All About Symbolism

All About Symbolism

Symbols constitute objects, pictures, written words, sounds or something else and stand for concepts, ideas, notions, beliefs and feelings. Some symbols are commonly used, such as a white rectangle on the red background standing for “Stop”, others have particular meaning and evoke deep feelings. The examples of these symbols are the crucifix in Christianity and the Star of David in Judaism. We all are surrounded by symbols. Every day we face something that has a symbolic meaning. You will see symbols on money, in commercials, music compositions, books, politics etc. To realize the meaning of a symbol a person has to know what this symbol implies. For example, the Chinese "yin" and "yang" symbol seems an amusing picture with black and white colors for people that don't know the underlying sense of this sign. They can enjoy its aesthetic side, but they do not see more than that. Quite the contrary, if a person understands the origin of the symbol he or she sees not a simple image, but an idea of deep interrelation of things in our living. During the whole history of mankind symbols were vastly used in art. In such a way, one item on a painting can speak volumes about the thoughts of the painter, his view on life and aspirations. To understand the secret meaning of a music composition or a book we have to be very attentive to symbols. Sometimes we have to learn the professionals' point of view on a certain work of art in order to understand the idea of the author. This is because the language of symbols is not so simple. So what are the most widespread symbols in art and what do they represent? Among the most common symbols used in pieces of art are a book, a candle, clocks and a mirror. A book generally refers to learning and transmitting of knowledge. If you see a lightened candle on a picture it is in the majority of cases a symbol of religion or time passing. On the other hand, an extinguished candle stands for death and mourning. A clock implies the passing of time. In this respect the world-famous painting of Salvador Dali called “Melting clocks” refers to an idea that nothing in our lives is in keeping with some rules. And eventually, a mirror signifies attempts to get the truth, but in some situations it just implies the vanity. Thus, symbols are everywhere in our world. We just should be a little more attentive to details to see them.