Symbolica

All the different symbols of the center: combine to suggest a mythical point where the center of the Cosmos and the center of Man’s life is one and the same.

Tom Chetwynd, Dictionary of Symbols

To remain centered in today’s chaotic world is quite a worthwhile achievement. If you are centred you are still, calm, focussed and aware, no matter what is going on around you.

Many people successfully use meditation in combination with symbols to connect to their center.

One symbol that is great to use to access your center is the Tree. The Tree of Life is an ancient and universal symbol and is synonymous with the world axis.

The Tree unifies the ‘three worlds of the cosmos’ – The Underworld, through its roots burrowing deep into the soil; The Mundane/Earthly world, represented by its trunk and lower branches; and the Heavens, with its upper branches reaching up into the sky. These three world aspects in turn are a perfect model for the human psyche. The subconscious mind, the place for all our thoughts and stored memories, (the Underworld); the conscious self, that surface part of ourselves that is most visible in the world (the mundane/Earthly); and the Higher Consciousness, the wise, all-knowing self that connects us to the rest of the universe, (the Heavenly aspect)

You may be feeling fragmented within or perhaps unbalanced (focussed on one aspect of your life and neglectful of other aspects) This is a good time to reconnect with your center by practicing a guided meditation with the Tree as a focal point.

In my travels, whilst looking for a good quote or poem dedicated to trees, I found this site which is a database or portal dedicated to the Lore, Myths, Magick, Facts, Folklore, Legends, Esoterica & Superstitions regarding trees. In helpful place, especially if you are trying to find out particular information about specific types of trees.

The poem quoted below by American poet Robert Frost, is from this site dedicated to the poetry of famous poets. Another great resource for me! I love discovering new poems to add to these posts.

Tree At My Window by Robert Frost

Tree at my window, window tree,
My sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.
Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,
And thing next most diffuse to cloud,
Not all your light tongues talking aloud
Could be profound.
But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.
That day she put our heads together,
Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather.

Other symbols used to represent centredness are:

Maze- The journey to the centre

Onion- peeling away the layers to reveal the centre

Spinal column- In body symbolism the center is the Spinal column, with its centers of consciousness, the chakras

navel- contemplative centre

The hub of a wheel- The fixed in contrast with the volatile

Below are some symbols for feeling connected:

TREE-connection between heaven [sky] , earth and underworld. A common symbol to work with if you wish to explore or honour different aspects of your nature.

RAINBOW – the meeting of Heaven and Earth. The bridge or boundary between this world and paradise.

The rainbow is the perfect celestial bridge to walk upon in order to connect to the sky (the Heavens), the energy of the sun or the greater universe. Don’t forget it may even connect you to a pot of gold!

STAIRS, LADDER- Stairs and ladders are also often symbols for connecting to the sky (stairway to Heaven)- connecting us to a more masculine, directive, “getting things done” kind of energy.

Stairs and ladders can also take us down into the underworld/Mother earth connecting us to the feminine, healing, restorative and nurturing kind of energy.

BRIDGE, ROAD, PATH- connection between places or worlds. A tool or means for moving forward.

COLUMN/PILLAR (archictectual) -though usually meaning stability can be used to help us connect to our centre.

SMELL-connecting us to our past. Reminding us of a particular event through our senses.

SPIDER’S WEB & WEAVING- Invoke the web when you need to connect with your community. Feeling that we are all connected via a giant web can be reassuring, allowing us to branch out and ‘do our own thing’ whilst still feeling the presence of others.
A weaving can also be a symbol of the rich fabric of the individual strands of our lives or personalities woven together to create a whole.

HOLDING HANDS, EMBRACE, JEWELLERY CLASP & LINK- physical connection and support.

AURAS- resonance, spiritual connection.

RIVER- flowing from the mountain (the interior) to the sea (the exterior) the river can be a symbol for bringing internal the thoughts and feelings of the subconscious into the conscious mind.

DOORWAY/ GATEWAY/ HOLE- The point of connection between one state and another. From the known to the unknown, from light to dark. Invitation into the world beyond. An excellent image to use when requiring a shift out of the ordinary waking state for healing work, for instance hypnosis and trance states.

FOSSIL, AMBER-Connection to nature’s past.

ROPE- The connection between planes of existence.

TELEPHONE, COMPUTER, WORLD WIDE WEB- modern forms of connection with friends and the wider community.

The images for this post all came from a wonderful site called FlickrCC, a site which searches the Flickr site for free, creative commons licensed images, which is great for people like me who are always looking for images to brighten up their posts. I don’t have the time to search and check all the licenses and ask for permission for every picture. I am eternally grateful to Peter Shanks- author of FlickrCC, and all those people out there like him who are not only clever enough to create the software to fulfill a need but then go on to share it with the rest of us!

I hope I have fulfilled the CC attribution requirements properly- If you hover your mouse over the pic you should get the relevant attribution details. Alternatively you can cntrl click(Mac) and scroll down to Properties for all the info.