SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE — THE POWER OF SYMBOLOGY

My study of Dr. Carl Jung began in 1977. It was then that I first encountered what I call the “Spiritual Language”. It communicates through the use of symbols, especially as found in dreams.

What is a symbol? Generally speaking, and in common terms, a symbol is something that stands for or represents something other than the literal image or form it presents. A symbol is most often an image of a material thing standing for an abstract reality.

Symbols are usually presented in visual form, but can also be presented in words, in story form. A parable is a spoken symbol, a story that carries a truth beyond the literal words of the story. Myths are metaphorical symbols telling in parable form deep psychological truths.

Most important symbols in my life have come in story form, an event that cannot be pictured, and can only be described in words, thoughts, presumed meanings.

The level of emotion carried in the story is a reliable indicator of the presence of symbolic truth seeking to be grasped. The more the emotion, the greater the truth the symbol carries.

The one who experiences the “feeling”, the emotion generated by an event, is the one who must search out the symbolic meaning. This approach toward seeking meaning is the same as in the interpretation of dreams, and interpreting synchronistic occurrences.

Once we become familiar with symbolic language, we find it everyday in our waking lives. We come to realize…