The Magical Symbol

"Everything, whatever happens, has three meanings. The first is it's practical meaning, what the book calls ‘the thing the plowman sees.’ The cow has taken a mouthful of grass, and it is real grass, and a real cow – that meaning is as important and true as either of the others. The second is the reflection of the world about it. Every object is in contact with all others, and thus the wise can learn of the others by observing the first. That may be called the soothsayer’s meaning, because it is the one such people use when they prophesy a fortunate meeting from the tracks of serpents or confirm the outcome of a love affair by putting the elector of one suit atop the patroness of another."

"And the third meaning?" Dorcas asked.

"The third is the transubstantial meaning. Since all objects have their ultimate origin in the Pancreator, and all were set in motion by him, so must all express his will – which is the higher reality."

-Gene Wolf, The Shadow of the Torturer

To begin with, a symbol is something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. The word "symbol" is derived from the Greek ‘sumbolon’, which was a token used for identification by comparison with a counterpart. In essence, a symbol is something that is given an identity by being related or connected to another thing. In scientific thought and common usage, the term "symbol" is usually used to denote an abstract sign.

In many schools of religious or mystical thought and practice, symbols are considered a sensuous representation of a transcendent reality. The phenomenon of nature itself is perceived as a symbolic writing that reveals the laws governing both the physical and spiritual aspects of the universe.

In a sense, all symbols are magical. Symbols can communicate information through space and time, and in doing so, can influence great amounts of energy. As William Gray puts it, "symbols are coins for the exchange of consciousness." Much of our civilization is founded on this magic.

The symbols of scientific and logical usage are extensive, while those of myth and religion are intensive. In other words, the mundane symbol is specific and narrow, while the mystical or artistic symbol is broad and contains many layers.

The mystical symbol penetrates reality, containing something of the character of that which is symbolized, linking the two by some similarity of pattern. This type of symbol participates in the reality it indicates. In this way, it mirrors a living thing that comes into being, undergoes metamorphosis, and sometimes dies.

The magical symbol also possesses the living quality, the many layers and breadth of the mystical and religious symbol. The chief difference between the mystical and the magical symbol is that the magical symbol has layers of correspondences that are ordered in a deliberate, even scientific fashion. Typically, each symbol in a magical alphabet or "symbol system" might be associated with:

• A sign, image, or pictograph
• A conceptual principle
• A phoneme (sound) or letter
• A number, or magnitude
• A color
• A geometric form
• A species of animal
• A species of plant
• A part of the body or one of the senses
• A part of the mind or personality
• A natural force or phenomenon
• A male and/or female personification
• A physical substance (such as a gem or metal)
• A gesture or body posture
• An activity
• An odor
• An object or tool
• A time of day, day, month, etc.
• A place
• Equivalent symbols from other "systems"

Each correspondence is like a band in a spectrum or a note in an octave. The different attributions of magical symbols can be considered as expressions of the spirit of those symbols in different states of being (or at different rates of vibration). Through the symbolic, the universe is no longer isolated; everything is linked by a system of correspondences that connects all orders of being.

Because of the analogical relationship between the elements within magical symbol systems, information is translated between different levels of consciousness. These "levels of consciousness" can be viewed as divisions of brain anatomy. The association of graphic symbols, phonemes, and sensory manifestations (visual images, sounds, smells, and so on) creates an "interface" that facilitates dialogue between the verbal, linear left brain and the visual, spatial right brain.

Magical symbols also function on a deeper level. When these symbols are associated with animal images and natural environments, they could be said to correspond to specific stages of our development. This imagery constitutes an analogical language representing levels of somatic information derived from our evolutionary experience. This brings the animal-headed gods of the Egyptians, the shaman’s animal totems, and the bizarre hybrids of mythology into the realm of modern brain research.

The human brain is anatomically divided into hindbrain, midbrain, and cerebral cortex. Each of these parts controls functions that develop during successive phases of our evolution. The hindbrain (stem, pons, medulla, and cerebellum) control the autonomic and automatic nervous system and is associated with territorial and survival functions. This part of the brain comes to us essentially unchanged from the reptiles. The midbrain (or limbic system) contains the cranial endocrine glands governing sexual development, sleep, dreams, pleasure and pain, emotion, anxiety, and primitive visual retention. These features emerged in the early Mammalian stage of development. The cerebral cortex, controls reason, analysis, logic, calculation, language, and voluntary action, was the last to develop.

Each of these three "brains" possesses it’s own subjectivity, it’s own form of intelligence, it’s own sense of time and space, it’s own memory, and it’s own motor functions. In this sense, the magical symbol is used to evoke particular qualities or states of awareness encoded during human evolution. The magical symbol accesses encoded information and allows the communication of that information between the two brain hemispheres and the three brain layers. This, then, is the magical dialogue, a method of communication between the inner and outer world. Achieving this dialogue, and establishing a lasting peace between the various brain components, is one of the primary goals of the magical process (and, perhaps, of human existence).

When the magical dialogue is an integrated part of daily life, magical symbolism may be applied to all that one encounters so that everything in daily life becomes a "conversation" between the self and the world. In constructing a ritual, the magician attempts to make all elements harmonious, so that everything in the range of the senses has a symbolic connection with the idea behind the ritual. For example, if a traditional Western magician wished to work with "elemental Fire," the ritual might involve physical fire, a rod (or wand), the color red, a rapid breathing pattern, active movements (perhaps dance), exciting music, the smell of burning frankincense or tobacco, and so on.