Definition Shared understandings about the meaning of certain words attributes or objects Characteristics Displacement Our ability to understand that a certain symbol means a certain thing ID: 482876
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Slide1
Symbols
Definition
Shared understandings about the meaning of certain words, attributes, or objects.
Characteristics
Displacement
Our ability to understand that a certain symbol means a certain thing.
Arbitrary
A symbol has no direct connection with the thing it refers to. Meaning is a construction of the human mind.
Openness
Our ability to create and use symbols as we see fit.Slide2
Circle with dot
Egypt:
The Sun,
RaGreek philosophy of the MonadThe First, the seed, the essence, the builder the foundation. All is one, there are no fundamental divisions. A unified set of laws govern nature.Contrast to dualism, i.e. yin yang: 2 underlying, opposing powers incorporating and governing reality.PythagoreansFrom the Monad came the Dyad (2-powers); from it numbers; from numbers, points; then lines (2 dimensional entities), then 3 dimensional entities, celestial bodies (stars/planets), culminating in the four elements of earth, air, water and fire from which the rest of the world is built. Flatland (1884) Edwin Abbott AbbottSlide3
Hexagram
Earliest examples: 800-600 B.C.E.
Antiquity: symbol for
Jewish Kingdom.Star/shield of David. Symbol for Jewish faith.Alchemy symbol in middle ages representing the combination of fire and waterAlchemy: A practical science concerned with the art of transforming elements and compounds, and a religious-philiosophical system resting on the idea of the existence of a substance called the philosopher’s stone which could change base elements into more precious substances (i.e. gold).Other alchemy symbols: OuroborosRepresents same thing as Indian yoga (unity), Chinese yin-yang,
Christian ascendance to God, Buddhist Nirvanna, etc.Slide4
Pentacle
A type of Pentagram (5-sided figure)
Probably discovered as a result of astronomical research in ancient Mesopotamia (~4,000 BCE): It is the structure that results if one plots the movement of Venus as seen from earth in the Zodiac.
The goddess Venus (Ishtar) from the ancient Mesopotamians appeared both as the Morning (battle/hunting) and Evening (beauty/fertility) starPythagorean mysticismNumbers/values constitute the true nature of things. Can know God through mathematics.Symbolizes the human being and mathematical perfection.Christianity5 wounds of Christ, 5 sensesIslamUsed in the Morning Star and Crescent to denote the Islamic faith.5 points of star represent 5 pillars of Islam (the profession of faith, the prayer, giving a portion of one’s income to the poor, fasting during Ramadan and the pilgrimage to MeccaJudaism
Official seal of the city of Jerusalem during 300-150 BCE.Satanism
Inverted star, symbolizing the rejection of Christian Holy Trinity.
Wiccan/Neopagan
Symbol of Wiccan faith. Represents 4 elements and the Spirit.Slide5
Sacred Art
Formed from a myriad of religious symbols.
Ex: Cathedral
Not art for art’s sake (i.e. not based on creative urges of the artist). Rather art as a collection of symbols meant to convey a specific religious message.Ex:Byzantine and Egyptian religious artDoes not mean that these artists were incapable of drawing a more fluid/natural body. Needed this structure to convey the correct meaning. Art in this case is a symbol. To change the style of the symbol would be to change the meaning.Slide6
Sacred art and sacred space
The Sarcophagus of Lord Pakal (book)
The symbols combined create a passageway through which Pakal passes to reach the Underworld and then be resurrected as a God.
Psychoduct: A passageway for Pakal’s spirit to pass from his Tomb to the Temple during rituals. Made of brick and running along the stairwayEgyptian spacetimeWith its orientation to the heavens, sacred space in Egyptian architecture represents a dimension where heavenly time reigns (a sort of space time mix). To build a sacred space was to establish not only a spatial but also a temporal link with the heavens; it was a realization of eternity. In the Old Kingdom all the construction work done by the state concentrated on the pyramid as the epitome of sacred space: a structure built for the king to touch and enter into eternity.The Tomb of Knum-Hotep (Beni-Hassan, Egypt)An elaborate example of a Psychoduct…Slide7
The Tomb of Knum-Hotep (Beni-Hassan, Egypt)
Entrance and Offering Chamber
Tomb Entrance
Offering ChamberFalse Door located on side of Offering Camber
Beginning of the
Psychoduct