1. What is a symbol?
Let's start this dissertation by asking ourselves a basic question: What is a Symbol ? Have you ever stopped to think about it?
When we turn to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, we obtain the following definition: "Sensitively perceptible representation of a reality, by virtue of features that are associated with it by a socially accepted convention."
If we translate it into understandable terms, we can deduce that the Symbol is simply an abstract means of communication that must have a common meaning for the sender and the receiver .
It is usually represented by geometric figures.
For example: the Circle is the sign of " Infinity ", because it is a geometric figure with infinite sides, and also of " Eternity ", because its circumference has no beginning or end.
Any communicative process uses Symbols, be they letters, numbers, icons, emblems etc.
In addition, the more abstract the Symbol is, the more powerful its meaning becomes, because it transcends any spatial, temporal or cultural limitation and acquires a universal character.
2. Symbology in the Ancient World
- Prehistory: the ability to understand symbols at an abstract level is one of the characteristics that distinguishes humans from primates. This is the fundamental basis of the anthropological notion of ' culture '. The first known manifestations of this exclusively human quality were the cave paintings of the Stone Age, some of them more than 30, 000 years old. The rock symbols belong to two categories : realistic representations of animals, and abstract, sometimes geometric shapes ( squares, spirals, and groups of points or lines ).
- The Hittite Empire : the Hittites founded an Empire that dominated all of Asia Minor, consolidating in 1600 BC with the conquest of Babylon . In the Hittite, ideogrammatic writing, a circle with vertical diagonal is often found. Some archaeologists interpret it as God, if it is with two lines, and as Man, if it is with only one line. The figure of the King stepping on a dragon represents his ability to control the forces of the planet.
- The Egyptians : The best known Egyptian symbol is that of " Life ", called ANKH or " Key of the Nile ", because the Nile River is who gives life to the land of Egypt. It contains the Circle and the Tau (letter T with the shape of a cross) and it is also called " Ansada Cross ", due to its oval head.
Ankh: Symbol of Life
Likewise, the TET, or known botanical and anatomical trunk, was known as how Osiris column (conical base topped by five rings meaning Force or Stability ) and the SHEN, the Eternal Life, which has no beginning or end, (has the shape of a knotted ring).
Far East : The Tao sta movement was fundamental in China. By TAO the Chinese understood the Cosmos, the harmony that reigns between Nature and Man by uniting them in a Whole . Its symbology represents the two aspects of the universe after the Big Bang . A white circle ( YANG ) how movement or chaos, a black circle ( YIN ) how stillness or order, a circle half white and half black how b The search for balance, and the famous symbol of YIN-YANG, how equilibrium in motion: the opposites that complement each other to form the All.
Chinese Symbol: Yin-Yang
For Confucius, CHUNG-YUNG, " The Axis that does not hesitate, " refers to the perfect man.
3. The Seal of the Theosophical Society
After having briefly reviewed the most important antecedents of the Symbology, we can deduce that the Seal of the Theosophical Society is composed of several symbols whose set gives the emblem its own meaning. Let's examine these Symbols separately:
- Ouroboros snake: " the snake that bites its tail ". It symbolizes the highest spiritual Wisdom, and here it alludes to the superior knowledge that is possible to obtain in this universe. In other areas it can refer to the eternal cycle of things.
- Interlaced Triangles: it is the symbol of Perfection and has received several names, such as " Star of David " or " Seal of Solomon ." It represents the union of two different polarities producing a certain manifestation. In all Nature there is a duality, and here the Perfection of the "Law of Duality" is reflected in both planes: the material and the spiritual . Energy and Matter entwined to produce the Rhythm .
- Ankh: represents the triumph of Life over Death . In this case it is a source of Resurrection and Immortality . Therefore, the figure of the Interlaced Triangles that contain the Ankh, symbolizes the triumphant Man and the Divinity within the Man.
- Swastika: it is the igneous, fiery cross, with the arms in flames turning clockwise, representing the energies that incessantly create and destroy the forms through which the evolutionary process takes place. The term comes from the ancient Sanskrit and means " Well-being ."
- OM: sacred word of Hinduism . It symbolizes the " Creator Word " or Logos, the " Ineffable Reality " that is the source of all existence. Its use opens a channel through which the cosmic energies flow and communicates the physical with the spiritual.
- Motto: written in Sanskrit in the original. It translates as: " There is no Religion higher than the Truth ."
In conclusion, the complete emblem supposes a complex evolutionary scheme that encompasses the totality of Psyche and Nature, combining a series of great spiritual principles that can lead us to the development of our Consciousness.
Please remember that the symbolic interpretation of this article in no case is intended to be exhaustive or categorical.
I only wish, like you, to get a little closer to the answers that the Universe puts within our reach.
MORE INFORMATION in the Manuals: " Hidden Symbology " by Rafael Canneti and " The Power of Symbols " by David Fontana.
