Symbols
of Inner Processes
“Last
night, as I was sleeping,
I
dreamt—marvelous error!--
that
I had a beehive
here
inside my heart.
And
golden bees
were
making white combs
and
sweet honey
from
my old failures.”
Antonio
Machado
I
have loved for many years the work of anthropologist, Angeles Arrien.
Her research on shapes and their meanings, published in 1992, was one
of the things that brought me back to dream work and the study of
symbols. In it, she identifies five basic and universal
symbols—circle, square, triangle, equal-armed cross and spiral—and
reports on how to use them in determining where you are and where
you're going on your spiritual journey. First, you take these five
simple symbols and line them up according to preference. You put at
the front of the line the one you like best, and so on; at the end
should be the one you least prefer. She calls this The Preferential
Shapes Test and it can be used in the same way you might use a rune
lay out, or drawing cards from any one of the divining decks such as
the Medicine Cards, or the Angel Cards. Take a moment to draw these
symbols in a row according to your preference.
The
circle symbolizes, in every culture, the process of wholeness and the
experience of unity. The equidistant cross represents the process of
relationship—to a creative project, a group, another person and to
oneself. The spiral is the symbol for growth and change; it is a
process of coming to the same point again and again, but at a
different level. The triangle symbolizes goals, dreams and visions.
People drawn to the triangle are intensely focused on identifying and
pursuing a goal. And finally, the square represents stability,
solidity, and security.
The
significance of the order in which you placed the shapes is as
follows: The one in first place is where you think you are. It
represents the process that has your attention right now. Position two
indicates your inherent strengths, or the strengths that are
predominant in you at this time. Position three is the most
significant symbol because it represents your true current growth
process—the work that is really going on at the center of your
being. Position four is the symbol of your motivating force; it
points to the past challenges and circumstances that have motivated
your current growth process. And finally, position five is the symbol
of old unfinished business. It represents a process you dislike,
resist, or are judging. It may be an unresolved issue you would
rather put aside now, but will need to reclaim and integrate at some
point in the future.
Your
responses to the shapes test will change over time. It's a fun little
tool for unearthing your inner work, or for interpreting symbols that
may come up in your dreams, or ones that you feel inordinately drawn
to. If you would like to learn more about The Preferential Shapes
Test, and there's lots more to it than I have explained here, you can
find it in Angeles Arrien's beautiful book, Signs of Life.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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