Definition of ”symbols”

Representation of objects, events and so on; can be distinguished between:

Collective symbols intersubjective, i.e. can be used to communicate between people - for example. language

Private symbols that are specific to a particular person; the child's first symbols are private and later collective.

(Danish educational psychology dictionary)

Definition of ”Symbol” (2)

Symbol means 'sign' or 'proof of identity' in Greek language, and  is a visuall sign that stands for something more comprehensive. A symbol can serve three purposes :

To express something that can be understood only by initiates.?

To produce something that can not quite explicitly.?

To predict anything more than a literal production is capable of.

(Ifgl:Charlotte Taaning Grundholm, fagredaktør, Kristeligt dagblad)

Definition on ”symbols” (3)

•          Unifying symbols, summarizing separate mental elements

•          Living symbols that are interwoven with the individual's situation and awareness

•          Overall Symbols related and linked to the individuation

(Analytisk-psykologisk leksikon)

Definition of ”symbols” (4)

•          Conventional symbols, for example. flag as a symbol of the nation.

•          Incidental or accidental symbols, such as. Freud's recollection symbols of personal and emotional nature.

•          Universal symbols where to establish a link between certain universal feelings with certain universal natural phenomena which are more or less common to all people.

(Erich Fromm)

Definition on symbol (5)

Symbols are not allegories and not signs, they are pictures on the content of the psyche, which partially penetrate up in consciousness.

Symbols are captivating, visual messages, metaphors, enigmatic images of psychic reality.

(Jung)

Definition of Symbols (6)

•          What we call symbols are an expression, a name oran  image that may be well known in everyday life, but which has an additional role in addition to the usual and immediate sense.

•          A word or image is symbolic when it contains more than its obvious immediate sense. It has a wider "unconscious" aspect that is never precisely defined or fully explained. One can hardly hope to be able to define it, or explain it.

(Jung: ”Mennesket og dets symboler”)

The funktion of symbols

•          Because there are innumerable things beyond the reach of human knowledge, we constantly use symbolic terms to express thoughts, we can not quite put into words. It's one of the reasons that all religions use symbolic language or images. But the conscious use of symbols is only one aspect of a psychological fact of great importance: Man also produces symbols unconsciously and spontaneously in the form of dreams.

•          (Jung: Mennesket og dets symboler)

The Language of Symbols

A symbol always presupposes that the chosen expression is the best possible description or formulation of a relatively unknown fact that you nevertheless know exists or postulatte exists.

(Jung – CW 15 para 105)

Symbols in Art

Their pregnant language shout to us that they mean more than they say. We can immediately put your finger on the symbol, even though we may not be able to explain its meaning to our complete satisfaction. A symbol remains a perpetual challenge for our thought and feelings. This explains why a symbolic work is so stimulating, why it engages us so intensely, but also why it seldom gives us a purely aesthetic pleasure.