Symbols & Their Meanings
Introduction
A while back, when I was reading the Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 5: Symbols of Transformation (AKA: the psychology of unconscious), I decided to make a note of every symbol that Dr. Jung discussed in his books in order to collect them all in one place. Consequently, I continued to do as I read more books by Dr. Jung and others related to symbolism. The current post reflects my progress towards the goal of collecting symbols discussed in various works of C. G. Jung as I read them at my own time and speed. The reader should note that this post will get updated as I read and learn more about symbols through the works of C. G. Jung and others in the area of symbolism.
According to Jung, “a symbol is an indefinite expression with many meanings, pointing to something not easily defined and therefore not fully known” (1, p. 123). He also states that “symbols are not signs of allegories of something known, they seek rather to express something that is little known or completely unknown” (1, p. 222). Hence, each symbol that is listed here can have various meanings associated with it. The reader may even find some of the meanings associated with the same symbol contradictory and paradoxical. It is mostly the reader who should decide on the appropriate meaning of a symbol according to the specific situation and context in which the symbol has occurred. When interpreted, symbols also serve “as bridges and pointers, [they] help to prevent the libido from getting stuck in the material corporeality of the mother” (1, p. 330). Here, I only list various meanings associated with each symbol that I found in different writings of C. G. Jung and other scholars.
The following table contains symbols, their associated meanings, and references that these symbols have been discussed or mentioned. The order in which symbols appear on this table generally follows their order of appearance in the “Symbols of Transformation” book, followed by my own encounter with them in other works. More symbols and their meanings, along with their references, will be added here, mostly in the order that I encounter and learn about them in various literature.
Symbols, Meanings, and References Table
As it turned out, I could not put the table that I had created in my word processing software on here directly due to Medium’s lack of native support for tables. I had to create the table as a web page on a different platform and put the link here. Please click on the following link, which will take you to a Google page to see the table.
References:
1- Jung, C. G. (Author), Adler, G. (Translator), Hull R.F.C (Translator) -Symbols of Transformation (Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol.5) — Princeton University Press; 2nd ed. edition (March 1, 2014) — Kindle Edition
2- C. G. Jung (Author), Sonu Shamdasani (Editor, Translator), John Peck (Translator), Mark Kyburz (Translator) — The Red Book: A Reader’s Edition (Philemon) — W. W. Norton & Company; Lea edition (December 17, 2012) — Kindle Edition
