The Importance of Symbol
Alice Scarlet Death
Dreams are the way your subconscious files away meaning from your every day life. Like a computer, our brain works with a particular architecture and programming language.
When we dream, our brain is taking our every day experiences and turning them into symbols. It might not even make any sense, but it doesn’t have to. Your brain is just programmed to read the data in the form in currently presents and translate it into something simpler.
You see a logo for Burger King, and you are flooded with emotions and memories you’ve had at Burger King. You can’t help it, because your memories are operating at a level beyond your control (for now.)
In ceremonial magick, we use various symbols, sigils, and shout seemingly random Greek and Latin at the air. We are attempting to emulate the process your brain undergoes when it forms attachments to symbols like when you are asleep.
When I create a sigil from the phrase: “Give me pizza.” I take out all redundant letters, and combine the remaining letters into a meaningful picture. It often looks silly, but my subconscious remembers what the phrase meant even long after I’ve forgotten about it.
When I do a hexagram ritual for Mars. I’m not really channeling energy from the planet. When I draw the hexagrams, I’m literally just waving my hands in the air. I am creating a psychodrama for myself. I am convincing my brain that these symbols I’m creating are meaningful, and so they are.
What matters most is your intent. Not to imply that the application is unimportant, but if you can’t trick your brain into believing it’s working then it will never work. A symbol can just be a symbol, or a symbol can be turned into a powerful device that lets you travel to new worlds.
Symbolism is the language of the subconscious. If we are to control our conscious minds, we must tend to our subconscious minds as well. As above, so below. Symbols bridge the gap and are great tools for anyone wishing to embark on a magical journey.
It doesn’t have to be anything as artsy as a sigil or a dramatic ritual. Sometimes I just wear certain colors that correspond with various energies. I wear all black not because it’s edgy, but because it helps me invoke Saturn on a daily basis. Saturn is associated with spiritual energy among other things, and I find that it’s very important to have that in my life.
