This
post will probably be the first of many on this topic, and best serves as an
introduction to my thought on the topic. Much of my thinking on symbols is
derived from the writings of Plato, Plotinus, Augustine and Rene Guenon.
A fascination of mine has always been with the symbols
that civilizations have long held in veneration. A Christian knows that the
cross is not only a reminder the death of Christ, but its shape has an inherent
power both over the spiritual and material realms. I would go as far as to say
that the power of traditional symbols are not due to our view of them, but that
it is inherent, and has its origin in the divine realm, or mind of God, which
this world is an imitation of.
An early example of this is found in the book of
Numbers in the episode in which the brazen serpent set up by Moses heals all
who were bitten by the fiery serpents. Words too have been used as symbols,
take for example the power believed to be inherent in the names of the gods in
Hinduism, or the great fear and reverence the Jews of the Old Testament treated
the name of God.
When viewed in a purely material context, the role of
the symbol becomes inverted. If a picture of trees only represents the physical
trees outside, then the symbol will only be
less of a reality compared to what it symbolises. If this is the case, then the
dismissive remark “it’s just a symbol” would be perfectly valid.
But when a symbol is viewed from more of a Platonic
angle it becomes a manifestation of higher reality, namely of the ideal forms.
In this view, the symbol is not only a lower representation of what it
signifies, but itself is a higher reality when compared to the material world.
What is communicated through symbols is also made present in a very real way, this
is because, as a language, symbolism transcends discursive reasoning, and it makes
itself known intuitively in a way that resembles the operation of purely intellectual
creatures. A symbol is best understood as a mediator between the world of sense
and the realm of ideas. This is why the symbols of antiquity often seem strange
and abstract to us: their aim is higher than most can gaze. The inability of
modern men to process and understand symbolism is only a symptom of the general
modern worldview, which is severely limiting in its scope.
Interestingly, to a thinker like Plotinus, the
material world itself can be viewed as a symbol: all things being a reflection
of the ideal forms. In fact, one of the main goals of practicing Platonic
philosophy is to train the eye to see in the changing material world the forms
that give them actuality. While matter has the lowest place in the chain of
being, it still is the result of the outpouring that has its origin in the
unspeakable One.
However, the idea of the material world as one big
symbol of its divine origin (whether the Holy Trinity, or the One) is not
altogether simple. Certainly then there needs to be a hierarchy of symbols, and
there are some things in this world which are probably not worthy of being
contemplated as symbols of the divine (even if they really are in a distant way).
But then again, even some of the more mundane things are actually very powerful
symbols, think of the cosmic egg, the wheel of samsara, or bodily organs like
the heart.
It is my opinion that a material symbol portrayed
through art has more power to communicate divine realties than does the thing
simply existing in the world. The veil of matter is not to be underestimated,
and I think that representation through art, even though it uses matter,
somehow breaks through this veil. And it is these symbols, which paradoxically
seem the most “manufactured,” which best represent the immaterial. Perhaps this
is because they are the most linked to man, who is himself a kind of mediator
between the material and divine.
