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SYMBOLS   Bridging the Conscious and Unconscious

In The Red Book Jung (2009) said that “One can certainly gain outer freedom through powerful actions, but one creates inner freedom only through the symbol” (p.), and he used symbols and symbolic imagery throughout this creative work, referring to this symbolic art as “visionary art” (Jung, 1933, p. 155). The two primary symbols of The Red Book and this website are the serpent and the tree, symbols that bridge between the tension of opposites that Jung labeled the transcendent function, reconciling opposites of above and below. Bridging the thesis and antithesis of the conscious and unconscious, ego and self, symbols are a third thing that synthesizes or transcends the other two.

Jung (2009) explained: “I found the serpent as the third principle. It is a stranger to both principles although it is associated with both. The serpent taught me the unconditional difference in essence between the two principles in me . . . The serpent is the earthly essence of man of which he is not conscious. Its character changes according to peoples and lands, since it is the mystery that flows to him from the nourishing earth-mother” (p. 180) Continuing his theme of nature, Jung also used a sprout, germ, and tree as symbols that performed the transcendent function. In The Red Book advised not to imitate Christ but grow as a tree, as Jung himself demonstrated, repeatedly becoming a tree: “I ate the earth and I drank the sun, and I became a greening tree that stands alone and grows” (p. 262).

Serving the Anima Mundi

Archetypal Astrology

Aligning Heaven and Earth

Be the Soul's Symbol

Expressing the Soul

Soul Quality

Embodying the Soul

Embodied Ritual 

Art

 “You see, man is in need of a symbolic life--badly in need." C. G. Jung

              

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The Nature of Symbols

Symbol of Wholeness

Self

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Symbols of Soma

Symbols as Mirrors of the Soul

Create a Symbol

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Our Symbolic Nature

Symbolism in Art History

Implication

"Where do we live symbolically? Nowhere except where we participate in ritual life." C. G. Jung
Symbolism in Art

A Jungian Perspective

Symbolism in Your Life

Jung and Modern ART

Symbolism in Nature

Animism

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Watercolor Paints
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"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes." C JUNG 
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