Signs & Symbols

[Philtered.Khaos]

have for a long time, (probably since I learned to read) been fascinated by symbols and language, both themselves different forms of magick. I study the meanings of and their relations to other symbols. Well, the other day, I became vividly aware of the new (as of about 10 years ago) U.S. Army, when I was struck by the fact of a square holding a star with a small rectangle below. I went home and was reading up on different interpretations of the square. My interpretation of the logo, is as follows: the square, the broken rectangle (the words "U.S. army" are segregated from the star) and the star form a pithy pictogram of the army's agenda.

"The rectangle is representative of the most stable, rational and secure geometric forms." and throughout all times and places, man has used this shape to prepare many things for immediate practical use in life, as  beds, rooms and tables can attest.

"The square implies tense domination born of an abstract longing for power".

and the star plays representative of the spirit and multiplicity.

So, you had stable and rational security (relative) for the spirit and life in general. these have been rent in twain, marginalizing the aforementioned rationality, and domination of the spirit and the masses through a near infantile longing for power. Jung also observed that the square represents the "pluralist state of man who has not achieved inner unity."

Question: have you ever looked closely at the Congressional Medal of Honor?

[Ianas Tebron]

The medal of honor has the Roman Goddess Minerva, also known as Athena Goddess of Strategic War. So do many places of education as her sphere incorporates wisdom, science and technology. As a student I benefit from working with Athena. The only downside is that she hates spiders...

[Philtered.Khaos]

I wasn't aware that was Minerva! I did notice that the medal of honor is an inverted pentacle, though. Matter over Spirit, just as our gubmint likes it.

[Thee Uncondemning Momus]

Very interesting... might i suggest Lacan and Lacanian Psychoanalysis (see Lacan mathemes and his use of Saussure's work, as well as Walter Benjamin's essay "On Language as such and the Language of Man" (its about magic and language, and names and symbols) - also indeed symbology is very fascinating, as a Freemason I am very aware of its uses, as well as an ex-comparative literature major... anyway, not sure if this is a dead thread or not so i am not going to post too much. But I work on this question, sometimes, via Modern Mythology (a group i am involved with, friend IRL as its said)... we look at symbols too... what i like is that you are looking at what some might consider mundane symbols and signs or rather sings that are in common contemporary usage... and its interesting because they are often overlooked... and speaking of the square as the Earth, did you know that Japan doesn't use the square to represent the earth, but rather instead of four corners of the earth they have the five corners of the earth - a pentagon. IDK. anyway, if this thread is still alive, let a brother know...

The Lacanian Symbolic initially is theorized on the basis of resources provided by structuralism. Tied to natural languages as characterized by Saussure and specific post-Saussurians, this register also refers to the customs, institutions, laws, mores, norms, practices, rituals, rules, traditions, and so on of cultures and societies (with these things being entwined in various ways with language). Lacan's phrase "symbolic order," which encompasses all of the preceding, can be understood as roughly equivalent to what Hegel designates as "objective spirit." This non-natural universe is an elaborate set of inter-subjective and trans-subjective contexts into which individual human beings are thrown at birth (along the lines of Heideggerian Geworfenheit), a pre-existing order preparing places for them in advance and influencing the vicissitudes of their ensuing lives.