sorry about that chocolatelover, didnt mean to bombard, but it is a heady subject... hopefully i'll be able to unscramble it now..

thanks for the questions, i'll start with those..

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Not sure I'm following the interest in symbols. Is if for their role in transcending and transforming that peaks your interest? Their channeling and communication capacity? How do you see archetypes play out in your own sense of spiritual, mental, physical, emotional wellness? Do they play a particular role as a conduet in your relationship with God?

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yes... i'm learning about symbolism.. i started drawing mandalas about 7 years ago.. i had no idea what they were in the beginning... i was using symbolism without any knowledge of their historical significance... for me, it was an expression that needed to be released some way...

i was using rudimentary symbolism, raw, untrained... now i have more knowledge and am able better to focus and direct the associated energies...

for me, mandalas are healing tools and the symbolism is a point of transfer between the inner and the ethereal...

symbolism in character form (archetypes) is less of my concern though it will be different for others... what i gain from the archetype is a patterened and tested behaviour blueprint... if i follow the steps of previous individuals i can learn by their experience what obstacle i might confront in my process and as well learn how the "typified" character managed to transcend...

i can also 'choose' my process, what area i want to work on, and the archetype for that area can be used as a guide.. not an icon or Godform, but a human life form who has travelled that particular path and told his/her story about that experience.. think of the children involved in a specific story from the Trickster.. we all have an impression in our mind of the typical child... i can learn from the child in the story, or, i can choose to learn about the trickster..

in either case, i empathize, sympathize with the character.. i collect his/her thoughts and feelings by means of mentally processing those ideas, and file the emotions and teachings away in my memories for future use...

its learning in an interactive, imaginative way... similar to how you'd described the process of cognitive and imaginative absorbtion in a previous post during our discussion...

in the beginning of my journey, the mandalas and symbolism were very helpful in connecting to the higher sources.. it opened a channel of communication to those elusive spiritual wellsprings... something simple, like a mathematic plus sign came to have a deeper meaning and I directed my focus to the idea of positivity.. it was similar to opening a window in a hot, stuffy house... it was the symbol acting like the open window, allowing the fresh air in.. the symbol was not the essence, but the corridor to that which i was seeking..

a sloppily drawn heart shape began to symbolize love for me... in my drawings i would often put the heart in one area, and geometrically, i would put its opposite in the opposite area on the drawing.. this symbolized for me the balance of emotion and included the entire range (shades of gray) between the two opposites..

i could focus my meditation on these thought energies and draw a strength in the knowledge that these two extremes are very real in our present world, that the esoteric meanings of those same opposites are forces alive and well ... shaping our current world..

i could "absorb" the energies of the symbolism, hold the energy in my presence, and when confronted with an issue, obstacle, or concern relative to this particular abstract, the pre-formulated well of knowledge was already present in my conscience... ready and available for dispatch to heal either myself, or a situation i found myself in..

i have used a variety of symbols in this way..

using the symbolism, the archetype, mandalas, and meditations i have learned to transcend .. it is from these tools i have developed a pathway to higher consciousness and an easier connection to the greatest of all sources (imo)... a name which has been given by others before me..... popularly known as ... 'God' ....