Three Archetypal Aspects

 

“A symbol, like everything else, shows a double aspect. We must distinguish, therefore between the ‘sense’ and the ‘meaning’ of the symbol. It seems to me perfectly clear that all the great and little symbolical systems of the past functioned simultaneously on three levels: the corporeal of waking consciousness, the spiritual of dream, and the ineffable of the absolutely unknowable. The term ‘meaning’ can refer only to the first two but these, today, are in the charge of science – which is the province as we have said, not of symbols but of signs. The ineffable, the absolutely unknowable, can be only sensed. It is the province of art which is not ‘expression’ merely, or even primarily, but a quest for, and formulation of, experience evoking, energy-waking images: yielding what Sir Herbert Read has aptly termed a ‘sensuous apprehension of being.”
— Joseph Campbell

 

We build new symbol systems on the roots of the old. The same archetypes show up again and again whether they be Emperor, Fool, Mother, Thunder, or Death. Each time they arise, new aspects of their universal selves are described and no one can encompass their full meaning. More than ever before we have access to the symbol systems of the past. We know that the messenger god Hermes was seen as Thoth in Egypt, Eschu in Santeria culture and Legba in Voudon. There is always a messenger between man and the gods who stands at the crossroads and tricks our minds into being able to receive the message. We can roll these similar archetypes into one yet still there will be something missed. It seems that archetypes like T. S. Elliot’s Cats have three names or aspects, The Face we give them, the face they give themselves and a universal ineffable face that is beyond understanding as a full facet of multiversal existence.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Towards a Deeper AwarenessTowards a Deeper Awareness by G A Rosenberg

 

PlexusPlexus by G A Rosenberg

 

Three Archetypal Aspects

 

“A symbol, like everything else, shows a double aspect. We must distinguish, therefore between the ‘sense’ and the ‘meaning’ of the symbol. It seems to me perfectly clear that all the great and little symbolical systems of the past functioned simultaneously on three levels: the corporeal of waking consciousness, the spiritual of dream, and the ineffable of the absolutely unknowable. The term ‘meaning’ can refer only to the first two but these, today, are in the charge of science – which is the province as we have said, not of symbols but of signs. The ineffable, the absolutely unknowable, can be only sensed. It is the province of art which is not ‘expression’ merely, or even primarily, but a quest for, and formulation of, experience evoking, energy-waking images: yielding what Sir Herbert Read has aptly termed a ‘sensuous apprehension of being.”
— Joseph Campbell

 

We build new symbol systems on the roots of the old. The same archetypes show up again and again whether they be Emperor, Fool, Mother, Thunder, or Death. Each time they arise, new aspects of their universal selves are described and no one can encompass their full meaning. More than ever before we have access to the symbol systems of the past. We know that the messenger god Hermes was seen as Thoth in Egypt, Eschu in Santeria culture and Legba in Voudon. There is always a messenger between man and the gods who stands at the crossroads and tricks our minds into being able to receive the message. We can roll these similar archetypes into one yet still there will be something missed. It seems that archetypes like T. S. Elliot’s Cats have three names or aspects, The Face we give them, the face they give themselves and a universal ineffable face that is beyond understanding as a full facet of multiversal existence.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Towards a Deeper AwarenessTowards a Deeper Awareness by G A Rosenberg

 

PlexusPlexus by G A Rosenberg

 

Internal Wanderers

 

“I earnestly confronted my devil and behaved with him as with a real person. This I learned in the Mysterium: to take seriously every unknown wanderer who personally inhabits the inner world, since they are real because they are effectual.”
— Carl Jung

 

Gods and Demons walk among me
wearing each other’s drag
often in the same being
They speak with heroes
and hold debates
each one illuminates my process in some way
Archetypal imaginings
more real in some ways
than those I meet
outside my head
As I get to know them
they teach me
elements of being
they then move on
to be replaced
by talking space dogs and the like
Parts of me not yet realized
New shadows yet to cast.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Chesspieces on a Strange BoardChess Pieces on a Strange Board by G A Rosenberg

 

In the FieldIn the Field by G A Rosenberg

 

Primal Invocations

 

“There were two forests for every one you entered. There was the one you walked in, the physical echo, and then there was the one that was connected to all the other forests, with no consideration of distance, or time.

The forest primeval, remembered through the collective memory of every tree in the same way that people remembered myth- through the collective subconscious that Jung mapped, the shared mythic resonance that lay buried in every human mind. Legend and myth, all tangled in an alphabet of trees remembered, not always with understanding, but with wonder. With awe.”
― Charles de Lint, Spiritwalk

 

The way that Charles de Lint describes forests is the way that I talk about archetypes including the god and goddess archetypes in myth and ritual. For every one there is the archetype that we relate to in our head, with our personal association and the way we see the force and then there is the primal figure and symbol, that which is both inherent in its being and the collective view of everyone who contemplates the archetype. Thus when we invoke Pan or Isis or Legba or pray to Jesus or Jehovah, we are first connecting to our personal image of that deity and through that we reach the central figure. The more awareness of who we are invoking and how they are seen that we have and the clearer our vision than the closer we get to the root of that being. This is as true of places as it is for god forces and symbols.
BLessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Goddess VeiledThe Goddess Veiled by G A Rosenberg

 

UvallUvall by G A Rosenberg

 

Embracing Our Completer Selves

 

“We live with our archetypes, but can we live in them?”
— Poul Anderson

 

Who are we? Who do we want to be? Are we the businessman / Emperor archetype who somewhat benevolently brings order to our underlings existence? Are we the rebel / Punk who wants everything torn down? Are we an artist or a Mother Nature expanding in self expression? Do we try so hard to live inside our chosen archetypes that we deny expression to other aspects of ourself that run counter to them? What parts of ourselves do we keep hidden in the shadows because they don’t fit our internal image of who we should be?
In my experience, the more we make ourselves into something that only partially represents, the more we deny our own identities. We can’t defeat our shadow by denying it, it will always win in the end. It is only by embracing everything that we are, giving it all full expression that we can fully self-actualize and truly know what our purpose in life may be.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

SerpentSerpent by G A Rosenberg

 

Celling out (Abstract)Celling Out by G A Rosenberg

 

The Serpent and the Sword (Botis)The Serpent and The Sword (Botis) by G A Rosenberg

Inner Population

 

“This I learned in the Mysterium: to take seriously every unknown wanderer who personally inhabits the inner world, since they are real because they are effectual.”
— C. G. Jung, The Red Book

 

In my mind live many beings. They populate my dreams and my imagination. Many have found their way into my art. When I am alone, I speak with them. Coyote tricks me into realizing how often I fight my own reflection. The Hanged Man tells me of reflection also and insight. The Creature in my Closet turns to mist to show me how insubstantial my fear is. Mother Cloud holds me to her breasts and calms my anxiety. Even the fox has his say for no one knows better than he how to escape tight spots.
The skeletal hand beckons and the Angel sings and then there is those tempting spirits. So many other make their appearance. Each one imparts their lessons, each one made necessary by the fact that they appear. The wisdom, comfort and occasional torment they offer all help me to become. While it appears to be a playful disassociation in reality it is anything but that. I realize that they are parts of me and that I contain them.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Lifting the VeilLifting the Veil by G A Rosenberg

 

Violet PeaceThe Heart of the Crystal by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – October 19 2011

“I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now”
–Bob Dylan

..and so I am. This past year I feel like I’ve de-aged, perhaps unlearned some things that might have helped me live one kind of life but not the kind I want to live now. I have been inspired, ignited and taught constantly, as much by myself as by others but so much from others and perhaps I’m finally gaining a sense of priorities. We’ll see where it leads..
A few goals for this next year:
1) I wish to delve into more how I relate to different archetypes. What does it mean to be a warrior? a teacher? a healer? How do I develop further, evoke those sides of myself.
2) Find more ways, preferably through my art and writings to bring more money in financially. Tho computer training is always good.
3) Meditate every day (for longer and longer periods of time)
4) Work on the difference between down time and wasting time.
5) More study time every day would be good also. Hmmm I may have to cut down on my FB time =)

                    –ga rosenberg

“and if i claim to be a wise man
it surely means that I don’t know”
-Kansas

Click on picture to see full-size

Shades of Infinity by G A Rosenberg

The Road to Shamballa

Have come across the idea in several works of fiction recently of rchetypal city whose shadowed reflections are known to us as every city everywhere. I bring this up because one aspect of fiction that I have enjoyed over the years is how meaningful concepts embedded in our collective consciousness express themselves as art sometimes without the author or artist realizing their origin..

It gets passed off as “There is nothing new under the sun. Just new ways to present it, but certain stories which ring true will always find new expression as belief and knowledge in them has given them an existence beyond memory, an existence which one could say, they fight to keep.

These living archetypes have left their mark on us. Each new self-help book or concept that involves classifying people into different types is an echo of similar methods of classification practiced by older cultures People according to their natures as revealed by oracle become devotees (either priests or priestesses or perhaps wards) of different god forces. In a very real sense, they embody that archetype not to the exclusion of others, we each contain the universe

Archetypal forces express themselves in our culture in various ways. In how we view the heavens, In how we name our days and months. Even in how we classify things such as diseases, foods and plants. Each generation of children are brought up with stories of young heroes who go on quests aided by wise men and fools, encountering strange beings along the way only to find themselves reaching adulthood and vanquishing the foes of their youth. The Story as I’ve said before endures.