Personal Symbolism

So, I suppose the first question is what do I mean by personal symbolism? I think I can safely say that the universal symbol for Christians or Christianity is 'the cross'. Many take that one step further and take the crucifix but that too is the cross, just with Jesus still on it.

We, each of us, have things - images, symbols, objects - which remind us of something else. This is symbolism. Within the church we use a lot of symbolism - more so I think, or perhaps just different, in traditional services. The cross up the front to remind us of what Jesus has done for us. Holy Communion is also symbolism - the bread, his body; the wine, his blood. In traditional services, the incence and ringing of bells as a symbol (what the symbolism is here can differ between denominations).

The thing with symbolism is that care always needs to take place that it does not become idolatry (particuarly in regards to the church and matters of faith), that is putting all your care and praise towards the image rather than what the image is representing. The purpose of symbols is to remind us of something more, not just get caught up in it.

Now to address the 'personal' part of this blog. We choose our own symbols to remind us of different things. You may have 10 people with 10 different symbols all representing or reminding them of the same thing. Or similarly have 10 people all with the same symbol reminding them of 10 different things.

One way in which people show symbols is through body art, or tattoo's. Initials of a person you love, a flower to remind you of the field where you were engaged, southern cross because you are australian, a snake or tiger because that's the year you were born in (chinese calendar), or perhaps a word like destiny because that's what you believe in. There are many, but when it comes down to it, it is only things which people see as important to them which they get tattooed on them. Sometimes, this might just be because it looks cool and that is what is importat to them but more often than not, it is a symbol, and what is behind the symbol is why they have it.

This is a picture of my tattoo and next week I will tell you the symbolism behind it. Take a guess at it if you like in the comments - see if you can cover everything.

In this blog we've looked at different kinds of things which people have for personal symbols to represent different things, my question for you is what do you have a symbol for?

Coming up: 'Unpacking Personal Symbolism'

God Bless