| Subject: My best guess (public) |
Author:
Cliff
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Date Posted: 00:22:55 10/10/01 Wed
My mind's been stewing a bit over some of the imagery we saw in the Cathedral. I went back and looked at the video tape we made, and I've come up with a few thoughts. Anyone have any reactions?
First of all is the giant symbol(s) at the front of the cathderal, which we've seen in a few other places. It's interesting to note that many of the smaller symbols in the window have alchemical origins. I whipped out my dog-eared copy of 'Alchemical Studies,' by Carl Jung (also available in volume 13 of 'The Collected Works of C.G. Jung), and I was amazed at how much I'd forgotten! I've come to conclusion that the six peripheral symbols of the window are somehow linked to the clans of the Camarilla.
Most obviously is the symbol on the lower left, a circle inscribed with a 'T.' This is the symbol for mineralia, although it is also an upside down symbol for animalia. I believe that this inverted position is a clue to the symbols meaning, as in 'that which is related to animal, but is not animal' (This also gives a bit of insight into the origin of the symbol, as the ancient concept of mineral is 'that which is not alive.')
It is my hypothesis that this symbol is mean to give insight into the nature of the Gangrel, for certainly they are more animalistic than the rest of the Clans, yet they are not alive, as animal are. The pair of windows portraying a wolf and man (or vampire) wearing masks of each other also corresponds to this concept.
The next symbol respresents potential energy, and the 'seed of the universe.' Since seeds grow into larger things, than the seed of the universe would include the potentiality of all creation, or perhaps merely the creative process itself. Because of this, I see this symbol giving insight to the nature of the Toreador, not as those who do art, but rather as those who create.
The windows the the rose vines could also be seen to correspond to the Toreador, because the rose symbolizes beauty, the the rose growing across the eyes could be blindness induced by beauty, and the statue of apollo suggests reason, music, art, and beauty. Hmmmmm.
The next symbol is a European symbol for religiosity, which I'm finding difficult to place because none of the clans, to my knowledge, takes a lead role in vampiric spirituality. My best guess, mostly by process of elimination, but also based on the order of the side windows, would be Nosferatu. The windows I would associate this with are the one with the figure watching over a town with a book (what else to Nosferatu do besides gain knowledge and watch people?), and the one with the face reflected a skull in the mirror, an obvious reference to the clan's tendency towards unsightliness.
The symbol following that is a circle divided bisected with a horizontal line. Although this is obviously the greek letter theta, it is also traditionally associated with absolutism, as in time, temperature, etc. Absolutism is a trait closely associated with scientists, as well as with philosphers, and so I think that this symbol belongs to the Brujah. The soldierly aspects of the clan are represented by the knight with the sword and the mail-clad traveller with the staff.
Next on the list is a perfect square with a midpoint, a symbol that can mean either sulphur or urine to an alchemist, neither of which reminds me of a clan. It's order in the signs, however, corresponds to the man juggling and holding the world, which brings to mind another meaning for the symbol of 'saturated earth.' It's a bit of a leap, but I would suggest that both of these point to the Ventrue, whose natural role seems to be running the show and ruling the world, or at least attempting to.
Finally, we come to the only symbol not circumscribed with a circle or square, the four pointed figure. I could not find this symbol in any of my textbooks, although each point of the star IS the alchemical expression for gold. Now alchemy was mostly interested in transmuting various substances to gold, and so I could see this symbol as being an expression of a clan to change itself in some fundamental way. The reclusiveness and intense study of the Tremere seems to indicate a propensity for self-betterment, and I see a connection. Alternately, the four orientations could refer to the four cardinal directions, and the symbol could represent a desire to change everything else around oneself in a fundamental way, a motive that is easy to imagine being held in the Chantry.
But wait, you say, what about the central symbol, the perfect circle? Circles can mean many things, most obviously the sun or the moon, but it also has a tradition of representing the human spirit in astrology. I'm of two minds about this. The first is that this symbol represents humanity, the place we all come from, and the axis about which all the aspects of vampiric nature turn.
The other thought is that it represents the Malkavians, and that somehow in their madness they are truer to the human condition than any of the rest of us. I would lend more credence to the idea that vampiric nature is centered on humanity than madness, except for the possibility that the central figure is A malkavian, and not malkavians in general. Remember that it was a very special malkavian who caused the light and music to return to the cathedral in the first place.
Now if we look at the symbol as a whole, it becomes obvious that the symbol is an interprative Mandala, which is a sanskrit word Jung used to characterize a particular shape he found repeated in many psychological, mytholoical, and cultural studies. It is one of his 'primordial images,' meaning that it is fundamental to human instinct and the collective unconsciousness, and is therefor able to be interpreted outside the confines of cultural relativism (for those of you who are skeptical of this conclusion, or of archetypical psychology in general, I would recommend the brilliant work that Joseph Campbell did at Sarah Lawrence University).
At its most basic, a Mandala is a circular figure used to represent spirituality, wholeness, and healing of the mind. They are common in cathedrals, cave paintings, tibetan art, many branches of Buddhism, and many other places. He says, "Most mandalas have an intuitive, irrational character and, through their symbolical content, exert a retroactive influence on the unconscious. They therefore possess a "magical" significance, like icons.
On page 73 of his book, 'Mandalas,' Carl Jung says:
Mandalas are all based on the squaring of a circle. Their basic motif is the premonition of a centre of personality, a kind of central point within the psyche, to which everything is related, by which everything is arranged, and which is itself a source of energy. The energy of the central point is manifested in the almost irresistible compulsion and urge to become what one is, just as every organism is driven to assume the form that is characteristic of its nature, no matter what the circumstances. Although the centre is represented by an innermost point, it is surrounded by a periphery containing everything that belongs to the self -- the paired opposites that make up the total personality. This totality comprises consciousness first of all, then the personal unconscious, and finally an indefinitely large segment of the collective unconscious whose archetypes are common to all mankind."
Taken in this light, the Human Spirit becomes the goal that we are all striving to attain, while all of the clans become fragmented aspects of the holistic vampiric nature.
Or perhaps the central symbol represents the Camarilla, which each of the Clans is only a single aspect of, incapable of representing the whole without the others.
Or perhaps the central figure represents Nathaniel.
I would very much like to hear any input that anyone has on this. Thanks for listening!
Cliff
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