Mythology is a group of stories and ideas from which symbols spring. Myth essentially gives birth to symbols that we eventually come to accept as universal. Archetypes can be seen as "living symbols" that have their basis in myth yet grow, adapt and change through free will. Eventually symbols and archetypes are accepted by the masses in general and become universal.
Symbols that become universal are pictures, words, shapes, or attitudes that you recognize at first glance and cannot remember a time when you didn't have an understanding of their meaning.
Take, for instance, a popular florist and their mascot. On this Florist's advertisements and letterheads, there is a picture of a man with winged feet. In myth this is to show Mercury (Hermes). Through mythology we know that Mercury was a messenger, and that he moved very quickly. Upon looking at this picture of Mercury, we know that the florist using this symbol is trying to portray being a fast and exceptional service that delivers your flowers and sends messages with them. Just by looking at that symbol, even with no prior knowledge of Mercury or mythology in general, our brain processes all that information immediately. It is a Universal Symbol. It would be very hard to find someone in the western world (or most anywhere for that matter) who could look at that picture and not be able to understand that the symbol portrays a swift individual.
There are many other forms of symbolism that you come in contact with each day that you do not have to think about it to understand. A symbol can wrap up in one glance what would otherwise take many words. And while these symbols are prevalent in today's society, many are based in some type of mythology.
Archetypal symbols are almost always considered to be personality or issue traits that come almost directly from mythology. Someone may have a very "saturnian" or "capricious" personality. These adjectives come directly from mythology. These are archetypes we use and understand in "real life", which reflect the symbolism and how it corresponds with our lives.
This column is going to look at different types of symbols, both mundane and esoteric, what they are, how they apply to life, and why they seem to inhabit the consciousness of society as a general rule. I hope you will continue to visit and read more on this journey.
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