(no subject)

[chantico]

I was very, very depressed and cranky earlier, and then the universe took pity on me and gave me three things to cheer me up: A button that popped off my coat last night, found in the middle of S. Rogers street; a taxi cab driver who gave me a free ride 'because he felt bad about people walking around in he cold'; and frozen berries in my mom's fridge (*burbles*).

Cheers!

The real meaning for this post is that I need some help coming up with ideas for an art project I'm undertaking. I need physical, ritual componants for these metaphysical concepts-- like a sword for Air, a cup for Water, etc.: Healing, Ecstasy, and Destruction. I was contemplating Dust for destruction, but that's more like an aftermath thing than something that would represent the act of destruction itself.

Any suggestions?

Comments

[kniedzw.livejournal.com]

From J. E. Cirlot's A Dictionary of Symbols, 2nd ed.:

Destruction The traditional symbols of destruction are always ambivalent, whether we take the thirteenth mystery of the Tarot, the twelfth sign of the Zodiac (Pisces), the symbolism of water or fire, or of any form of sacrifice. Every ending is a beginning, just as every beginning contains an end; this is the essential idea of the symbols of mystic 'Inversion' which Schneider has subjected to such careful study. All this, then, should be borne in mind when we read such observations as the following by Rudolf Steiner (taken from La Philosophie de la Liberté): 'To transform being into an infinitely superior non-being, that is the aim of the creation of the world. The process of the universe is a perpetual combat . . . which will end only with the annihilation of all existence. The moral life of man, then, consists in taking part in universal destruction.' This 'destruction' -- like the alchemic process -- concerns only phenomena, or what is separate in space (the disjunct or the remote) and in time (the transitory). This is why Steiner entitled a collection of his poems Destruction or Love.

Hm... not quite as useful as I was hoping, particularly since he doesn't have entries for "ecstasy" or "healing." I guess we need a better dictionary of symbols. In the meanwhile, I recommend you pick up a book or two on symbology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbology), symbolism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolism), and semiotics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics) (all of which are different by the by).

That said, personal free association:

• Healing: the caduceus, the rod of Asclepius (much like the caduceus, but with a single serpent), the red cross and red crescent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross#Red_Cross), water, needle and thread, scalpel, a stethoscope, a white coat, and willow tree
• Ecstasy: sex (obviously), flesh, drugs (in their various forms), light (particularly from above, within religious contexts), and a particular facial expression (closed eyes, open mouth)
• Destruction: sword, scythe, bulldozer, wrecking ball, explosion, mushroom cloud, and the individual from Sandman

All that said, I don't really know how you're intending to use these symbols, or I'd try to give you more specific feedback.