The Sweet-n-Sacred Chocolate-and-Mint Spiral
November 1, 2007
Well, that’s what I saw upon arriving to work this morning ;) Yet another spiral — been getting that symbol a lot lately, including in a recent pic I created. No, the one I saw this morning was not a vision, heh, it was on the cover of Family Circle actually. One of my favorite mystical symbols, the star, was there too. Both were among a bunch of fancy and highly-sugary treats on display.
Upon finding the magazine here on my desk, I immediately zeroed in on the chocolatey spiral that one of the treats formed on a background of something minty-colored. It’s one of those rolls sliced — formed with different layers of stuff, rolled up and cut — and voila, a spiral. The star is a giant cookie, looks like a couple of layers of butter cookie, apricot jelly showing through the star opening in the center, white sugar-powder all around it. Okay, none of that was really relevant to my post, but it was fun describing it, lol
The Universe has such a “sweet” sense of humor ;) Again, this spiral symbol, I keep getting it lately — even last night was reading a blog that spoke of it… Been wondering what the Universe is trying to tell me with it. But with this one, with the fabulous star symbol and the “sweetness” of the whole presentation, it’s gotta be a very positive thing. Not that I doubted that :)
So I’ve been searching for various meanings of the spiral and finally came upon one that I strongly resonate with. I’ve posted a few excerpts here with the link to the article. It’s a great article, called “A Glimpse of the Spiral as a Symbol for the Transcendental Mystery of God” by Paula Vaughan. (Note, everything inside the two lines like this ====== are all excerpts from this one article.)
Dove
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Archetypal Symbols
Carl Jung, the founder of Depth Psychology, helped reconcile the unconscious and conscious halves of his patients’ psyches by studying symbols found through dream analysis and spontaneous artistic expression, thereby enabling people to heal. He proposed that symbols appear when there is a need to express what thought cannot think or what is only divined or felt (Storr, p. 249). Jung said that when we attempt to understand symbols, we are not only confronted with the symbol itself but we are brought up against the wholeness of the symbol-producing individual who is in touch with his unconscious (Jung, p. 92). He explained:
Symbols come from the forgotten depths if they are to express the deepest insights of consciousness and the loftiest intuitions of the spirit, thus amalgamating the uniqueness of the present-day consciousness with the age-old past of humanity (Storr, p. 243).
Jung discovered reoccurring symbols among differing peoples and cultures unaffected by the boundaries of time and space. He called these shared symbols archetypes which are irrepressible, unconscious, pre-existing forms that seem to be part of the inherited structure of the psyche and can manifest themselves spontaneously anywhere, at any time (Storr, 415). Joseph Campbell, world renowned scholar and mythologist, referred to these synchronous symbols as mythic images lying at the depth of the unconscious where man is no longer a distinct individual, but his mind widens out and merges into the mind of mankind, where we are all the same (Campbell, p. 186).
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God: A Definition of Terms
For the purpose of this essay, God defined is the unnamable, unknowable, ineffable force that breathes life into all living things. The nature of God is beyond personal or impersonal and exists in spite of definitions, religion, arguments and ownership. God is the pneuma, or breath, that gives unconditionally and exists regardless of recognition or understanding.
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A Glimpse of the Spiral as a Symbol for the Transcendental Mystery of God
The spiral is the most widely recognized and repeated archetype used to symbolize our inner and outer journey to God and the Self. Spirals symbolically represent a passage into the collective unconscious and then back into the world renewed with a greater psychological understanding of who we are and why we are here. This journey provides what Jung called the transcendental function of the psyche by which we achieve what should be our highest goal: the full realization of the potential of our individual Self (Jung, p. 149).
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Spirals Represent the Mythic Hero Quest
Many indigenous cultures use the spiral to show that there is a conscious energy force within all living things. The ancient Celts, for example, used the spiral as their symbol for reaching the soul and thereby, God. Their famous spiraling knotwork derives from their concept of a Great Cosmic Loom that represents the continuity of spirit that never has and never will notexist in some form (Davis, p. 106). The simple and two-dimensional Celtic spirals representing the continuous creation and dissolution of the world are some of the oldest symbols, appearing on Neolithic megaliths and cave entrances (Davis, p. 109). Likewise, during a patient’s dream analysis, Jung discovered a spiral motif relating to the Celtic Holy Grail. The Grail image symbolized the attainment of the neutral, balanced mindset of the middle path necessary for the fulfillment of the spiritual quest for the Self (Jung, p. 225).
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If we courageously, heroically choose to become aware of the spiralling spiritual and psychological awakening taking place in our lives at all times, then we will find ourselves face to face with Divinity. The author agrees with Campbell, Jung, Doczi and others who believe that one person’s effort can make a difference. While studying the spirals in this essay, I have been religiously and spiritually infused with awe, vitality and amazement at the connections between humans, animals and the entire natural world. I am still reeling from seeing the spiral pattern in the Milky Way and knowing the spiraling pathways in the brain contain the master plan code for the entire future development of living organisms (Doczi, p. 27).
Spirals in nature, the body, brain and soul reflect our kinship with God. Jung said the spiral shows there is nothing but God — man is God become concrete (Storr, pp.344-345). The spiral represents the cyclical ebb and flow of God’s energy that is always moving the collective mind, body and spirit of humanity toward balance and health. God’s existence is witnessed through spiral archetypes in art, dreams, symbols and the synchronous, collective unconscious that bridges the gaps of culture, time, space, and reality.
Source: http://onewomansmind.net/center/spirals.html
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Wonderful article. Much more, I highly recommend going to the site and reading it all.
Peace,
Dove
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