Episode 12 - Symbolism

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Episode Transcript

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Chapter twelve, Symbolism. Symbolism isone of the most important and at the
same time one of the least understoodsubjects in the whole realm of psychics and
spiritualism. A proper understanding of whatit means and the adequate interpretation of symbols
as presented to the psychic would proveof great value to every student and to

(00:25):
all those who are undertaking their ownpsychic development. What symbolism means. First
of all, it is necessary thatyou should understand exactly what symbolism means.
A symbol is a sign for somethingelse, which it expresses in a more
or less partial and incomplete manner.Usually, a symbol is a sign which

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appeals to one of the five senses, but denotes not a sensual thing,
but the thought lying behind it.Thus, the printed word on the page
is the symbol of the author's thoughtexpressed in that word. The poem is
the expression of the poet's mind andspirit as set forth in the words and
meter of the poem, etc.Thus, symbols are always only partial and

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incomplete, and represent what a smallfraction of the thing they stand for,
and we should always be in errorif we tried to reconstruct the whole of
the thing symbolized from what we perceiveby means of our senses. Before we
proceed to the subject of symbolism asstudied in psychics and the phenomena of spiritualism,
one other point should be explained.We never see an object in the

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physical world as it really is symbolizedobjects. We only perceive or realize through
our five senses various aspects or qualitiesof the object. Thus, if you
are looking at an orange, yoursense of sight gives you the impression of
a reddish yellow sphere rather irregular onits surface. Your sense of touch tells

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you that this thing is round,that it is somewhat rough and cool.
Your sense of smell supplies you withthe information that it has a pleasant odor,
unlike anything else, which is confirmedby your taste. In this particular
instance, the sense of hearing doesnot enter into the question, as it
would in many other instances. Now, all these things which appeal to our

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senses color, odor, texture,etc. Are qualities of the orange,
and not the orange itself. Theorange is always something different from all of
these above and beyond them, andis more inclusive than any of these qualities
and symbols. Thus, suppose youtook away one of those symbols, its

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color, the orange, would immediatelybecome invisible to you. Yet it would
continue to exist, though we couldnever know of its existence. This shows
us clearly that symbols are very inadequateand imperfect representations of a vaster sub thing
lying behind them, and they representonly a small fraction of the totality of

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the thing as it really exists.Symbolism of spirit as applied to the spirit
of man. We must begin byadmitting the rather startling fact that no man
has ever seen it. No manhas ever seen another. All he has
ever seen are the outward features,the form, the facial expressions of the

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other. And when our spirits holdcommunication with one another in this world,
they do so by written symbols,by motions of the hands or head,
or by means of air waves passingfrom the throat of one to the ear
of the other. All but expressionsor symbols, which are interpreted by us
according to a certain prearranged code.If we did not have this prearranged code,

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it would be impossible for two intelligentbeings to converse with one another,
as may readily be seen When aChinaman and an American meet for the first
time, neither of them speaking thelanguage of the other, they try as
best they can to make each otherunderstand what they are thinking about, what
thoughts are in their minds. Butthey succeed very imperfectly, or not at

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all. The symbols employed are tooinadequate to express their thoughts. Symbolism in
spirit communication. Now all these difficultieswe encounter when a spirit endeavors to communicate
with us through a medium or directly. It can express itself, as a

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rule, only vary imperfectly, aswill be explained in a later chapter,
and must resort largely to symbols toconvey its meaning. Hence, we should
be very mistaken if we were tointerpret this symbolism literally, or to assume
that it represented the whole of thesubject matter which the spirit desired to convey.
As I said in my book theProblems of psychical research, our dreams,

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as we know, are largely symbolic, the work of Freud and others
having proved this beyond all doubt,it is highly probable that the ravings of
delirium are also of this nature,though no one so far as I know,
has yet devoted to their study theattention they deserve. Certainly it is
true in mediumistic phenomena. For intrance conditions, a large number of the

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messages, tests, and visions seenare of this nature and character, the
symbolism being often so elaborate that theoriginal thought is not perceived. Why this
symbolism? The probable answer to thisquestion is that the message cannot be given
directly, and that this symbolic methodof presentation must be resorted to in order

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to get the message through at all. There is good evidence to show that
a pictorial method is resorted to verylargely by the spirits mediums seeing what they
describe. Very often, when themore direct auditory method is not resorted to,
the spirit presents somehow to the mindof the medium a picture which is

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described and often interpreted by the medium. Often this interpretation is quite erroneous,
resembling a defective analysis of a dream. Because of this, the message is
not recognized. Yet the source ofthe message may have been perfectly vertical truth
telling. Let me illustrate this morefully. Suppose you desire to tell a

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chinaman who speaks not a word ofEnglish, to fetch a certain object from
the next room, it would beuseless for you to say the word watch,
because he would not know what theword meant. Probably you would tap
your waistcoat pocket, pretend to takeout a watch, wind it, look
at the hands et, cetera,and your endeavor to convey to him your
meaning. If this were not recognizedfor any reason, you would have the

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utmost difficulty in conveying your meaning tohim, and equal difficulty in telling him
to fetch the watch from the nextroom. Now, supposing these antics,
or somewhat similar ones were resorted toby a spirit in his attempt to convey
the word watch, perhaps to remindthe sitter of a particular watch he used
to wear, the spirit might wellproceed as follows. He taps his stomach

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and looks at a spot over hisleft side. He seems to wish to
convey the impression that he has sufferedmuch from bowel trouble, perhaps a cancer
on the left side. Yes,he seems to be taking something away from
his body. Evidently they remove somegrowth, and he wishes to convey the
idea that something was taken from him. Now he is examining his hand.

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He is looking intently. Now heis doing something with his fingers. I
can't see what it is, Alittle movement? Was he connected with machinery
in life? Now he is pointingto the door, etc. The interpretation
of symbols, such an interpretation ofthe facts it will be observed while describing

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his actions, is wholly misleading.As to its interpretation, the symbolism has
been wholly misconstrued. And inasmuch asthe subject probably never died of cancer,
had no bowel trouble, underwent nooperation, and was never connected with machinery,
it is highly probable that the messagewould be put down wholly to the

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medium's subconscious imagination, or even toguessing or conscious fraud. Yet it will
be observed the message was, inits inception, wholly viritical, the fault
lying in the symbolism misinterpreted by themedium. There is evidence to show that
other forms of symbolism are adopted,also applying to the auditory as well as

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to the visual presentation of images.It is well known that names are very
difficult to obtain by mediums, andthis is probably due to the fact that
names are not pictures or visual symbolsand in themselves mean nothing. As a
rule, they are merely a combinationof letters having a certain sound. The

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forms of symbolism, it is generallyeasier for the spirit to impress a partially
developed psychic by means of a picturethan in any other way, and for
this reason names are difficult to get. Still, in many cases names are
obtained by a picture shown. Thusthe name Merrifield was in one case given

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to the psychic as a picture ofa number of children happily playing in a
green field. Among other forms ofsymbolism are the following. A large key
may be shown to the psychic.This may not mean a key at all,
but a symbol of success, thekey being the means by which the
door of prosperity is opened. Colorsare frequently shown, and nearly all colors

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are symbolic of something or other andhave their definite meaning. As we saw
in the last chapter, strange,weird, and horrible figures do not necessarily
mean anything bad or anything evil.They may be symbolic of something entirely different,
and this is frequently seen in dreams, which are composed almost entirely of
symbols. Throughout most psychics when theyare developing, see peculiar specs clouds and

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forms shaping themselves before them in space. They are naturally at a loss to
interpret and explain these images. Whilethere is much latitude of interpretation always in
symbolism, the following simple suggestions basedon traditional teachings may be found helpful.
Clouds and lights. Clouds, ifwhite, may be interpreted as signifying happiness

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and prosperity, either to the psychicor to one near and dear to them.
If these seem to recede rapidly andfade away in the distance, a
journey is often indicated. If theclouds appear to be advancing toward you,
it indicates that news will shortly reachyou. Good if the clouds are white,
bad if they are dark, Ifred and lurid, ill fortune is

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upon your horizon, for which youmust be on constant guard. Black clouds
symbolize troubles of the heart. Tinymoving speeds of light, if they truly
result from psychic development, are saidto introduce that you are progressing favorably in
your psychic sensitiveness. If these specsare dark, however, evil or harmful

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influences may be about you, forwhich you must be on a constant lookout.
A light within A light is saidto symbolize the presence of some spirit
desirous of communicating. Should such asign appear to you, try at once
to enter into communication with the spiritintelligence by asking questions, and note whether

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the light you see endeavors to replyto you by means of some simple code.
Reptiles and other unpleasants signs usually symbolizethe hidden fears of the psychic.
They are symbolized in this way externalizingthe subconscious fear thought of the subject.
Root out your hidden fear and apprehension, Assert your mastery and fearlessness, and

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the unpleasant sign will always disappear.The subconscious and symbols. The subconscious mind
has the faculty of describing in symbolicform thoughts, impressions, or influences which
come to it, either through thesenses or more directly by telepathic or clairvoyant

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visions, or messages which are saidto be given through it by the spirits.
The spirit may convey a certain messageto the subconscious mind of the psychic,
and the message may be externalized orpresented to the ordinary conscious mind in
symbolic form, representing apparently something entirelydifferent from the original message. It is

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in the interpretation of these symbols thatmuch of the true art of mediumship and
psychic development will be found to lie. The better the medium, the more
expert in the interpretation of these symbols. At present, no general rule can
be laid down as to the interpretationof the symbols employed, since these will

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differ very largely in every case,each medium having his own method of interpretation
and his own form of symbolism.You must learn for yourself by repeated experience,
what the various symbols mean to you, and thus form a code or
method of interpretation which you can alwaysfollow throughout your future development. A close

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study of symbolism will yield you veryimportant practical results, as well as being
of great interest in itself. Endof Chapter twelve.