What are astrological symbols?
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whirlbee- Moderator
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Location : Bretagne, France -
whirlbee- Moderator
- Posts : 13
Join date : 2016-01-05
Location : Bretagne, France -
Re: What are astrological symbols?
by whirlbee Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:44 pm
the transcript:
What are astrological symbols? What do astrologers mean when they talk about "planets"? The actual planets out there, in space? Or are astrological "planets" something else entirely? We must start with the difference between sign and symbol.
A sign refers to something specific, its meaning is limited. Think about road signs, emoticons, etc. One image, letter or word corresponds to one thing or a specific list of things. You see a number and the "€" sign next to something in a shop, and you know that it shows the price in euros. It is a simple equation.
A symbol functions in an entirely different way. It comes from the Greek "symbolon" (to throw together).
Working with symbols is like assembling a bouquet. Imagine that someone gives you a bunch of flowers and they ask you to make it bigger while following their approach. The first thing you would have to do is find out what their approach is - what is the concept behind this bouquet? What kind of flowers are used, how much greenery, how are they organised, what is the shape you should keep? What's the occasion it's meant for? And so on.
What complicates things is that the same image can serve both as a sign and a symbol. The difference lies in the approach of the person interpreting them.
Astrology uses symbols, not signs. Confusingly, even "astrological signs" are actually symbols.
When we approach ♏ as a sign, it means that "Scorpio" simply equals a list of things, such as death, rejection, transformation, etc.
When we approach ♏ as a symbol, we refer to a certain perspective or process that can manifest in a million ways - and they are all rooted in whatever is symbolised by "Scorpio".
When someone says "Scorpios are jealous, revengeful and manipulative", for example, they use "Scorpio" as a sign. The meaning of Scorpio is jealousy, revenge and manipulation.
In that case, each and every person with a strong Scorpio emphasis in their chart would exhibit most of these qualities. And anyone who can prove that this theory doesn't correspond to reality (which is quite easy to do) will consider that astrology is nonsense.
But imagine that someone says:
"Scorpio is what you go through when you realise that your world is falling apart, or when your loved ones leave you, or when you go to bed without knowing whether you will ever wake up again, etc."
Here, "Scorpio" is used as a symbol. We have no idea what an actual Scorpio person is like, how exactly they feel (are they sad? angry? compassionate? serene? or empty?), how they behave with others (do they cling to them? or cut them off?), and so on.
What we know is that they've gone through painful and intense experiences: the principle of Scorpio is powerful in their life. We cannot name the concrete issues they've had to face, we don't know how they coped and who they've become.
What are astrological symbols? What do astrologers mean when they talk about "planets"? The actual planets out there, in space? Or are astrological "planets" something else entirely? We must start with the difference between sign and symbol.
A sign refers to something specific, its meaning is limited. Think about road signs, emoticons, etc. One image, letter or word corresponds to one thing or a specific list of things. You see a number and the "€" sign next to something in a shop, and you know that it shows the price in euros. It is a simple equation.
A symbol functions in an entirely different way. It comes from the Greek "symbolon" (to throw together).
Working with symbols is like assembling a bouquet. Imagine that someone gives you a bunch of flowers and they ask you to make it bigger while following their approach. The first thing you would have to do is find out what their approach is - what is the concept behind this bouquet? What kind of flowers are used, how much greenery, how are they organised, what is the shape you should keep? What's the occasion it's meant for? And so on.
What complicates things is that the same image can serve both as a sign and a symbol. The difference lies in the approach of the person interpreting them.
Astrology uses symbols, not signs. Confusingly, even "astrological signs" are actually symbols.
When we approach ♏ as a sign, it means that "Scorpio" simply equals a list of things, such as death, rejection, transformation, etc.
When we approach ♏ as a symbol, we refer to a certain perspective or process that can manifest in a million ways - and they are all rooted in whatever is symbolised by "Scorpio".
When someone says "Scorpios are jealous, revengeful and manipulative", for example, they use "Scorpio" as a sign. The meaning of Scorpio is jealousy, revenge and manipulation.
In that case, each and every person with a strong Scorpio emphasis in their chart would exhibit most of these qualities. And anyone who can prove that this theory doesn't correspond to reality (which is quite easy to do) will consider that astrology is nonsense.
But imagine that someone says:
"Scorpio is what you go through when you realise that your world is falling apart, or when your loved ones leave you, or when you go to bed without knowing whether you will ever wake up again, etc."
Here, "Scorpio" is used as a symbol. We have no idea what an actual Scorpio person is like, how exactly they feel (are they sad? angry? compassionate? serene? or empty?), how they behave with others (do they cling to them? or cut them off?), and so on.
What we know is that they've gone through painful and intense experiences: the principle of Scorpio is powerful in their life. We cannot name the concrete issues they've had to face, we don't know how they coped and who they've become.
whirlbee- Moderator
- Posts : 13
Join date : 2016-01-05
Location : Bretagne, France -
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