VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Tuesday, April 21, 8:48:29 [ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, [10] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 15:49:15 08/22/03 Fri
Author: John Scott
Subject: Symbolism and Power

Here's a question for you.
Symbols, do they have power? If yes, where does the power come from?
Martina and I are Reiki Masters, as such we use certain symbols with Reiki which contain Power. Martina has been doing some studies for upcoming classes, and has found that these symbols have variations. This led us to talking, and I pointed out that a "merge" sign on the side of the road could be a healing symbol if we believed in it.

An example is the cross, for many people it is a holy symbol and therefore it has much power. Where does that power come from? Please don't tell me that power comes from creation (God), as I am fully aware that everything is part of creation. What I mean is where does the EXTRA power a cross or Reiki symbol or any other symbol has, come from?

Is the power coming from our belief in the symbol? To read about him, Odin was once a powerful God, but where is he now? Where are the people that believed in him?

One of the most powerful symbols in modern day is the Mason's symbol, if I remember correctly it is on the back of every US dollar. How many of us are Mason's? Not many, but how many of us believe in the "almighty dollar"? I dare you to name one sane person over 18 who does not.

Another powerful symbol in modern day is "The Golden Arches". Every one of us knows McDonalds. Every one of us knows it is no longer inexpensive to eat there. Most of us do not expect 5 star service there. Most of us do not expect 5 star food there. Yet every day millions around the world wait like cattle for "two all beef patties..." Why? The power in the name. (I boycotted McDonalds for a few years, then I had a son. I had no chance. ;) )

To wrap up, I believe we have the power to create in us. I do not think the power comes from us, but I do believe we can channel it. Symbols, whatever they may be hold only the power we give them. Do not be caught in dogma, for dogma stifles the natual flow. But go with Creation, believe, "with the faith of a mustard seed..."

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Excellent subject. What I have come to understand from various reading and such, is that symbols are used as a focus. And, the more senses we use, the better our focus. In a christian church, there is incense for our smell, songs for our voices and hearing, rosaries and hands in prayer for touch, stained glass windows and other decorations for sight, communion for taste... all combine to focus our senses on the experience of "church." I have witnessed pagan ceremonies that also include all the senses. Reiki also has things for all the senses, writing symbols, saying them, lighting candles, playing music, and of course touch. You know by now that you do not need to write or say the symbols in order for you to get reiki flowing, but the person learning about the energy may appreciate involving all their senses in order to get in the flow of the experience. The symbols are a tool for creating focus and intention. It's a vehicle for bringing awareness to a different place. JMHO -- Lissa, 16:54:05 08/22/03 Fri


[ Edit | View ]
[> [> And have no fear, soon enough your child will be old enough to appreciate and agree with your stance on McD's. It is my children who insist that we do not eat there anymore. On the last drive home from NJ, that was all that was available and you should have heard the complaining. hehehe -- Lissa, 17:00:13 08/22/03 Fri


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> I agree, Lissa. IMO, a symbol is used for a focus of energies. It helps block out other distractions by having something to focus/concentrate on. Women in labout are asked to choose a focal point to fixate on while going through the worst pain in order to give their minds something else to concentrate on besides pain. I believe that symbols are designed to help one focus one's own energies/power....they do not contain power themselves. The power that they are perceived by some to have is only that which humans give them. -- Brenda, 13:54:49 08/23/03 Sat


[ Edit | View ]

[> Very interesting question! I was thinking that we alone as humans have the ability to interpret symbols into any kind of meaning. For us it is almost second nature now, like reading, letters/words are symbols we interpret, but ages ago, only the powerful could read and write and it was like a Mystery to the rest. And while I do know that apes can deal with symbols, I dont think they put much meaning into them beyond it getting them attention or food.The power of belief is very strong, but I think we use these symbols as channels/ links to the Universe. God if you will. But I think the Universe works this way because thats how humans work. I mean if there was another way for us to connect with the power out there, the Universe would use that too. The Universe is there and wants us to be connected with it. So the power comes to us in whatever way we understand it, create it, use it! Do I make sense? -- Jeannine, 00:30:13 08/23/03 Sat


[ Edit | View ]
[> [> it makes sense to me Jeannine! :-) Seeing symbols as tool for a better concentration, making a more stable connection to the engery somehow. Symbols are human-made, but I also believe that those who create these symbols give them some kind of power, the power of intention, and wherever the symbol is written sensitive people can sense this kind of power - negative or postive. -- Antje, 06:01:11 08/23/03 Sat


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> also, Take Hitlers "Hakenkreuz" (swastika) for example, he took a very powerful positive symbol mirror inverted, to channel very negative powerful engery for his purposes.I've once read somewhere if you take mirror-invert positive symbols you do make them more powerful, but negative. Could be a myth, but with Hitlers Hakenkreuz this explanation made sense to me. Wherever this sign was visible, there was his negative spirit and he became more and more powerful. I think with the help of the Hakenkreuz he "hammered" his spirit into the heads of the people. One could say "tainted" them. Though it was men-made it carried some certain kind of spirit, people knew what it stood for,made a connection in their minds when they saw it, hence they "fed" it with energy and at the chains end stood the creator and gained all the energy and used it... does THIS makes any sense? LOL -- Antje, 06:04:19 08/23/03 Sat


[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> YES! Very well put! -- J, 01:21:45 08/25/03 Mon


[ Edit | View ]

[> My brother is a Mason and he is very into it, in a very big way. He collects old books and has become a source of information on many of the origins of the organization. When I was at his house a few weeks ago, I was talking with him about the Masons. I asked him what the secret was that they were guarding. He told me that there probably was one at one time, but that it is now pretty much all ceremony and brotherhood now. My other brother made the point that their secret was that they were all free-thinking men, something that could have gotten them killed at some points in history. I thought that was a fascinating concept... that their secret was that they could think outside what was "acceptable" at the time. The men who organized the US structure were certainly ahead of their times in thinking and the bravery to see it realized. -- Lissa, 18:44:53 08/23/03 Sat


[ Edit | View ]
[> [> I have been researching F Masons recently FMasons -- Jeannine, 01:20:00 08/25/03 Mon


[ Edit | View ]

[> I pretty much agree with all that's been said about the power being in us. I really feel that the senses have a great deal to do with it also. I do alot of cermonies/rituals and I always use things that involve all the senses. Candles/incense for smell, crystals/rocks that I hold in my hand for touch, celtic music or native american flute in the background for hearing, etc. These are all symbols in and of themselves and create a more "whole" experience. It's interesting how certain symbols make people react, like the swastika, and the almighty dollar sign. It's too bad we can't find an international symbol for love that could be used to that extent. There was the peace sign years ago but that just seemed to be a marketing ploy after while & people lost the meaning behind it. -- Lori, 16:37:31 08/24/03 Sun


[ Edit | View ]

Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.