Symbolism and spiritual meanings are often associated with creativity and religion, respectively. In some cultures, people try to find meaning in things around them based on their representation in religious texts. Outside of religion, symbols are commonly used to represent ideas. Modern language is, by design, more advanced than it has ever been at any point in history. Indeed, it has even passed me by to a point as I’m getting up there in age!
Anyway, this will not be the usual article on symbolism and spiritual meanings. I’m writing this as a central focal point for upcoming articles I plan to write out of curiosity as much as anything else.
If you’ve been a regular visitor here at Widibi, you’ll know that the website was born out of my interest in the law of attraction. That spurred me to explore further, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about looking beyond what we see around us and working on the assumption that everything around us must have a meaning.
What spurred me to think more about what happens in the world around us was angel numbers. To some people, a number is just that – a figure representing the count of something. In using, reading and writing about the law of attraction, I found that numbers had far more significance in the context of the universe. One of my key beliefs is that the universe uses numbers as a way to communicate with us. If affirmations work for manifesting and are a way for us to communicate with the universe, how does it talk back and help us bring our dreams into reality?
One potential answer is numbers, but why would they be the only answer?
The more you look at religion and many cultures worldwide, the more you see that symbols are often used to represent enlightenment and spirituality. Look even further, and you’ll find that someone, somewhere, either today or at some point in history, attached a meaning to just about everything.
Does everything have a meaning? Absolutely not. There might be a spiritual meaning to dogs, but that doesn’t mean that every time I see the same person walking theirs past my house each day that I need to make drastic life changes. But when you’re looking for comfort, guidance, inspiration or anything else in life, why discount the possibility that the universe is trying to provide exactly that?
For me, the aim of exploring spiritual meanings and symbolism is because it checks so many boxes for me. I’m excited to be able to explore history, culture and beliefs. By researching and writing about how different people interpret what goes on around them, I can integrate that knowledge into my own practices.
So, when I write affirmations or attempt to manifest something, I’ll have a point of reference if and when things feel like they’re changing around me.
To demonstrate the thought process, let’s start with an example. It’s one of the most famous symbols in history, and touches on religion, culture and philosophy.
The Tree of Life – An Iconic Spiritual Symbol
There’s a huge Wikipedia article on the Tree of Life, and it’s worth a read, even if only to see how one relatively simple symbol can permeate so many different cultures. I’ll spare you the specifics, as the Wikipedia editors do a far better job of covering how it has served as everything from a sacred symbol to symbolize fertility to one of several trees that have an incredible influence on life around the world.
So, what’s my angle? I’d assess the Tree of Life as something representing fertility and immortality. If I started seeing the tree mentioned more in what I read or start to hear other people referring to it when they haven’t before, I’d start to pay attention. Just as most people get into numerology because they start to see double numbers or other combinations repeatedly, I’d consider frequently seeing or hearing about the same thing for no apparent reason as cause to investigate further.
Now, admittedly, neither fertility or immortality make much sense in the context of my life right now. Fortunately, it’s only an example!
A Real World Example, Featuring a Flock of Birds
The one instance that sticks with me more than any other happened a few years ago when a flock of birds landed in my front yard. They stayed there just long enough for me to snap possibly the blurriest photograph I’ve ever taken.
I, inquisitive as ever, wanted to know what it meant.
For some people, a flock of birds landing in the yard might be nothing unusual. One thing I didn’t find out is just how common it is. But for me, it wasn’t common at all. I’d never had a flock of birds land in my yard before, and I’ve never had it since. To be fair, I’ve never seen a flock land in anyone’s yard.
So what does it mean?
It turns out that birds, in the context of spiritual symbols and their meaning, can mean a lot of things, and the deciding factor is typically the species. I actually didn’t recognize them at first, but poring through Google revealed they were starlings – and they’re not very common around here.
There are various meanings, which I’ll save for a more detailed article – starlings are definitely on my to do list. What really stood out about this encounter is that starlings are associated with encouraging people to look past the darkness they might be experiencing and look forward to brighter times, usually with support from family or the community around them.
I’ll spare you the specifics, but it was a timely reminder that while things were pretty low at the time, there was a positive way through it. Someone, somewhere, was reminding me that I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help and support, and I have been known to internalize things even when (especially when) doing so doesn’t really get you anywhere.
And that sparked my interest. This experience stood out mainly because there was no reason for it to happen, but surely there must have been. It also happened at a time when I was already less inclined to believe in coincidences. This thing that happened had never happened before.
Was there a chance that it was just a coincidence? Sure. Did the experience spur me on to look for a meaning and make changes based on what I found? It did indeed.
Symbolism and You
As always, I can’t prove to people that these things work. Nevertheless, I’d encourage people to have an open mind and, when something strikes them as being out of the ordinary, they look into what it could mean. I can’t prove that manifesting works, but I encourage people to try it for themselves. As I always say, it only needs to work once to give someone the confidence to make it happen again.
So, next time something happens that you can’t quite explain, don’t write it off as an unusual coincidence. Google it. See how people today interpret the experience. Think about how civilisations from days gone by would have interpreted what you’ve gone through – assuming it’s something they could have experienced. After all, there’s no point looking into how the Mayans dealt with unusual messages on their iPhones!
It doesn’t have to be religious, nor does it have to be something that anyone else sees as being out of the ordinary. When the universe wants to send you a message, it has to do something to attract your attention, and your usual daily routine probably won’t cut it.
It’s a golden age for people that believe there may be more than meets the eye to what’s going on around them. There’s a world of experiences and knowledge at your fingertips, and chances are that even if you encounter something truly unusual, you won’t be the first person to experience it. Try it, act on it, and, if nothing else, you’ll have an interesting story to tell, just as I do with my flock of starlings.
