Animals as Symbolic/Aspect of Self
Cipher - 2019-12-03 22:16:42
(Okay, not just animals, you know the drill - animals, plants, entities, fictional media, etc.)
Mostly this is a broad question out there - for those of you with a sympathetic connection to something, can it be described this way for you? That you may see these heart-types as a symbolic representation of yourself.
With me, most of the things I'm connected to can all be traced back to my Lucifer identity. Certain animals and fictional characters come to represent my own soul in many different forms. There is traditional Devil symbolism - dragons (which are my oldest and strongest connection), snakes, and lions. Then there's a large branching out from that, with foxes, deer, birds of prey, similar large predators like wolves and sharks, that all resonate with me because using them in art or literature is a way of showing my presence. Whether through their symbolic archetypes of cunning or pride, or their physical attributes or feral behavior. And then there's the long (long) list of fictional characters that I either see as a parallel to Lucifer or are resonant to some degree because of their characterization. Some are obvious - Anakin Skywalker, for instance (it's even called a Fall to the Dark Side); some less so - El-ahrairah from Watership Down mostly for the meaning of his name as Prince With A Thousand Enemies.
So what are your connections, and how do you feel they represent yourself, if this is the way you feel that resonance?
The_Flock - 2019-12-04 00:11:53
This is definitely something wei relate to on different levels.
As Wix, I'm Lloth incarnated and as such I see spiders as an extension of and representative of myself in that aspect.
As Alice I definitely see cats as not only heart-types but representative of me in that one could argue the Cheshire is a daemon-type figure?
Daemonism in general, on the personality-typing side of things, gives muis a number of resonant animals when wei go looking.
And then there's just other miscellaneous animals I see as symbolic of myself? Crows, black ghost dogs/bhargests, and goats, to name a few.
And there's definitely a very long list of characters that fit muir archetypes. Coraline, Senua from Hellblade, Fran Bow, just to name a few.
aepaex - 2019-12-04 00:20:44
I use animal symbolism so much in terms of self-narrative/personal mythology/etc.
In general, I assign animals to represent different parts of my life and personality. It's more of an artistic metaphor than an identity- I identify more with what the species represents to me, than with the species itself. Sometimes I call them "head-animals" lol.
I don't have a symbol for every part of myself, I guess it's just the ones that I compartmentalize more and/or express more through art? I also tend to make animal symbols based on my role in fictional stories that I self-insert into.
There's doe, thylacine, cheetah, and a few others here and there. Doe is the "strongest", probably because 1) the thing she's linked to is a positive part of my life and 2) it's been around the longest. Thylacine and cheetah both represent parts of my life that are negative, and that I'm trying to heal from or re-purpose. Cheetah in particular is also linked to the divine (which could be a separate association in itself)
Cipher - 2019-12-04 04:37:08
Ooh, what you mentioned about the cheetah being a connection to the divine for you, would you mind going into more detail on that? Because a lot of mine are similar in that respect. Dragons/serpents and lions for me are definite expressions of and links to my soul's divinity, to the point where those are the creatures I could refer to as sacred animals.
aepaex - 2019-12-04 13:13:16
The divine-cheetah link is due to me (or, that part of me) relating to the Egyptian goddess Mafdet, who is sometimes represented as a cheetah :slight_smile: