What is Symbolism?

I am soooooo embarrassed right about now.... So please be gentle

Ok I've decided to study Thoth and I've always thought I was to unintelligent for this deck because I do not understand symbolism ..... WELL sitting down to my first self taught lesson it just occurred to me I don't understand symbolism because I just don't know what it is, or means? Oh dear does that even make sense?

Ok so I tried, I googled but I still don't know what it means? I only have 2 books as I am waiting on an order for more but these books don't explain what it is

In simple terms what is it?

*crawling back in my deep dark hole*

This is so embarrassing

Don't be embarrassed try this link - it explains, and gives examples, of symbolism. Hope that helps!

http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/symbolismterm.htm

Oh gosh thank you so much that helped alot. No wonder other members were questioning why the heck I would like to study Thoth without the symbolism. I was on a different page

This journey will be long but I am thinking very very fulfilling

Lourdez said:

Oh gosh thank you so much that helped alot. No wonder other members were questioning why the heck I would like to study Thoth without the symbolism. I was on a different page

This journey will be long but I am thinking very very fulfilling

Click to expand...

lol If you relate to the Thoth, intuitively, why wouldn't you study it? You will certainly need the symbology of it though...until your books come, you can always check these links out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth_tarot_deck

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=63061

Good luck!

Lourdez said:

In simple terms what is it?

Click to expand...

A symbol (or a set of symbols, like in a myth or folk story or even fairy tale) is a way of describing something that either; may not be possible through normal, or rational processes, speech, art writing, etc. or may be a 'short hand' way of depicting an idea that would take a lots of words or images.

E.g. The first ; the Yin Yang symbol (being a depiction of the Tao - which the sages say cannot be described or explained).

The second; a Christmas tree may which be symbol that describes a whole association for you; festivity, family get togethers, feasts, present exchanging and so on.

It can be a simple thing like an animal but the circumstances of encountering a certain animal may give it totemic or auspicious significance and then that animal could be a symbol.

Scales can be a symbol for balance or the concept of justice or even the astological sign of Libra.

Symbols can come together collectivly, in the same 'field of resonance' eg. The Tower Thoth trump. the planet Mars, the Hebrew letter Pe, the colors on the card, the shapes, the image of the tower being struck by lightening, the eye , etc. all point towards a similiar thing and give us an idea of the concept behind the card.

Symbols and symbolism is a language that the unconcious uses to convey messages or information it gets from .... to the conciousness thereby maiking connections between the concious and unconcious mind.

I'm sure you use symbols all the time.

I bet you know what a red flying kangaroo is a symbol of

Lourdez said:

I am soooooo embarrassed right about now.... So please be gentle

Ok I've decided to study Thoth and I've always thought I was to unintelligent for this deck because I do not understand symbolism ..... WELL sitting down to my first self taught lesson it just occurred to me I don't understand symbolism because I just don't know what it is, or means? Oh dear does that even make sense?

Ok so I tried, I googled but I still don't know what it means? I only have 2 books as I am waiting on an order for more but these books don't explain what it is

In simple terms what is it?

*crawling back in my deep dark hole*

This is so embarrassing

Click to expand...

Awhhh...

First off don't be embarrassed and second, you're intelligent enough for this deck. If it called to you then you're obviously ready for it. Even if you don't feel that you are. I would explain symbolism like this: if I showed you a cross you would probably associate itd with Christianity or if I showed you a Christmas Tree, you would think Christmas or maybe even Winter in general or if I showed you an American flag, you would think of the United States. Symbols are small things that represent larger ideas. The Thoth deck is confusing because the ideas represented by the symbols in this deck are largely unknown to the general public. There are SOME symbols that many would understand, but the vast majority of them are largely obscure to the general public. I'll introduce you to a symbol really fast, pull out your Thoth deck right now. Pull out the card "The Devil" and look at it. Look at the two round things below and the long shaft extending to the top of the card. Once you recognize this, I probably won't need to tell you what it represents

A more complex symbol is in the "Death" card. You see the Scorpion at the bottom of the card as well as the Snake to the side in the fish's mouth and the Eagle right on top of the skeleton's head? Those are all different symbols for the astrological sign of Scorpio. If you know alot about what Scorpio is about then you know a little about what this card is saying...amongst other things.

The best place to learn about the symbols is the Book of Thoth. Hands down. EVERYTHING in this deck is symbolic of something. Every figure, every object, every animal, every line, every light, and every color is symbolic of something. This deck took 5 years to make so it is packed with symbolism. Once you crack a few symbols you'll want to study this deck for the rest of your life and even then you'll probably find something new. The more about the symbolism you learn, the better the deck is able to communicate with you.

Have fun

Thank you so so much