This gesture is meant to represent the moment of creation and the connection between humanity and the divine. Some experts believe the angels surrounding God look like a depiction of the human brain, in the moment that God gives Adam intelligence.
Jan van Eyck: Jan van Eyck's painting "The Arnolfini Portrait" is full of symbolic elements that convey the wealth and status of the couple just married. If you can get past his ridiculous hat and the fact he looks like Vladimir Putin, you may For example, notice the chandelier in the background as a symbol of the couple’s wealth, the mirror behind as God’s all seeing eye. Their bare feet, showing respect for the religious ceremony and the small dog watching, ‘Fido’ representing fidelity. Or the oranges on the windowsill showing they can afford expensive fruits to ward off scurvy. The opulent decor and overabundance of fabric are all symbols of wealth.
Hieronymus Bosch's painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" uses surreal and fantastical imagery to convey the idea of temptation and sin. The painting contains many symbolic elements,
The Garden: The central panel of the painting depicts a lush, idyllic garden filled with various fruits, flowers, and animals. The garden to the left represents the world as it was created by God, before the fall of man. It is a symbol of paradise and innocence. To the right is supposedly hell when man suffers the consequences of his indulgences, selfishness and greed. The landscape is barren, mechanical and hostile and the surreal figures feel demonic.
The Fountain: The large fountain in the center of the garden represents the source of life and creation. It is a symbol of the divine spark that animates all living things.
The Animals: The animals in the painting represent various human traits and emotions. For example, the owl symbolises wisdom, the peacock represents vanity, and the rabbit symbolises lust.
The Fruit: The various fruits in the painting represent different temptations and desires. For example, the apples in the left panel represent the original sin of Adam and Eve, while the strawberries on the right panel represent sensual pleasures.
The Musical Instruments: The various musical instruments scattered throughout the painting represent the joys of music and the arts. They are a symbol of the pleasures that can be found in earthly life.
The Nudity: The nudity of many of the figures in the painting represents the vulnerability and openness of humanity. It also suggests the idea of being exposed to temptation and sin.
So, how has symbolism impacted my life?
I began to notice that I had my own language of symbolism that I could translate to represent motifs in my own journey. In 2016 I began training as a Co Active life coach in London. This period lasted about 6 months in which time I would journey to London two weekends a month for classes at Hatton Garden.
This was an intense process of self discovery for me, for in the action of learning how to guide others in their struggles, I had to navigate my way through my own! I think anyone who has undergone that training would agree it’s an incredibly transformative experience. During my time there I ‘opened’ up spiritually and began receiving guided messages as visions, dreams and in meditation. The training involved a deep hypnotic meditation in which you meet your inner guide, or ‘higher self’ which I believe enabled me to connect to a deeper aspect of my subconscious or collective consciousness who I could call upon to provide advice and support in times of need (incidentally this meditation is available to download on my website, see the link in video notes)
I recorded some of this information in diaries at the time, which didn’t make much sense at the time but since, has been very instrumental in my understanding of more esoteric practices.
Directly after that I began mediumship classes and joined spiritual circles in early 2017. Then I also trained to be a reiki healer through a guide I met at a spiritual group. This was a period of rapid learning, as I was also reading tarot on this Youtube channel. I then developed my skills of understanding how messages can be decoded as they are often not literal. I also began a daily meditation practice at this time and was journaling my experiences. I noticed during much deeper meditation I would sometimes see symbols, pictures and words, or passages of text or sometimes more detailed images. I would then Google them afterwards and find out they are often related to ancient knowledge/Gods/sigils/esoteric symbols that I had no prior knowledge of. When I would explore further, the legends or stories relating to my channelled messages would have some significance to what I was dealing with in my own life at that time. So I began to see this process as a series of clues that I would decode until I reached my own solution. The message would be repeated until I learned that particular lesson. By being repeated I mean I would see synchronistic images in advertising, or words in music, or strange found objects seemingly unexplained that we would often just put down to coincidence.
The symbolism is entwined with the ideas of archetypes and mythology because this is the language the unconscious uses to send messages to our conscious mind. Carl Jung said “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. The unconscious knows that we understand these visual cues when we see certain things, and some of this is very individual, and some of it is commonly understood, meaning it has cultural association. Carl Jung talks about the individual and collective unconscious, the collective unconscious being an internal library of shared and cultural influences and experiences we have been exposed to affecting us since birth.
Overall, the use of symbols in mediumship can be a powerful tool for connecting with the spiritual realm and understanding the messages that are being conveyed. By using a language of symbols, mediums are able to communicate complex ideas and emotions that might be difficult to express in words alone, and provide comfort and healing to those who are seeking connection with their loved ones who have passed on.
The pictorial language of symbols is ever present in the images we see around us everyday and can behave as a useful tool to decipher messages to help guide us, whether you’d like to understand that within the context of science and the realm of the subconscious or in a spiritual sense, with these visual references acting as guideposts of our own hero’s journey.These symbols and synchronicities can be understood as clues for our life’s lessons, helping us grow as individuals and individuate as souls. I invite you to look for examples in your own life, when the universe seems to be guiding you towards a significant outcome… What were the clues on our path? The sudden moments of lucidity and direction? A chance encounter or sign that you interpreted to mean something? We can invite the universal collective consciousness, that Jung speaks of, to guide us in this way.
Could it also be that through the medium of art, an artist’s reaching a ‘flow state’ in which they can access such information and bring forward unconscious messages as paintings? Many artists that have claimed to work with spirits and guides, claim the work comes ‘through them’ rather than made consciously by them.
Whether art is deliberately ‘channelled’ or simply created through inspired action, it’s obvious that some artists are harnessing symbolism as a means of communication.
If we look at this painting, Odilion Redon’s Eye Balloon.
A hot-air balloon in the form of an eye soars above a marshy landscape, bearing a severed head on a plate.
He describes this mysterious creature/contraption as “Mounting toward infinity”, which, released from the mind and the body, leaves behind the physical world to explore what lies beyond.
In fin-de-siècle Paris, Redon was celebrated by Symbolist poets for his interest in making visible this world of dreams and fantasies. “My originality,” he wrote, “consists in bringing to life, in a human way, improbable beings and making them live according to the laws of probability, by putting—as far as possible—the logic of the visible at the service of the invisible.”
In this comment I think he suggests the symbolism he is using, somehow reveals knowledge from the hidden realms, whether it be our own mind or a greater intelligence. How he wanted the audience to interact isn’t so clear and it’s often something I wonder about, whether the artist is being deliberately obtuse and mysterious to create hype or they genuinely believe the feeling and information that is conveyed in their art has a greater purpose. Perhaps one we don’t quite understand yet. Quite possibly why Hilma af Klint asked for her work to be kept private for 50 years after her death.
Frida Kahlo is very well known these days for expressing her personal journeys in an open and frank manner through symbolism. Her paintings often feature personal symbols and imagery that reflect her experiences and struggles. For example, in her painting "The Two Fridas," , two versions of Kahlo are depicted sitting side by side, holding hands. One Frida is dressed in traditional Mexican clothing, while the other is dressed in modern Western clothing. The painting is thought to represent Kahlo's struggle to reconcile her Mexican heritage with her European education and identity.
Both women have visible hearts, and one of the hearts is cut open, exposing the veins and arteries. Above the two Fridas, a dark storm cloud looms. In the foreground, a small, hairless dog stands on one of the women's laps. The dog is a symbol of loyalty and devotion, but it is also a symbol of death in Mexican culture.
Another symbol that Kahlo often used was the plant imagery, which represented both fertility and death. In "Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird," Kahlo depicted herself wearing a thorn necklace and holding a hummingbird. The thorns represent the pain and suffering that Kahlo experienced throughout her life, very similar to images of christ often shown with a crown of thorns…while the hummingbird here is a symbol of fertility and new life. The plant imagery is also present in the background of the painting, where a prickly pear cactus is visible. The cactus is a symbol of resilience and strength, as it is able to survive in harsh desert conditions. The themes of life and death are part of the collective Mexican cultural imagination, as we know from the Día de Muertos or day of the dead festival, in which families honour and meet with dead ancestors.
Kahlo's visual language was heavily influenced by Mexican folk art, which often incorporated bright colors, bold lines, and simplified forms. Kahlo's use of vibrant colors and exaggerated proportions can be seen in her painting "The Broken Column," which depicts a woman with a shattered spine. The woman's torso is open, revealing a broken column that represents the fragility of the human body. The bright, intense colors and dramatic lines of the painting convey the intensity of the woman's pain and suffering in quite a graphic way.
Ok let’s look now at Dali
Salvador Dali was a surrealist,Surrealism was an art movement of the early 20thC. André Breton in his 1924 Surrealist manifesto….defined Surrealism as "psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express - verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other manner - the actual functioning of thought."
What the surrealist were trying to achieve was a pure depiction of imagination through the subconscious. They practised ‘automatic writing and drawing’
Much like any new art movement, they were seeking to differentiate themselves from the mainstream, in this case rationalism and literary realism. They were clearly influenced by the developments in psychoanalysis. If we look at what is happening at that time, In early 1907, Jung and other eminent psychiatrists, travelled to Vienna to visit Freud and eventually establish the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society with Freud as president.
The Surrealists believed the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighing it down with taboos.This is certainly reflecting some of Jung's research with dreams and the subconscious.
So Dali is known for his use of symbolism and metaphor in his paintings. In his work "The Persistence of Memory," for example, Dali depicts a landscape in which the familiar objects of everyday life - clocks, ants, and melting watches - are distorted and surreal. Obviously the clock is an easily recognisable symbol for time, and it’s condition, as melting with ants crawling over it is meant to depict the meaningless pursuit of something intangible. Time cannot be controlled and yet it is illusive and misunderstood and our memories are deceptive. The arid landscape also reflects this aimless need to quantify and qualify aspects of our reality when really outside of the busyness of everyday life and time passing is a fragile element of emptiness.
Leonora Carrington, a favourite artist of mine used a plethora of symbolism to create mythical, fantastical scenes that are wonderful to look at in their own right but also convey a great deal of meaning.
Let’s look at how she has done this in her Self Portrait 1937-38. She often depicts her alter ego as a wild horse, which we can see galloping out the window in the distance. This wild side is also represented at the hyena in the room facing her sitting on the chair. Some say the hyena is representing the darker side of humanity, greed and cruelty, but this version shown a tame animal and the teats are enlarged to perhaps suggest she is female.
The rocking horse on the wall could be said to be a symbol of the play she wrote called Pénélope, about a young girl who is in love with her rocking horse Tartarus. Linking these elements together it could be that Leonora was trying to depict versions of herself in different settings, with her wild soul outside and the domesticated version within the room. But her clothes mimic the scene outside with white jodhpurs and a green jacket.
Psychic mediums have been known to draw upon their own symbol library through which they communicate with the spirits of the dead. They use various methods to connect with these spirits, including meditation, divination tools like tarot cards or pendulums, and clairvoyance, which is the ability to see visions or receive messages from spirits.
In order to interpret the messages they receive, many mediums use a language of symbols that can be almost like a code. These symbols can take many forms, such as colors, numbers, animals, or objects. They are often highly personal and specific to the individual medium, and can be used to convey complex ideas and emotions that might be difficult to express in words.
One well-known medium who uses a language of symbols is John Edward. Edward is a television personality and author who claims to have the ability to communicate with the deceased. He uses a technique called "cold reading," in which he uses subtle cues from his clients to intuit information about their lives and the spirits they are seeking to contact.
Edward often receives messages in the form of symbols or metaphors that he must then interpret. For example, he might receive a message about a bird, which could represent freedom, flight, or spirituality. He must then use his intuition and experience to decipher the message and convey it to the client.
Now lets explore Archetype and mythology
Mythology is woven deep into the fabric of our culture, whether we consider it obvious or not, these ancient templates are retold in everything we encounter. Myth and fairytales both serve to teach us about our humanity and help us understand our own life’s journey within it’s framework. It gives us something to identify with during difficult moments and brings hope better times will return.
Let us begin by looking at the work of author Joseph Campbell, who popularised the concept of the hero's journey. Campbell argued that this journey is a universal narrative structure that appears in myths, legends, and religious stories across cultures and time periods. Through the hero's journey, we are able to confront and overcome challenges, gaining self-knowledge and personal growth along the way.
The hero's journey is found throughout popular culture, film, tv, music, anything that requires storytelling at it’s core. Its a narrative I explored in my life coaching training, the idea that the protagonist has extreme difficulties to overcome, (think of Hercules), is rejected by their own people. then returns home victorious often with a magical key to solve problems to help others.
These narratives are deeply embedded in our cultural language and are constantly being repeated and reinforced in our social programming. This begins at an early age with the narratives of fairytales and are mirrored in later retellings in adult life, such as Cinderella, The Emperor’s New clothes, or The Frog Prince, each having a moral lesson warning us of something.
Look at this modern retelling of Hieronymous Bosch’s ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ by Slack Studios. Warning us of the distractions of modern life.
We can see the use of archetypes and mythology in popular culture as well. In the television show "The Sopranos," for example, the character of Tony Soprano can be seen as a modern-day anti-hero, embodying the archetype of the flawed and conflicted protagonist. Through his struggles with family, crime, and mental illness, Tony embodies the struggles of the modern man and invites us to consider our own personal journeys of growth and self-discovery.
Fairytales that we are taught since birth are interwoven stories that act as a moral compass teaching us templates for our own life that we will act out again and again. If you look at fairytales as metaphors. Many describe the division of the head and the heart.
Lets look at the princess and the prince. The prince has a shield to cover his heart as he doesn’t need to feel, that’s the princess’s job, she doesn’t have a mind, so let’s put her in the castle as she doesn’t have the brains to think in the world. I’ll wear this shield as I don’t have the courage to feel in this world. This is a myth, and archetype.
We live in a world where we think emotions have no intelligence and intelligence has no emotions. We think that mind is power and heart is weak. We think that women have no intelligence and men have no feelings. This is an archetypal dynamic that still runs our society.
Many artists have taken traditional myths and woven them into their own work. Marina Abramovic, a tremendous performance artist with incredible bravery to show explicit and disturbing narratives that challenge our perceptions of the complex nature of the human condition and consciousness. She has often created experimental performance art that pushes the human body to extremes.
In her performance piece, "The Lovers," Abramovic and her partner Ulay walked towards each other from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China. Symbolising the spiritual importance of their relationship, Marina dreamt this performance piece and thought it was the perfect final farewell to mark the end of the relationship.
Ulay starting in the Gobi desert and marina in the Yellow sea, they both walk an arduous 2500 miles to reach each other in the middle for a final embrace before going their separate ways.
The piece was inspired by the myth of Baucis and Philemon, two lovers who were transformed into trees so they could be together forever. By using this myth as a metaphor for love and separation, Abramovic invites us to consider the nature of relationships and the human need for connection.
Ultimately, the importance of mythology, archetypes, and the subconscious in art lies in their ability to help us make, as Jung said the unconscious conscious. By exploring these themes, artists offer us a window into our own personal mythologies, allowing us to confront our fears, desires, and struggles. In this way, art can be a powerful tool for therapy and self-exploration, because we recognise and identify with others suffering and in seeing that being overcome, gives us hope.
This guides us on our own hero's journey towards personal growth and individuation.
These are just a few examples of symbolism and metaphor in their work. By using these devices, they are able to convey complex ideas and emotions that might be difficult to express in words alone. In this way, art becomes a powerful tool for exploring the depths of the human psyche and the mysteries of the universe.
