Symbols: A cow isn't a cow..except when it is

I absolutely love symbols and symbolic texts. I think that symbol language speaks to a part of us much deeper than words. Any given symbol can have a dozen meanings making them powerful tools both for understanding and making connections and for creating magic.

Symbols can be tricky though. For every symbol, for every color, animal, letter, herb or stone out there, there are dozens of lists explaining what they mean. The weakness of these lists is that often they don't explain why things are connected. It is the why's that make connections strong. But more than that, we each have our own wealth of personal history and memories which can create very personal connections that no one can tell us about except ourselves.

I've done a lot of reading, thinking, meditating and research on several different symbol systems. Many of us are familiar with tarot, and each card has a lot of symbols on it. I've also been working with the runes, and that was a particular challenge as the symbols are simple but the meaning behind is complex.

One thing that becomes quickly apparent, when looking into the why's behind a symbol, is that it is very beneficial to look at the symbol through the eyes of the people who created it (as well as the eyes of people who used it throughout history). If the symbol is one of a cow, that would have a vastly different meaning to someone a hundred or two hundred years ago. When we interpret symbols, we look beyond the surface for the connections behind something. When we see the symbol of the cow, we don't assume that a cow will be coming into our life, but perhaps prosperity, perhaps an end to food shortage, perhaps a way to get work done around our house.

But sometimes...a cow is just a cow! I think that this is something that sometimes gets overlooked. It IS definitely important to look behind, to look for what things mean. But it is also important to not forget that sometimes symbols are very straightforward. Sometimes when we see something, it is exactly what it looks like.