myths symbols sandplay

Long Motifs Part 1

Long motifs, positioned vertically or horizontally, may represent the patriarchal process of projection, upward aspiration, or separation such as a line or boundary drawn in the sand. Whether concrete objects/miniatures or archetypal designs created in the sand, long motifs are both masculine and feminine. In The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects, Barbara Walker makes the following observations:

"Freud's indefatigable search for phallic symbolism in every long shape, from cigars to furled umbrellas, reflects a typically patriarchal process of projection, which may be also related to the deep-seated male desire to be taller than others. Apart from obvious phallic connotations, long motifs represent the patriarchal vision in various ways. The up and the down, the ladder between heaven and hell, the ferocious dichotomy between the weapon’s point and its hilt fitting in the hand: these are emblems of differentiation, one thing from another, We from They."

In ancient times the feminine spirit also found expression sometimes in trees, towers, and weapons. The witch’s magic wand was not a phallus but a pointer, a director of magical energy.

Following is a brief look at long motifs. Imagine these objects or graphic designs both vertically and horizontally; the symbolic meaning may be altered.

Arrow – sacred symbol; Artemis carries arrows to symbolize her control of the hunt; the arrows of Eros pierce the heart to carry messages of love; as a weapon of war, arrows are the emblem of Mars and Tyr; Native American symbol of male power, not to be viewed by women; modern symbol of direction 

Athame – knife or dagger used by witches; derived from al-dhamme, sacred knife of Moorish-Arab-Andalusian cults of moon worshipers used in ritual scarring ceremonies and to draw a protective circle in the ground

Dorje – scepter use by Tantric-Buddhist; also used in northern India; symbol of a jewel, a thunderbolt, and a phallus; Darjeeling, the city, takes its name from the dorje-lingham or dorje-phallus found at the ancient site known as Dorjeling

Fasces – Roman bundle of birch rods held together by red thongs with an arrow or an ax; symbol of authority; carried by lictors (attendants) through the streets to display their master’s power; adopted by Italian nationalists in 1930, members of this group are known as fascisti or fascists

Gnomon – any vertical object such as a post, pillar, or standing stone used to tell time; during Neolithic and Paleolithic time, used to mark the seasons; considered sacred and believed to be inhabited by deities; gnomon means "one who knows"

Walker, B., The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1988

(continued in Long Motifs Part 2)

Long Motifs Part 2

(continued from Long Motifs Part 1)

Ladder – Sacred ladders with seven rungs were climbed by Mithraic Mysteries initiates, each rung fashioned of different metals symbolizing the seven planetary spheres; Egyptian ladders of Horus or Set featured angels assisting pharaohs to heaven; celestial ladders are found in myths of Mohammed and Buddha, and myths of Central Asia, China, and the Black Sea region

Obelisk – from the Greek obelischos meaning pointed pillar; Egyptian obelisks were conceived as phalli; pairs of obelisks were placed in front of temples; represents the axis mundi, the connection between heaven and earth; thirty obelisks still exist today

Pillar – phallic emblems of gods and heroes; Shivas title Sthanu means The Pillar or Great Lingam; as symbol of the Saxon god Irmin, they were made of wood or stone; early pillars throughout the Roman empire were destroyed by Christians, the Juniper pillar in Maycene survived; in Japan, represents the pillar god Nu-boko

Rod – symbol of the scepter of rulers; represented the virility of the king; symbol of patriarchal descent or ancestry as rods or branches; miraculous budding rods of biblical stories evolved into the popular symbol in the Tarot as the suit called rods, wands, staves, or clubs, and then into the modern suit of clubs

Scepter – early scepters were made of reeds and broken at the king’s death; such reed scepters symbolized the phallic spirit and the breaking signified castration and the end of virility; Roman "reed-bearers" known as cannophori carried the reed scepter of Attis in solemn prosessions; later made of precious metals, scepters represented economic power

Spear – in Japanese creation myth, the spear of the first god stirred the womb of the deep; like the sword and lance, the spear carries phallic connotations

Sword – Alans and Quadi, in ancient Scythia, worshipped their swords as gods; swords belonged to the world of men and were buried with them when they died or were thrown into water; heroic swords came from trees, stone, or water and were forged in fairyland or under the earth by magical beings; in the Tarot, the suit of swords evolved into the modern suit of spades from the Spanish word "espada"

Thyrus – a fennel stock topped with a pinecone; the sacred rod of Dionysus; the touch of a thyrus could turn water to wine

Triple Arrow – similar to the trident-thunderbolt; the triple arrow symbolized the pagan god mating with the triple goddess; also a sign of unity

Wand – tool of transformation; similar to the magic rod; can be made of wood, bone, or ivory; witches and fairies carried wands

Round Motifs Part 1

Barbara Walker, in The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects, best describes the symbol of roundness. "The universe begins with roundness: so say the myths. The great circle, the cosmic egg, the bubble, the spiral, the moon, zero, the wheel of time, the infinite womb; such are the symbols that try to express a human sense of the wholeness of things."

Aura – means golden; the astral body; Roman spirit of Air who could fly up to heaven

Black Sun – solar spirit or heavenly god in a cyclic passage through the underworld; symbol of the Egyptian Amen and Seker, the Persian Ahriman, the Mesopotamian Nergal-Ninib, Saturn, Pluto, Hades, Python, Apollyon, Zeus, Chthonios, Yama, Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub; originally symbol of the secret, wiser version of the solar god who knew the underworld as well as the heavens

Circle – symbol of a never-ending cycle; primary feminine sign; early matrifocal villages had round hearths, round houses, round fences; symbol of the protected or sacred space; Hindu symbol of the deity, The One, who is everywhere and nowhere; Gnostic circle of the serpent with its tail in its mouth represents the unbroken circle of the cosmos

Dome – from the Latin domus, a house; Italian duomo meaning house of God; often painted blue to represent the sky

Double Wheel – oriental symbol of infinity, the eternal circle of life on earth within the cosmic circle of existence

Halo – symbol of god-like nature; indicates divinity; from the Greek halos meaning round threshing floor where harvest festivals and dances were held as part of the Eleusinian Mysteries

Mandala – symbolic diagram with radial symmetry; often complicated maps of the cosmos

Medicine wheel – Native American symbol; usually contain 28 spokes; dates back to 2500 BC

Orb – three dimensional depiction of the earth; held in the left hand, symbolized the monarch’s domination of the world; with the addition of a crowning cross during the Christian era, symbol of the church’s dominance of the earth

(continued in Round Motifs Part 2)

Walker, B., The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1988

Round Motifs Part 2

(continued from Round Motifs Part 1)

Ring – representative of a bond; as a symbol of a marriage, worn by Christian monks betrothed to Mary, nuns married to Christ, knights wedded to Mary, pagan youths wedded to Venus

Rose Window – typically facing the west, the direction of the goddess’s paradise; worshipers in Gothic cathedrals opposed the ancient female symbol and turned to face the cross-shaped apse in the east; usually dedicated to the Virgin Queen of Heaven; as a female mandala symbol, represents Mary as the mystic rose, Wreath of Roses, Mother of the Rosary, Queen of the Most Holy Rose Garden; rose shaped mandalas were the oriental symbol of the goddess and her Rose-Apple Tree, source of eternal life 

Sphere – symbol of the ancient view of the universe as great crystal domes or inverted bowls

Spiral – among the most sacred signs of Neolithic Europe; symbol of death and rebirth; can be both lunar and solar; represents the serpent guardians of Sumerian temples

Sun Sign – a circle with a dot in the center; represents the primal womb with the spark of life; symbol of Estan of the Hittites, Istanu, the Sun Goddess Arinna (Queen of Heaven and Earth), Hepat, Hebat, Hebe, and Eveh

Wheel – ancient concept of the universe as a wheel, conceived from the cycles of heavenly bodies and the seasons; the Celtic goddess, Arianrhod was Goddess of the Silver Wheel (the stars) at the center of the Caer Sidi, the hidden revolving castle; symbol of Kali, the Indian ruler of the Wheel of Time; emblem of the Etruscan goddess Vortumna, She Who Turns the Year; Hindu wheel of dharma, known as the Wheel of Law, has eight spokes each spoke representing the Noble Eightfold Path; shape of the German Achtwan, a magic rune charm, a wheel with eight spokes 

Yin and Yang – primary symbol of Taoist religious and philosophical belief; Chinese emblem of balance, harmony, light and dark, summer and winter, good and evil, youth and age, earth and heaven, birth and death; ancient Chinese feminine symbol of the phases of the moon in its light and dark aspects

Walker, B., The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1988

Graphic Designs and Symbols

Archetypal graphic symbols, whether an object or pattern/design in the sand, are often used or are created in sandplay scenes. Upcoming blog posts will include information about round motifs and long motifs. Round motifs are often representative of the wholeness of the universe. Long motifs may symbolize the patriarchal process or represent powerful wands carried by fairies or sorceresses. Long motifs can be masculine or feminine.