Symbolica

You appear in perfection on the horizon of Heaven,
A living disk, the origin of Life!
From the moment that You rise in the eastern skies You fill all beauty with Your beauty;
You are abundance, You are great and shining, rising above the land.

The Great Hymn to Aton,

The Living Wisdom of Ancient Egypt
Christian Jacq

Invite some warmth into your life with the aid of the sun. If you are feeling depressed, melancholic, or dark- the light, warmth and vibrancy that the symbol of the sun invokes will be an extremely helpful tonic. Employ this symbol when kicking off a new project or idea or perhaps when a relationship requires a fresh approach (remember your last holiday in the sun?) It is especially helpful when action is required as the sun is usually associated with new growth, energy and vitality. The sun is nourishing and life supporting- without it most living things would not survive.

I was recently given the symbol of the Sun to use in my Symbol Therapy work (see previous two posts) and found it of immense value to cut through some of my oldest, saddest and darkest thoughts. For me, carrying the image of a particularly magical sunrise in my mind, and recalling the warmth of the sun shining through my window on a cold winters’ day, then breathing these elements through my body and mind daily, was just the trick to get some old stuff moving.

If you are creating magic through ritual, you may like to enhance your sun symbol with other symbols or elements which are connected in some way, either traditionally or personally- for instance you may wish to use the symbol of a LION (Sun rules the astrological sign of LEO) or these natural substances were believed by the ancient magicians to be ruled by the sun- amber, hyacinth, topaz & chrysolite.

In ancient Egypt the Menet bird was a swallow Martin or swift. It appeared to be a ‘day greeting bird’ which announced the dawn and the sun’s approach- Some species of the birds built their nests in holes in the cliffs bordering the Nile- they emerge at dawn and return at sunset. You could use a similar approach if you didn’t wish to be too literal with your depiction of the sun, or if you wish to add more meaning to your sun symbol ie: depicting a bird with a sun disk behind it.

There are a huge array of symbols that have been used to depict the sun, from the ancient planetary sign of the sun , to eagles, winged or plumed serpents, the dragon of China. There are some lovely old glyphs from many different cultures. Go to Symbols.com if you are interested in taking a look. It’s a wonderful site full of so many signs, glyphs and symbols.

The sun has been worshiped and revered as ‘The heart of the Universe’ and ‘Destroyer of darkness’.

In many cultures the sun is associated with masculine energy, the complimentary other to the feminine qualities of the moon – The Yang to the moon’s Yin. Though in the Japanese tradition, for instance, the sun is a lady and a snake divinity Amaterasu’ she who possesses the great sun’.

The Egyptian sun god, Ra or Re was considered the creator of the world. God of birth and rebirth because he was reborn with the birth of each new day.

There is no visible thing, in the world, more worthy to serve as a symbol of God than the sun,
which illuminates with visible life, first itself,
then all the celestial and mundane bodies.- DANTE

My husband bought me a beautiful amber pendant for my birthday and I love it. I have always had a secret desire to own and work with a piece of amber, but felt that the time and circumstance had to be right. It was an interesting adventure when we went out shopping to find the right piece. I nearly succumbed to bracelets of beads or earrings because I thought they looked nice as jewellery. The picture in my mind though was of a single piece, one that I could develop a relationship with and use as an ally in my symbol work. The jewellery I’d seen so far just didn’t speak to me in the right way. Then I spotted a large irregular oval pendant and it was love at first site (though I dithered about the price).

Amber is beautiful (personal taste I realise- but I’m certainly not alone in thinking so), light, warm and natural. Each piece is interesting in it’s flawed state, whether it has insect inclusions or not. If you rub your amber until it is quite warm you should detect the faint aroma of pine. This act is a powerful way to connect you to the ancient pine forest from whence the amber originated, rather like listening to the sound of the sea in a shell.

Amber is the resin from coniferous trees dating back from between 60 to 90 million years ago!

If you contemplate the length of time your amber has existed on this earth, and how that makes you feel, you may begin to connect with the overwhelming longevity and power of earth itself. (which is considered by geologists today to be about 4.54 billion years old)

When rubbed amber becomes charged with static electricity and our modern word ‘electricity’ comes from the Greek name for yellow amber ‘electron’. It symbolises the psychic line between individual and cosmic energy.

Therefore it is excellent to use as an aide for any psychic work and connecting to the spirit world. Amber is very popular with people who work in the field of witchcraft.

Over history, many different cultures have had a variety of uses and associations for amber. Here is a link to a Andzia’s Amber Jewellery- quick facts about amber page, which contains lots more interesting cross cultural tidbits regarding amber. The most popular uses appear to be as amulets for protection, preservation and youthfulness. It has been closely associated with the sun, in fact it has been considered to be made of ’solidified sunbeams’ . It has also been employed for all kinds of medicinal purposes.

One of my favourite tidbits, which comes from The Dictionary of Symbolism, regarding amber is that the Chinese word for amber (hu-po) means ‘Tiger’s soul’ as it was believed that tigers sank into the earth upon death and transformed into amber.

Richard Busch has written an informative page with some good tips for detecting fake amber (which appears to be quite prevalent.)

So what might be a relevant reason to employ amber today?

• Spiritual work/psychic work/meditation- an aide to connection between yourself and Spirit/the cosmos/or God.
• Connection to the Earth (particularly the past)- through sensory perception.
• Connection to the sun and it’s energetic qualities- new beginnings/sunrise, warmth.
• A need for preservation- perhaps there is something in our lives that needs preserving. It could be a physical thing or it could be a memory. A good example could be using amber in a wedding ceremony.
• Desire for youthfulness- perhaps here rather than fighting the forces of nature and resisting the ageing process, we could link back to the energy of the sun. We could look at our internal youth, focussing on qualities like- play, silliness, laughter, joy, innocence. It could be a good amulet to give a youth as an acknowledgement of approaching adulthood, accompanied by the encouragement of maintaining some of their youthful qualities.
• Protection- I like to think of this as an ally or support in times that we may feel vulnerable or afraid. We all experience these times and to have something or someone familiar to you on hand when you need them is of great importance. To work with an object that has been employed by many in the past for the same purpose will add to its power and effectiveness.
• If you are a lover of the tiger as I am then you could use you amber to evoke the power of all those tiger spirits out there. Goodness knows what you could achieve with a power like that- just keep it friendly!

Have you been stuck in a behavioural pattern for a long time that’s making you unhappy?

Do you find yourself blaming the people around you, your environment, your lack of money etc. for your misery?

You might find an ally in the symbol of the LOTUS flower. The lotus is also very connected to the feminine qualities of nature and the ancient Egyptians referred to the Lotus as being the one of the first life forms to emerge from the abyss, who they referred to as NUN

If you are ready for a change follow me on a little journey towards a new beginning.

Whilst you’re blindly wallowing around in the murky depths of your life, imagine reaching out for something that feels like a thick soft stem. Yes that’s it! It’s beginning to move, pulling you upwards. Now hold on tight with all your might. Soon is will be dawn. Up you will swim through the black mud, towards the light above the surface. You break free and gasp for breath. Stop! I know you are excited but don’t swim for shore just yet, take another breath, a longer, deeper one this time.

Observe that attached to the life line that you still cling to is a ball of soft petals. She is unfurling to reveal her true inner beauty. You expected her to be covered in shit but no, she is magnificent in her pure white naked self. She turns away from you and tenderly stretches up to greet her lover, the sun, basking in his warmth.

What do you feel? Is this jealousy ? Is it sorrow or fear? Bowing your head, you begin to sink back to your place of stinking comfort.

But wait! What is this? As you sink you catch a glimpse of yourself.

Your hand is not a hand, your body is not your body. You are made of the same fabric as the flower. You are one and the same, magnificent and yet devoid of ego. You are now aware that you will return to the depths again, as sure as the sun will set. But now that you have witnessed your true nature you feel more resilient against the influence of the mud below.

The beauty of the Lotus flower remains intact untouched by the often putrid waters from which it emerges.

Remaining whole and centred despite the condition of our environment.

Life goes on….

The Egyptian white Lotus flower rises above the surface of the water each day at dawn to greet the sun, it returns to the murky depths below the surface at dusk.

Moving gracefully through the cycles of life- Birth, death & rebirth.

These are the qualities I think of when asked about the symbol of the Lotus.