Symbols are found everywhere, and in everything. Even Nature and the sciences, like Mathematics and Astronomy; will show you some familiar symbols from time to time. In Jungian psychology, commonly used symbols (that is to say, symbols that mean the same thing or similar, and are found in multiple places) are called 'Archetypes'. Here along with a few symbolic references and tables, is some text from his book;
REFERENCE: "The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious" AUTHOR: Carl Jung
ON THE CONCEPT OF THE ARCHETYPE
"In former times, despite some dissenting opinion and the influence of Aristotle, it was not too difficult to understand Plato's conception of the Idea as supraordinate and pre-existent to all phenomena, "Archetype," far from being a modern term, was already in use before the time of St. Augustine, and was synonymous with "Idea" in the Platonic usage. When the , which probably dates from the third century, describes God as the 'archetypal light' it expresses the idea that he is the prototype of all light; that is to say, pre-existent and supraordinate to the phenomenon 'light'. Were I a philosopher , I should continue in this Platonic strain and say, pre-existent and supraordinate to all phenomena in which the "maternal", in the broadest sense of the word; is manifest."
CONCERNING THE ARCHETYPES AND THE ANIMA CONCEPT
"The archetype behind a religious idea has, like every instinct, its specific energy, which it does not lose even if the conscious mind ignores it....Anyone who succeeds in putting off the mantle of faith can do so only because another lies close to hand. No one can escape the prejudice of being human."
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"The 'Collective Representations' have a dominating power, so it is not surprising that they are repressed with the most intense resistance. When repressed, they do not hide behind any trifling thing but behind ideas and figures that have already become problematical reasons, and intensify and complicate their dubious nature..." Here Jung was referring to specific symbols, those of which we spoke; which represent many things to many individuals across time and space, making them in fact; symbols that speak not only to the individual mind; but to many minds, or what Jung referred to as the Collective Mind.
LANGUAGE and SYMBOLS
~ REF: Wikipedia topic ID: Symbols
All languages are made up of symbols. In his work, On Interpretation, Aristotle teaches that "Spoken words are the symbols of mental experience, and written words are the symbols of spoken words." The word "cat", for example, whether spoken or written, is not a literal cat but a sequence of symbols that associates the word with a concept. Hence, the written or spoken word "cat" represents a particular concept form in the mind. The study or interpretation of symbols is known as symbology, and the study of signs is known as "semiotics".
(pictured, the Elder Futhark order of the Runic Alphabet from ancient Nordic origins.)
Normally, people think of symbols as special kinds of shapes that represent something, but a symbol can be anything to anyone. Even words are symbols, and in fact, the Chinese have a very symbolic approach to writing the characters and words in their language. Even the direction from whence the stroke of their brush began has meaning. They have an elaborate system of patterns to drawing each character in the Chinese alphabet which also has meaning.
In aboriginal or indigenous cultures, animals are often very symbolic. Native Americans use animal totems to symbolize many important aspects of their beliefs and culture. This is also true in Celtic, Japanese, Indi, African and many other cultures.
Symbols are still important and often used in modern society. For example, we've all seen the symbol of a staff with snakes wrapped about it in a symmetrical fashion; symbolizing medicine, or the medical practice. Also, in the United States we use a five-pointed star with a circle around it to symbolize a governmental or law enforcement agency of some kind. This is an ancient symbol to man, called a pentacle, often associated with the element of earth in shamanistic cultures.
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