Signs and Symbols

How many of you reading have looked up to the sky or closed your eyes and went inward and begged a god or group of gods, guiding spirit, your ancestors, or the universe at large for a sign? Something that symbolizes you’re either on the right path or point you in the direction of the right path.

Or maybe you were thinking about passing on an opportunity because you were afraid of the risk and somewhere you saw some quote your grandpa used to say about seizing chances when they appeared. Perhaps you were planning on doing something but then you saw that particular bird, and the last three times you saw that bird whatever you were doing went sideways fast, so you decided to wait on executing that plan or abandon it altogether?

We’re constantly seeking out signs in our daily lives. These signs we seek are represented through things we see that have symbolic meaning to us. But these symbols are not universal, they vary from culture to culture and even within a culture, it can vary from person to person.

The meanings for symbols are NOT set in stone. Everyone sees the world through a different lens. Nothing will mean the same thing to everyone. There are various reasons symbols can have a different meaning to different people or groups of people.

Let’s look at ravens for an example. In ancient Ireland, to see ravens in your camp before an upcoming battle, the soldiers saw it as a sign from the Morrigan that defeat and even death was imminent. This is due to the fact that she was seen as a figure of warning of these tidings and ravens were symbolic of her. Now if we go eastward into Europe into Scandinavia during these times and an army saw ravens in their camp before a battle, they were certain victory was at hand. This is due to the god Odin, who among many things was a god of war, was also represented by ravens, and in their beliefs it meant Odin was with and supporting their ranks.

Foxes are known to be sneaky but they’re also known to be clever. So one person might see a fox and be on the look out for someone lying to them or betraying them, but depending on another person’s upbringing and view points might see a fox and think they might have to be crafty in an upcoming situation.

This is one reason dreams aren’t always so cut and dry to interpret. Dreams are our subconscious trying to speak to us, but it can only communicate to the conscious mind through symbolism. Depending on what a person is going through in life, along with other components of that dream, a fox they see in said dream might have different meanings. They might see a viper in a dream and depending on what it does in the dream could symbolize death, someone seeking vengeance, transformation, or even a combination of those things.

Runes and even Tarot cards all are symbols with certain meanings, but each one can still represent different things, and where they are laid out in a spread, along with the reader’s intuition and experiences can have a certain impact on the meaning of those symbols.  

Even numbers mean different things to different people. Seeing 11:22 or 123 might mean a cornucopia of different things to different people. In numerology 4 is work and law, but in Japan it’s considered an unlucky number because its pronunciation is close to their word for “death.” Or how many people in western cultures think 13 is an unlucky number to the point that many buildings skip from 12th floor to 14th floor.

Now it is important to note that when you’re asking for specific signs and symbols from god, the universe, ancestors, whatever it is you’re asking from, you do have to be realistic and use your brain. Thinking a certain bird is a sign for something, but then going to a park that is well known to you to have that particular bird in abundance isn’t a sign. You’re intentionally seeking out that bird for your own confirmation bias. But if you see that type of bird and it’s doing something odd or out of character, it might actually be a sign. If you don’t normally see the aforementioned fox around your home, and wake up to see one standing in your driveway, that could be a sign. These signs and symbols will come to you naturally, and when you’re most likely not expecting them.

What is a symbol to you may mean absolutely nothing to someone else, and vice-versa. Understand your own culture, upbringing, traditions, and most of all, EXPERIENCES to understand what different symbols mean TO YOU. We’re all at one level or another seeking symbols and signs, so the more you understand yourself, you’ll have a better idea of when you’re seeing that sign.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all, as always, have an enlightening day.