Shared Transformation Issue 14
Understanding Symbols
You may recall an image of a black panther leaping across a galactic scene in the introductory issue of Shared
Transformation. Twenty years ago, when I drew this picture, I had no conscious idea what it symbolized. When I
selected it from the portfolio of my old artwork to illustrate the "Fire and Snakes" article, my logical
mind balked. What did a panther lunging through space have to do with snakes or fires? I rationalized that it
portrayed powerful and unpredictable forces of nature, which did pertain to the Kundalini energies... and besides,
I liked the drawing.
Two years later, I was amazed to come across this description of the "medicine" (i.e., the symbolic power) of the panther: "Leaping fearlessly into the Void of the Unknown." This was from the book The 13 Original Clan Mothers by Jamie Sams, and could have been used as a caption for my picture!
Several weeks later, my husband brought home a nature-symbol reference book called Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews. I was even more stunned to read his researched symbolism for the black panther, which can "reflect an awakening of the Kundalini!" Moreover, "the panther often signals a time of rebirth after a period of suffering and death on some level" and represents "a time of moving from mere poles of existence to new life without poles or barriers." Andrews goes on to say that "the panther is a symbol of awakening to the heroic quest," and "that no matter the depth of degradation -- whether self-inflicted or from outside forces -- there is always the promise of light and love to lead us back."
After reading all this, I realized I couldn't have picked a more apt illustration for the article! Although I had been innocent of what I was communicating to myself at the time I had drawn the picture, in retrospect, I realized it had been among the many encoded signs and messages I'd been receiving and inadvertently broadcasting throughout my life, spelling out my own destiny. Some part of me, or something channelling through me, had been dropping clues and hints that I was not able (or ready) to understand.
Some of these symbols I had understood perfectly without realizing it. In the March/April '93 (#2) issue of Shared Transformation, I chose to illustrate an article called "Following the River" with a picture of a turtle swimming in the crests of an ocean wave. Again, as with the panther illustration, my logical mind had told me this picture was not really of a river, and therefore not completely appropriate. One of the last lines I wrote for the article was "When I stop trying to push the river, whatever is meant to be comes easily, effortlessly." In late 1994, I bought the Medicine Cards created by Jamie Sams and David Carson. When I looked up the meaning of the turtle, I was once more elated to discover that one of the meanings of this animal, due to its slow, plodding pace, is a warning "of the dangers of pushing the river." As the awakening process intensifies, all sorts of archetypal and symbolic material comes up with it. Some of it we receive with an instantaneous "eureka!" of recognition -- we simply know what it means. Other things remain perplexing or barely noticed until we are led to discover their significance. As in the case with my panther drawing, understanding may not occur until many years later. However, I have found that often it can come more quickly if we earnestly seek for understanding. Once I began to realize that the animals appearing to me in visions and dreams had multilevel importance, I wanted very badly to interpret these messages. Soon -- sometimes within a matter of hours -- I would find the answers I was looking for.
The signs and symbols that are most significant are the ones that come to us unbidden. Yet for this reason, they are the ones we are most likely to ignore or reject. This is particularly true with some of the bizarre images and mystical episodes that occur to us during spiritual awakening. During the most eventful period of my Kundalini process, I had many strange experiences, but the only one I strongly fought against - - and managed to abort -- was when I spontaneously felt myself turning into a tiger. This sensation was so overpowering I seriously feared I would lose my human reasoning abilities and take on the feral instincts and actions of a tiger. What was most immediately alarming to me at the time was that this tiger-self might do harm to our pet birds or rabbit. My need to protect our pets gave me the willpower to fight off the possessing tiger spirit.
Later I learned that it is not uncommon for those with an awakening Kundalini to feel themselves overtaken by powerful astral animals like bears, wolves, lions... or tigers. But it was not until I was studying shamanism several years later that I more fully understood this phenomena, which is called "shape- shifting." Especially for those of us who have a shamanic calling, helping and guardian spirits often come to us in the guise of animals. This can be in meditation, in dreams, in a paranormal experience or through an ordinary world experience. I learned that far from being threatening (or proving me crazy), my tiger had been a wholly benevolent protector spirit. In Tibetan lore, the tiger is the guardian of the Gates of Knowledge, and in India, the tiger is sacred to Kali! Too late, I realized it had been a great mistake to have rejected this spirit ally. Such a powerful guardian protects one from all negative influences, including illness and injury. I still suspect I might never had suffered my severe back injury had I the wisdom to accept my tiger spirit when it first chose to reveal itself to me. (And the way in which it made this spontaneous appearance, by merging itself with me, was, I now know, a great honor.) This is an example of the gifts and opportunities which can be lost to us if we do not understand their symbolic meanings. It is important to recognize that a symbol may have an archetypal meaning beyond our personal associations to it. At the time the tiger manifested through me, I knew nothing of this shamanic phenomena and my limited personal knowledge of tigers told me that this was a dangerous predator -- and possibly a demonic intrusion from the astral plane. Because I did not know its archetypal and spiritual significance, I could not receive what was being offered to me. This demonstrates how our misinterpretation can make us afraid of things which are actually very positive. Also, our well-intentioned friends can scare or mislead us through the same limited understanding. A woman who dreamed of a bear was told that this was a bad omen, symbolizing ferocity and aggression. (This definition had come from a book of general symbology.) Yet to Native American tribes across the country, the bear spirit has long been recognized as the guardian of the most powerful healers. The woman who had this dream was also developing a healer's ability with her awakened Kundalini. In her dream, the bear had turned into a cloud, as if to let her know it was a spirit bear. The images that appear to us through visions, dreams, and daily life experiences are part of what anthropologist Angeles Arrien calls our "psychomythology." These visual or other strong impressions are "often our psyche's way of showing us what is important about our nature," and can provide us with guidance. "The psyche is relentless about using every possible symbol, feeling, sensation, or memory," says Arrien, "to let us know where we are in our journey -- physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually." (from The Four-Fold Way) Plants, stones and other natural elements have symbolic meanings, as do colors, numbers... and really, everything imaginable. People who become adept at reading symbolic meanings can achieve a level of awareness that matches or surpasses that of gifted psychics. Of course, the two are not mutually exclusive, and in fact, most psychics have an intuitive or acquired understanding of symbols.
Most people have become familiar with the Native American ritual of the Vision Quest -- in its traditional form, an arduous supplication for spiritual guidance and the discovery of one's life mission. But it is not necessary to embark on such a difficult quest to be given answers to daily issues. When I have a question regarding things that are happening in my life, I simply notice the first thing that catches my attention when I go outdoors. This method yields remarkable results for me. The sounds, sights, the particular activities of animals or people in the vicinity, or anything else that is particularly striking in our encounters with the world are symbolically speaking to us, and such messages become more frequent and decipherable when we begin to take them seriously.
Of course, it is as possible to misuse or misapply symbolic information as anything else.
I once knew an extremely self-obsessed man who would spy on his girlfriend, interpreting everything he saw her
do as relevant only to himself. He drove others crazy with his attempts to involve them in this compulsive and
paranoid pursuit, asking things like "When she changed her shoes, do you think it meant she was getting ready
to leave me?" Aside from this kind of aberration, I think the two mistakes we can make in terms of understanding
symbols is to give up too easily or to frustrate ourselves by trying too hard. So much of the transformational
experience is new to us, and so beyond the confines of conventional thinking, that we are left scrambling in the
dark. Understanding symbolic messages rarely comes easily, at least not until we become accustomed to "reading"
things in this way. But the more I realize I am being "spoken to" by everything I experience, the more
eager I am to learn about the archetypal and symbolic meanings of the things I encounter. I have also learned
to allow myself a "don't know" attitude toward many things. At another time in my life, I was afraid
to do this; afraid of being stupid, and unwilling to be vulnerable to things I didn't fully comprehend. But rushing
to categorize and explain everything can foster a much worse kind of "stupidity": without an openness
to the unknown, learning is impossible. I have come to prefer being a student of the mysteries than a professor
of the facts. In the West, we imagine that the Zen roshi who advises the initiate to cultivate a "beginner's
mind" has, himself, progressed to a far wiser "Master's mind." This is not so. The "beginner's
mind" isn't simply a requisite for embarking on a path toward fuller awareness; it is the condition of receptivity
that sustains continuous spiritual growth. Uncertainty, far from being a state of confusion, is a signpost of
mental flexibility. The "beginner's mind," an unadorned humility in the face of the infinite, is the
Master's mind.
-- El Collie
© El Collie 1995