myths symbols sandplay

Native American Fire & Light Symbolism

Native American myth and lore is rich with fire and light symbolism. Fire represents living things, the creation of light, and the sun. Creation stories often include fire and flame as generative and destructive forces. The Aztecs recognize fire as the “fundamental catalyst of change” (Miller & Taube, 1993). Myths tell of the acquisition of fire, fire making, and the gift of fire. The Navajo Fire God, haashcheehzhini, represents fire making and the control of fire. In Navajo mythology, he is responsible for creating the stars and the constellations and is depicted as old and slow moving. Fire handlers of the northeast and sub-arctic Ojibwa tribe used fire to interpret dreams.

Associated with fire and essential for life, light is a common motif in Native American myth. The origin of light appears in numerous tales such as the Apache Creation and Emergence (see January 3, 2020 blog post). The myth is complex and includes the underworld, many mythological heroes and characters, and tells of Holy Boy who performs ritual acts to create the sun, the moon, the earth, and humankind. The creation of light is also attributed to the creator of the world, as in the example of Loak-Ishto-hoollo-Aba, the Chickasaw Great-Holy-Fire-Above. “He is responsible for all light and warmth and, therefore, all animal and vegetable life. Connected with the sun, but not the sun, he can live in the sky as well as with people on earth” (Gill & Sullivan, 1992).

Light “is often entrapped or hidden by some malevolent being, it is the task of some culture hero to make the dangerous journey to steal the light and release it to the world” (Gill & Sullivan). Myths tell of tricksters and clever characters who steal light and fire such as: coyote, wolf, woodpecker, and raven.

Central American myth tells of Quetzalcoatl, the creator god and the Aztec cult god Huitzilopochtli, who made fire with the half-sun that shone before the dawn of humankind. Other myths tell of Tezcatlipoca, who was the first to make fire with flint. The Aztec ritual of New Fire was held to celebrate the new calendar and regeneration. During the ritual all terra cotta pots were destroyed and new ones were created for the new year. All fires were extinguished to await the new beginning. The new fire was started with flint in the chest of a sacrificial victim to guarantee the arrival of the morning sun (Miller & Taube).

In ancient Mesoamerica, the heroes, myths, and rituals related to fire evolved over time. Xiuhtecuhtli was the terrestrial fire god, who was surpassed by Huitziloplchtli, the god of the sun and fire. Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent, bears the sun through the sky. Carvings depict heroes holding the mankin scepter that symbolizes lightning and fire. The scepter took the form of a deified axe with a fire serpent at one end (see image below). Mayans believed that fire was the way to communicate with gods and ancestors and often burned paper splattered with blood.

Beings Associated with Light Symbolism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adi-Buddha

Adi-Buddha – appeared as a flame when he first revealed himself on Mount Sumeru

Agni – Indian personification of fire; the eater of sacrifices on the altar which were consumed by fire; consort of Destroyer Kali; god of fire, sun, and lightning

Aither – Greek deities of light

Allah – illuminates the world; effulgent light; the manifestation of Divine Knowledge

Anchises – Greek light deity, son of Capys and Hieromneme

Angiras – Indian and Hindu descendants of the fire god Agni; celestial bodies who are deities of fire and light, often seen as meteors

Aos – Sumerian god of light, also known as Aa, Hoa, Oannes

Apollo – Greek god of light

Artemis – Greek goddess of light

Aten – Egyptian god of light and the sun; also known as Horace, Ra

Atthar – ancient Arabian Goddess of Enlightenment; also known as Golden Mother, One Born to Gold, The Glory

Brhaspati – Hindu, Indian Lord of Devotion who brought light to the world

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bridgit

Bridgit – Celtic goddess associated with a light festival at the beginning of February, also called Bridgid

Bura-penu – Indian god of light; mate of Tari-penu, the goddess of darkness

Byelobog – Slavic god of light whose name means White God; his evil counterpart is Chernobog, or Black God; Byelobog is a benevolent god who shows travelers the way

Christ – the Light of the World; “the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning“ (James 1, 17)

Cuchulain – Celtic god of heat and light; son of Lugh, the sun god

Demeter – Greek goddess of corn and the harvest; the torch is her attribute

Devi – Hindu Great Mother; as Uma, the wife of Shiva, her skin is golden and she personifies light and beauty

Fire – Phoenician; child of Genos & Genea from the creation legend; his siblings were Flame and Light

Gerd – Scandinavian frost goddess of the frozen earth and of light; daughter of Gymer and Aurbods, wife of Freyr

Heracles – carried a torch as the weapon against Hydra, Greek mythological monster with nine heads

Hestia – Greek goddess of the hearth; symbol of the religious center of the family; modern Greeks still honor Hestia by pouring oil and wine through the center of a ring-shaped cake onto the hearth fire (Walker, 1998)

Jupiter – brightness, god of the bright sky

Khou – Egyptian god of light; similar to Ka or Ba which is the essence of the soul; depicted as a crested bird

Krishna – light was the manifestation of Krishna, Lord of Light

Leto – Greek goddess of light, daughter of Ceos and Phoebe; mother by Zeus of the twins Apollo and Artemis

Lucina – Mother of the Light; pagan feminine interpretation of the symbol of the lighted candle; she governed the sun, moon, and stars; gave newborn creatures the “light“ of their vision; her festival of light became the Christian feast of St. Lucy (Walker); also known as the Roman Juno

Mihr – Armenia, Iranian god of light; an underworld or fire deity, child of Ormazd

Nusku – Assyro-Babylonian, Sumerian god of light; his symbol is the lamp; a messenger of the gods

Ormazd – Zoroastrianism‘s Lord of the Light, the power of truth; sacred to the Magi

Parvati – Hindu, Indian aspect of Uma as goddess of light

Phanes – Greek; Light or light god from the Orphic Creation Legend; he emerged from the silver egg protected in the womb of darkness to create earth, sky, sun, and moon

Pistis Sophia – Post-Christian Gnostic Virgin of Light

Silik-mulu-khi – Akkadian, Mesopotamian god of light and protector of immortals; son of Ea, a creator deity, god of the earth and waters

Svarog – Slavic sun god, used a torch to represent the rebirth of the sun

Tenshodaijin – Japanese goddess who rules the realm of light on heaven and earth

Vesta – Roman goddess associated with the hearth; at the center of Vesta’s temple, tended by sacred women, the fire was never allowed to go out

Symbols Associated With Light

 

 

 

 

Fire, flame, hearth

 

Candle –associated with religious ceremonies; lighting a candle is symbolic of a theoretical preservation of the soul (Walker, 1988); light in the darkness of life; vitalizing power of the sun; the uncertainty of life is easily extinguished; divine light in the world; the Christian Paschel Taper burns for 40 days from Easter to Ascension, it is extinguished on Ascension Day to represent Christ’s removal from Earth; it also depicts the pillar of fire which guided the Israelites for 40 years (Cooper, 1978)

Cross – resolves into ac-er-os and yields great fire-light (Jobes, 1962)

Fire – transformation; purification; light-giving and generative power of the sun; destruction; fusion; immolation; the medium for conveying messages or offerings heavenward; the means of devouring all created things to return them to original unity; baptism by fire restores primordial purity (Cooper); dual symbolism of light and heat; alchemical symbol of unifier and stabilizer; Amerindian symbol of the Great Spirit; Buddhist symbol of wisdom which burns all ignorance; Hindu representation of transcendental light and knowledge; in India a masculine principle personified by the god Agni

Flame – fire manifested as flame symbolizes spiritual power and forces; transcendence; illumination; surrounding the head as a nimbus represents divine power, potency of soul; Islamic symbol of light and heat, divinity and hell; Chinese symbol of the yang principle called huo

Fleur-de-lis – French for flower of the light; symbolic of enlightenment, fecundity, light, primal cause; emblem of Christ as light of the world

Hearth – center of clan and tribal life; an omphalos, the central point around which everything revolves; the interior spiritual center; center of the home, dominated by the feminine; warmth

Lamp – universal symbol of enlightenment; sometimes made of terra-cotta and said to burn perpetually, origin of the eternal flame; life; light of divinity; guidance; shedding light in the darkness; in Hinduism, oil in the lamp represents the ocean and devotion, the wick is the earth and mind, and the flame is love (Cooper)

Lantern – represents illumination and guidance; bringing light to darkness; used to light the way in the underworld; in the East, paper lanterns were decorated with symbols so that when lighted, the symbols would cast shadows during celebrations

Sun – brilliance; the dispeller of darkness; enlightenment; fire; mate; fury; destroyer

Star – from Sanskrit meaning disperser or stewer of light; dispeller of light; heavenly fire; guidance

Torch – used in Mythraic shrines to symbolize the rising and setting of the sun; viewed as protection from the powers of darkness; represents enlightenment; the wood represents the feminine, the fire the masculine, the “divine male principle springing from the feminine tree, the soul-flame attached to the wood-matter, hence the fecundating spiritual fire“ (Cooper)

Urim – literally late and fire; unidentified object mentioned in the Old Testament, apparently precious stones or small figures whose luster revealed God‘s will; a divine oracle; the name expresses the truth of God’s revelations (Jobes)

Yule candle – symbol of the rekindling and renewal of the sun during winter solstice

Chinese Light Symbolism

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his introduction to A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols, Wolfram Eberhard states, “It is almost 50 years since Ferdinand Lessing spoke of the ‘symbolic language’ of the Chinese as a second form of language which penetrates all communication in Chinese; which is, as it were, a second-tier communication level, of greater potency of an ordinary language, richer in nuances and shades of meaning“. Following is a brief discussion of Chinese symbolism related to light and the graphic form of the Chinese symbols.

Candles    la-zhu     蜡烛

For over 2000 years candles have been used in China for varies ceremonies, rituals, and everyday life. Colored candles were used in marriage ceremonies as early as the 8^th century to represent the deflowering of the virgin bride. A set period of time was measured by the amount of time it took to burn a candle down. In the 5^th century candles of wax were very expensive, so much so that the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty gave the Emperor of the Toba ten candles as an imperial gift (Eberhard).

Fire    huo    火

One of the five elements is fire, which is associated with the color red and the direction South. Fire, as an element that changes a state of being, blazes and ascends. In Tibetan Tantrism, fire is a male symbol. Fire walking is a spring ritual that is still practiced today in Shamanistic and other purification ceremonies. An ancient New Year ritual took place on April 4 of the western calendar. The old hearth fire was allowed to die out and a new fire was lit with a fire stick to symbolize the transition from the old to the new (Eberhard ). The New Year celebration included fireworks to frighten away demons. The red star Antares is called the great fire and its rise and fall in the night sky marked agricultural seasons and tasks.

Lantern   deng    灯笼

Lanterns have long been a Buddhist symbol of illumination and knowledge. Made of many different materials and in varied shapes, lanterns and lamps have been a part of Chinese cultural for centuries. Currently, lanterns are symbols of fertility. Lamps that are known as children and grandchildren lamps are placed under bridal beds. All Night Long lamps were placed beside a bride and groom‘s bed. If they went out at the same time it symbolized a long marriage. Lanterns are also hung under the bed of a pregnant woman (Eberhard).

In China, lanterns signify festivity. As signposts for guests and also for the souls of the departed, lanterns are significant in the Feast of the Lanterns, which takes place in the first Chinese month on the 15^th day. This celebration marks the full moon of the year and the Chinese New Year. The lanterns serve to guide the ancestors back to the world beyond after the end of the festivities. Families competed for the most artistically decorated lanterns. Another celebration, a second Feast of Lanterns, is held in the Yunnan region on the 7^th day of the 7^th month. Lanterns are sent floating down the river and hung along the roadside. The ritual is used to guide departed souls back to the underworld.

For references see Bibliography post.

Festivals of Light

"Before the era of the great religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism), the religions and ritual practices of many cultures marked rhythms and patterns of nature" (Donleavy-Johnston, 2001). Ancient cultures marked these patterns of nature and the changing of the seasons with special festivals. Even in equatorial cultures, where little change occurs seasonally, ancient people celebrated the spring and autumnal equinox and the summer and winter solstice.

The winter solstice was "celebrated in a remarkably similar manner by societies as different and as distant as the pre-Celtic stone circle builders of Northern Europe, the Native American Pueblo peoples, the ancient Egyptians and Chinese, and the Swazi of Africa" (Donleavy-Johnston). Light and its relationship to humankind were the common themes. Renewal rituals often share the dying and the resurrection of the king/savior/god and the waning light of the solstice sun. Following is a brief list of light festivals.

The Feast of Lights was held at the beginning of February. Torches and candles were carried in procession for protection against the plague, famine, and earthquakes. The festival was later adopted by Christianity as Candlemas (Cooper, 1995).

The Festivals of Midsummer occurred during the summer solstice and were associated with wild dances and fire. Bonfires burned all night to encourage the solar deity to return after its winter decline.

The Egyptian winter solstice celebration held December 25^th was called the Festival of Osiris. As King of the Underworld, Osiris represented solar energy dwelling within matter giving eternal life to the earth.

A pre-Christian Persian festival celebrated the birth of Mithras on the 25^th of December. According to legend, Mithraic cult figure Mithras was sent to earth by the supreme god of light to slay the Cosmic Bull which represented both world creation and redemption.

Incwala is the South African Swazi winter solstice festival; a kingship ceremony that lasts for eight days. Initially, the king represents the sun and is rejected by his people. Then, at the first full moon, the king is revitalized and symbolically reborn (Donleavy-Johnston).

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is celebrated for eight days, generally in December. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over Antiochus, King of Syria, and the rededication of the defiled Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah is closely associated with older winter solstice rites. The seven-branched candlestick, the Menorah, indicates divine presence. The candles of fat are sacred to Jahveh (Cooper).

See Bibliography post for references.

Light Quote

"Light awakens us to the inner call. It is the influx of energy that penetrates, 

bringing vision and knowledge, the logos of antiquity."  

~ David Applebaum

Past editor of Parabola magazine                                                                                           

Light Symbolism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As winter nears, the quality of light is changing in Colorado.  The days are shorter and the nights are beginning to cool. We may have snow this week which is an not an unusual first snow in the foothills of Denver.

Winter festivals celebrating the winter solstice often involve the use of fire and candles as explored in an upcoming post Festivals of Light. In sandtray scenes candles, lanterns, or lamps bring light to the scene. Sandplay therapist Kay Bradway explains, "The presence of light indicates an illumination, a greater consciousness...".  As I review pictures of clients' trays, I am reminded of the scenes where light was used in the form of candles. The placing of lighted candles or the use of lanterns often indicated the need for or the demonstration of some form of enlightenment. After lighting candles, clients may have requested to dim the therapy room lights. In the half-dark, the sandtray took on an even more numinous and sacred feeling.